Moving to Houston for summer
 

Good morning, ladies...

I live in College Station, TX. My boyfriend got a WONDERFUL internship in Houston, TX which is great! So in May-August we'll be staying with his uncle in Houston. It's a HUGE city...and a 2hr drive.

What is the best kind of carrier for a car drive?
Can anyone tell me anything about Houston??? Dog parks/vets/groomer??

We lived there 3 years and the things I remember most is the awful heat, humidity and traffic jams that lasted for hours so if you take your dog with you in the car in hot, humid weather, have lots of water, towels to wet, battery operated little fan to help keep your baby cool if you should get caught in one of their infamous traffic jams and your car overheat, rendering the A-C helpless.

Oh boy, that sounds like fun...but thank you for that suggestion! The only times I've ever been to Houston is for my boyfriend's ear surgeries...it'll be so different living there for the summer.

Except for the weather and the traffic, I enjoyed Houston. There is so much to do in and around the city and miles of good coast not that far off. Just always be prepared for being trapped w/o A-C in the traffic - may never happen but I spent 3 hours in one once and will never forget it!

I live in Katy, which is down the freeway from Houston. If you can live where there's a swimming pool, the heat is almost bearable. Traffic can be a nightmare any time of the day, just depends on where the road work is or the stalled car. I would get an EZ tag to get around if you plan to do to travel around town. The line to get through the cash only booths are terribly long. I don't know where you plan to live but places like Katy or Sugar Land are better than living smack in the city, although they are becoming more congested every day.

The heat in Houston isn't that much worse than College Station, just a little more humid. If you can avoid being outside from about 1-4pm you will be fine, those hours are the worst. I grew up in west Texas where it is hotter, but dryer. Some say humid is worse, some say dry is worse so it depends on you.
And also traffic isn't THAT bad, again if you avoid the bad times and/or figure out the best way to go. My BF drives 20ish miles everyday to work and 20 back and rarely has troubles.
If you can take the toll roads on a common route (ie to/from work) EZ tag would be a must. I don't have one, but I rarely leave my little "circle" and if I do I do my best to avoid trafficy times.
Don't let people scare you from the hot, trafficy Houston. It is a great city for most "kinds" of people.

Also I would have to disagree with katy-yorkie and say living "smack in the city" is great. Even though I rarely take advantage of everything around me. Especially good for "younger people", my less hermitty friends do all kinds of stuff all the time. :) Though living on the outskirts would probably be good too and I plan on probably heading out there when I "grow up". :))

I would definitely get some sort of car seat/carrier that can be fastened in. I believe at all times one should be used, but Especially if there is ANY amount of traffic. And that depends on what your baby is most comfortable in. I can an enclosed "all in one" carrier that I used when my older yorkie was a puppy, but she would get car sick so we HAD to get a car seat. I can figure out which car seat I got if you'd like, I got it on ebay. I really like mine.

Also, it depends on what part of Houston you will be staying for dog parks, vets, and groomers. But there are lots of good dog parks and even places with inside play areas and pools for extra hot days (I have looked them up, but never gone so I can't really tell you if they are good or not).

I hope the BF's internship goes great and you enjoy Houston! :)) I have lived here for almost 5 years now, feel free to PM me for any other questions and I will do my best to answer. (though I might get rambly about random things like I did here. :))

Sounds like you are getting great advice about Houston. Being from Kentucky, I know next to nothing. But, I do know in July there is a huge dog show and some YT members either show or come to watch and shop. :D

Thanks for all the suggestions!! I'm still really nervous! The only times I've been is when my bf had to get tumors removed from his ears at the Children's hospital!! I've been dying to go to the Galleria though. Love shopping :D and my favorite store of all time, LUSH is in houston, I've never been in the store, only bought online. So I'm gonna be broke all summer :D And thank you Lisa, I did not know there was a dog show in July. Totally gonna go and check out all the vendors. Do people bring their dogs when they're just there to watch/shop?

We're not sure what part of houston we're staying in yet. My boyfriend HATES driving and I'm always begging him to just go "exploring" and he's afraid of getting lost. We just got a GPS though and he's warming up to the idea :D I don't wanna stay there and not explore! Have you been to the aquarium, Ashley? Is it any good?

Lots of people bring their dogs to the show informally. Not sure what the regulations are about the show, but plenty of pets there. Lots of pet strollers too.

Yorkie Haven Rescue has a booth at the show, so you will see a bunch of Yorkie lovers and some YT members there, too.

Oh, and the shopping at the show is outstanding, IMHO.

I went to the aquarium during one of my "stay-cation spring breaks". lol. I never did anything exciting for spring break..lol.
It was okay, nothing wonderful but I'm glad I went. I might go again, but nothing I would do super often. The best part of it was probably the white tigers. :)
Also, I can take Somi pretty much anywhere. But she is unreasonably quiet and well behaved, I have no idea how. (proof of nature over nuture, my two girls are COMPLETE opposite) I am pretty sure Somi has never barked in public, so weird. But I have taken her to lots of stores, including grocery stores. I have even had managers tell me how cute she is and never say anything about her not supposed to be there. But she stays in her sling bag and stays quiet. Also, lots of restaurants with outside seating that let you bring your babies! :)

If you don't mind me asking, where is your BF interning?

I actually find it fairly difficult to get truely lost in Houston, but you can get a little lost pretty easy.
And though the Galleria is nice and the closest mall to me there are SOOO many great shopping spots in Houston. Just around the Gal there are lots of shopping strips with lots of the same stores. Then there are the outlet malls on the outskirts, Katy Mills and Houston Premium Outlets (I think?). And HPO would be a good stop for you on the way in from College Station, it's on 290 almost an hour out from the center of Houston. The first time I went was on my way in to Houston from Abilene (hometown) with my mom and Suzi (my mom's Maltese, when she was a baby). It's a strip mall so great shopping and puppies can get out and walk around. :)

um...I'll add more if I think of other things you should do in Houston. :) I am kind of a hermit/homebody so I don't do a lot of things. lol. :)

White tigers at an aquarium..hehe :D It sounds fun! I'm from SC, lived on the beach my entire life, so I've been missing it soo much! The aquarium will be a blast for me, I think. Thank you soo much for all the info! I feel so much better about this summer now. As for my bf's internship, I'm not exactly sure of the name of the place, but it's a medical lab that his uncle's boyfriend owns. I think it's in connection with one of the hospitals. I'll ask the name when he gets off classes.

I am a girly girl through and through so thanks for all the shopping hints, I appreciate it! my wallet doesn't though hehe :D I wanna make the most of my time there and not sit inside. I do enough of that now in CS. :rolleyes: And Luma looovesss going places with us! I really want a Kwigy Bo, that's my next thing on the list! I don't have a carrier for her right now. Gotta get on that :P Thanks again!