theDIBB - Howdy Texas! Day 19 Let's Go Astros!

We all slept well and were enjoying how comfortable this room was. The breakfast was also pretty good - there was protein! And strawberry waffles!

We needed some water, so drove to the nearby Walmart for supplies. We also looked for some Houston Astros gear but they didn't have any. We pottered about for a bit and then headed out for our third baseball game of the holiday - the Houston Astros vs the LA Dodgers at the Minute Maid Stadium in downtown Houston.

I had managed to adjust the settings on the satnav so we could avoid toll roads, which didn't make all that much difference to the journey times but did reduce the stress of trying to work out whether or not they took cash. It didn't take too long to drive to Minute Maid Park and we had a good look at the Houston skyline as we went.

We hadn't been able to pre-book parking, so were looking for somewhere nearby that wasn't extortionate. Then we spotted some bargain covered parking that had plenty of spaces. It was metered parking and only cost us a couple of dollars - I couldn't understand why it wasn't packed out but I guess as it was under a flyover, it was easy to miss.

The weather was incredibly hot, so we were loaded up with sunscreen, hats and water. It wasn't a long walk from the car park so we posed with Minute Maid Park in the background.

We also found these handy baseballs.

Once we got inside, we realised that we didn't need the hats as the roof was closed. Never mind, we needed them outside. It was nice just walking around the park and enjoying the pre-game buzz.

Both kids were keen to get some Astros gear, so we headed for the shop. Hannah really wanted some merch with the "H" on it, understandably, and Evan wanted a baseball shirt. We did pretty well - they had a sale on and Hannah got a really cool t-shirt and hat, both with "H" on them, while I treated myself to another $10 t-shirt. Evan got his shirt and a hat and we all nipped off to get changed.

It was a really good game and we had a great view from our seats, even though they were high up. We all joined in with "Deep in the Heart of Texas" during the 7th inning stretch as well, having learned it the night before at the Texans!

The Astros won with a storming Castro Home Run in the 10th. They have a train that sets off if a home run is scored and it was so cool to see it in action.

I have to say, the Dodgers were sore losers and challenged the run - even though there was no doubt about it!

We had originally planned to eat near the ballpark but the game we finished a bit too early for food, so we headed back to the hotel and had a look to see what was around there. There wasn't anything in walking distance, so we knew we would have to drive. Despite several visits to the US, we had never tried Chillis, so decided to go there in the end.

Turned out to be a great choice - we had a lovely meal and although we did try to save room, we just couldn't manage the famed cookie skillet for dessert. Ah well, maybe next time!#

Back at the hotel, it was time for Naked and Afraid XL. I was idly browsing through Facebook and saw a post from Paul's cousin that said "Just moved to Houston". I messaged him to say we were in Houston and before too long, we had made plans to meet up the next day. An amazing coincidence - he lives in the US and we hadn't seen him for about years - and now we were all in the same city!