Kidnapped!

This is a continuation of my crazy vacation story from yesterday:

I exited the plane exhausted but excited. My brother Mark said he had a surprise for me, and I was eager to find out what it was. I walked quickly through the airport terminal, my rolling luggage chasing after me. He was standing at the end of escalator waving at me. He looked thinner and happy to so me, so I walked over and hugged him. We drove off, and he suggested we eat before bed. We went to an eclectic dinersque sort of place called the Magnolia Cafe, where I devoured several breakfast tacos. Mark and his partner Lui gaped at my amazing ability to eat a ton of food. I'm normally a reluctant eater.

After dinner/breakfast we began driving. I fell asleep with my stomach warm and happy. I woke up intermittently, thinking it was taking a lot of time to Lakeway, a suburb of Austin where my brother and Lui live. Occasionally I looked out to see if I recognized anything, but I failed. My anxiety rose. It took a lot of guts, but I finally spoke up, asking where in the hell we were going.

My brother looked at me, a smirk grazing his face, and said "Houston," chuckling a little. I wondered why were going to Houston and Lui said we were spending a day there for Mark's birthday. That seemed like a great idea, so I fell back asleep, the idea of a nice adventure in my head. I had no idea how much of an adventure it would be.

I woke up about three hours later, having made myself a makeshift bed out of a few pillows and a comfortable blanket I found in the back. The sun was just cresting over the sky and we had stopped at a gas station for some refreshments. I asked Mark if were were in Houston yet, and that smile once again came onto his face. Lui looked over and laughed a little, saying "we passed Houston about two hours ago Brett." My ears and nose became fiery. I demanded to know where we were going. Mark said "You're so inquisitive. We are going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Make yourself comfortable, we're still about 6 hours away."