We left Big Foot Horse Camp on the evening of February 6th, loaded up after work, and hit the road. The destination was Houston, where a house sit was waiting for us on February 11th. That left us a few days to fill, and we had a plan for at least part of it.
Beignets.
A little date night in New Orleans
We had been to New Orleans before. Last year we did Mardi Gras and absolutely loved it, Ethan especially since he is a huge seafood guy and New Orleans is basically his paradise. I am allergic to shellfish, so my enthusiasm is slightly more limited, but even I have to admit the city has a way of pulling you in. We knew we wanted to stop on the way through, and this time we skipped the French Quarter chaos in favor of Cafe Du Monde at City Park. We had stayed in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras so we had already done that experience, and City Park was more on the way to Houston anyway. Less downtown, less crowded, same legendary beignets.
We sat down, ordered, and just enjoyed a quiet little date night. Fresh, warm beignets covered in powdered sugar after a full day of driving. It was exactly the kind of simple sweet moment that makes a long travel day worth it. No agenda, no sightseeing, just the two of us and a pile of beignets.
The bridge, the crash, and the very long wait
And then we got back on the road and reality hit.
We ran straight into brutal traffic outside New Orleans, the kind that stops completely and doesn’t move. A three car crash ahead of us had everything locked up, and we happened to be sitting on a bridge when it happened. If you have never been stuck on a bridge in a van at night while emergency vehicles need to get through, consider yourself lucky. It is not a fun situation. The lanes are tight, there is nowhere to go, and we had to maneuver multiple times to make room for vehicles coming through. Not scary exactly, just stressful and slow and the kind of thing that tests your patience after an already long day.
We eventually made it through and pulled into a Cracker Barrel to call it a night. At that point we were done.
The van lifer’s waiting period
Our house sit in Katy didn’t start until February 11th, which meant we had a few days to fill in the Houston area. We moved to a Cracker Barrel closer to the city so we could actually be near where we needed to be, and settled into that familiar van life limbo of parking lot living and coffee shop work days.
We love a Cracker Barrel overnight. They are generally welcoming to travelers, and being able to move during the day to run errands or find a coffee shop to work from makes it a pretty functional setup. It is not glamorous, but it works.
What did not work, at least for one very unfortunate Saturday, was the women’s showers at our nearby Planet Fitness. Out of order. Which meant another day of greasy hair for me while Ethan went about his life completely unbothered. Van life is glamorous, truly. By the time the showers were back up and running the next day I was very ready.
We worked, we ran errands, we counted down the days until February 11th.
Finally: the house sit
The Katy house sit ended up being one of our favorites, and a big part of that was the animals.
We were caring for Texas, a cocker spaniel who was orange and white and looked so much like Rooster that it was almost funny. He was an incredibly good boy. Then there were Tilly and Mila, two cats who were honestly some of the best cuddly cats we have ever met. Rooster was completely obsessed with all of them. Texas and Rooster had a whole buddy situation going, and Rooster spent most of his time trying to get Tilly and Mila to love him as much as he loved them. They were polite about it. Mostly.
The house itself was wonderful. A comfortable living room and couch that fit the whole crew for evening snuggle sessions, nice walking paths nearby for daily walks with the dogs, and a solid setup for getting work done. After days of coffee shop hopping and Cracker Barrel parking lots, having a real couch and a real kitchen felt like a luxury.
Ethan got to spend a good amount of time with Eric, his Abundo business partner who is based in Houston. They co-worked from coffee shops, had some incredible meals together, and did the kind of in-person work time that is hard to replicate over a screen. Eric knows Houston food well, and we ate very well during those two weeks. Mostly we kept it low key, good food, good animals, good work days, and the kind of settled rhythm that a longer house sit allows.
We stayed through February 25th, and honestly we could have stayed longer.
Up next
We left Katy on February 25th with full hearts, a well-exercised Rooster, and already missing Texas, Tilly, and Mila. Next stop: San Antonio, where a birthday celebration and some very special visitors were waiting for us.
Have you ever done a house sit that ended up being one of your favorites? Tell us about the animals in the comments, we love hearing about them.
Wandering with Charlotte 
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