One month in the States

Late June

01Dallas

Texas

A few days after I landed we went to Topgolf, which none of us had any business being good at.

One of Radhika's first swings. It did not travel far, which is why she calls it at the end: "we'll stop here."

Topgolf

Topgolf final scoreboard showing Srihari first with 328 points — 328. Second place managed 156. I have decided not to say anything further about this.

The Boardwalk, Plano

Srivats and Radhika going on ahead to find us seats.

The seats they found. Worth walking ahead for.

By the water

Back at the house

Radhika and me on the karaoke machine. Srivats and Radhika keep that house properly stocked: board games, a little air hockey table you can see at the end, and enough else that we never ran out of things to do.

July 1 to 9

02Phoenix

Arizona

A week with my uncle, my aunt, my cousins and my grandmother. An old mining town, a drive along the Apache Trail, and then the canyon.

Getting there

Table tennis

A proper session. I got a couple of smashes in, which I am choosing to remember.

Goldfield, an old mining town

The Apache Trail

The Grand Canyon

Selfie at the Grand Canyon rim with a squirrel standing on the rock beside me — This one walked straight up to me. Squirrels here have no fear at all, which took some getting used to after the ones back home that bolt the second you look at them.

Back at their place

My uncle handed me the keys to his FJ Cruiser. Trail Teams Ultimate Edition, one of 2500 ever made.

Sitting in the driver's seat of a Toyota FJ Cruiser — Still not over this.

Family sitting around a dining table playing cards — President, bluff, and whatever else we could agree on the rules for. This was most evenings.

July 9 to 15

03New Jersey

A week east

A week with my cousin, her husband, and her parents. Getting there took a detour through two states nobody had booked.

Out and about

Basement rules

Doubles against my uncle and his kids, who had flown in from Phoenix with the rest of us.

Rondo with Javier

Javier knew the game. One touch with his nose, then back off, like someone had taught him rondo properly. I shook my leg to sell a fake and he bought it, which is the laughing you can hear behind me. Watch the look he gives Srivats near the end for passing to me.

Dinner, then Pictionary

Pictionary after dinner, which is where the competitive spirit actually turned up.

July 14

04Washington

One very long day

Down from New Jersey and back in a day. Union Station, the Capitol, two museums, and Lincoln, mostly on foot.

In on the early train

Union Station

The Capitol

A stranger walked over and offered to take this one properly rather than watch us fight a selfie.

The Mall, and two museums

Same again here. People kept offering before we had even asked.

Lincoln, and the walk back

The way back to Dallas

On the DART Silver Line in from DFW, the last stretch back to the house.

July 18 to 19

05Broken Bow

Oklahoma

Four hours north of Dallas, a cabin in the pines, and one Saturday night nobody has agreed to stop bringing up.

Deer standing on the grass in front of the cabins — We pulled in and the lawn already had residents.

The drive up, and the welcome party

Shooting the drive up.

The cabin

Saturday night

Cornhole, for anyone who has never met it: you lob a bean bag underarm at a slanted wooden board with a hole near the top. Through the hole is three points, landing on the board and staying put is one. Three minutes of us on the deck mostly managing neither.

I shot this one. The first few seconds are completely out of focus, which tells you roughly where I was at by that point in the night.

A photo of people dancing. The camera was not the blurry part.

Sunday, on the lake

Two people in a tandem kayak with both paddles raised at the same angle — Paddles in sync. This lasted about four seconds.

And the drive back

Radhika at the wheel for about forty-five minutes of the way home.

July 25

06Dallas

One more time

Back on the living room floor for one last game before the airport.

The temple

Last day

Something missing?

This is only what was on my phone. There are whole days in here I have no pictures of, and plenty sitting on yours. Send them across and they go straight in.

31days
5states, plus DC
1dog named Javier
328at Topgolf

That was the month

Thirty-one days, six places, and a fair amount of driving in between, nearly all of it done by Srivats. Next time I turn up with an international permit and take some of those hours off him.

The canyon and the Capitol are in here, but the parts I keep going back to are the cabin deck and the backyard in New Jersey.

Keeping this one for us.

Amma · Appa · Srivats · Radhika · Srihari

Totally not designed by AI.