Home!

Well, we ended up not doing much at all today. I got up around 7:00 and went to the workout room. Dan joined me as I was finishing my workout and we went to the breakfast room together but he was so grumpy that I stayed out of his way and when we went back to our room I simply went about the business of showering, packing, and getting ready to hit the road. I showed him a brochure about the Sonora caves, but he said he hadn't slept well and that if it wasn't going to kill me to skip it, he'd just as soon save it for another time. Well, that was fine by me. I've seen caves before (went to Carlsbad last year) and I try to choose my battles wisely. Heading east was fine with me!











After so much desert, it was great to see green this morning!











I've always loved the way greenery grows on the limestone.

We headed in to Kerrville, where we stopped at our favorite bookstore. By now, Dan was feeling better, but I was the one who was grumpy because every time I tried to examine the books on Indianola (a Texas town destroyed by a hurricane in the late nineteenth century), the woman minding the shop tried to talk to me. Finally I gave up trying to decide between the two books and escaped to the bargain room, where I found nothing I simply had to have. Had the shopkeeper let me browse in peace, I almost certainly would've bought one of the Indianola books (and they weren't cheap) so it was more her loss than mine, but I was pissed, nonetheless.

Dan and I had some lunch at a little cafe nearby, where we both agreed that we were tired, grumpy, brain-dead, and ready to go home. Plus, the wind was still blowing!











Heading home. The wind was blowing so hard in some places that signs were knocked over!

We got back to Houston just in time for rush hour traffic. Lucky us. Not to be deterred, we picked up the Tid and went home.

Pixel has been all over us tonight and once Tidbit figured out that she had been sprung for good, she was just like her old pre-illness self, eager to play, eager for attention.

It's great to be unpacked, back in my own home with three days before I have to go back to work. Technically speaking, I'm really not going to work until Wednesday, since I'll be at a conference Monday and Tuesday. So although I'm home, this vacation isn't quite over yet!

There will be one more post here before I resume posting at my regular blog. It will be my recap and "lessons learned." There will probably also be some new pictures, now that I can photoshop out things like flyspecks from the windshield.

Be sure and check back tomorrow!

Day Twelve

Well, our plans are usually flexible, and a good thing. We’re in Sonora, Texas, tonight, with winds gusting like a hurricane. It looks like a dust storm outside.

I got up early this morning at our hotel in Las Cruces and did a 40 minute treadmill run while I did my wash in the guest laundry room. Then I got a cup of coffee in the breakfast room and had a cup of yogurt and some of the blueberries I bought a couple days ago in Pagosa Springs.

Since there appeared to be nothing to do in the Las Cruces area, we headed into El Paso where we had a long lunch with my cousin, who filled me in on all the family gossip. We solved many of the world’s problems in the three hours we hung out chatting, and then Dan and I decided to head west and see how far we could get before we got tired.

It was a very windy, dusty day, but as we tracked east, we expected things to improve.











They didn’t. Those are mountains on the horizon. See them? They're actually quite close, but in some places we couldn't see them at all.











Hazy mountain.











And did I mention it was hot?











I was able to get a few good pics, though.











The mountains in West Texas are somewhat similar to those of the Albuquerque area.











They eventually give way to mesas and flatlands.

The wind kept up with gusts in the 40s and when we got to Fort Stockton, we found everything but the scary motels booked. There was some kind of oil company convention in town, apparently. One hotel let us use their lobby computer to check other hotels along our route and we finally found one 150 miles away in Sonora.

It was already 9:00 Central Time, but our bodies were on Mountain Time and the lower elevation was making us feel perky, so we headed east. The sun went down and we spent the next two hours driving in the dark through gusting winds. It was pretty scary to see the truckers getting their rigs blown around the freeway and the dust clouds descending on us. We kept thinking at some point the wind would let up but it never did.

When we got to Sonora we were very glad we had booked a room from Fort Stockton because there was a sign on the door saying no vacancy, reservations only. There's only one other hotel in town that isn't scary and I’d bet money it’s booked, too. And the next sizable town is at least another hour up the road.

We carried our bags up to our room in gusting winds and now as I look out the window I can see a haze of brown dust and the wind is screaming. The weather report says winds at 22 with gusts to 33, but I think it might be worse than that.

Anyway, it’s late, I need to get settled in, and Dan and I need to make a plan for tomorrow. We think we’re going to spend some time in Kerrville, and maybe since we’re in Sonora, we’ll see the local caves. We had thought we might want to camp but the weather prediction is for more wind like what we’ve got right now and no way can we pitch a tent in this!

Check back tomorrow, when I expect to have more and better pictures. There just isn't much to see in West Texas even under the best of circumstances, but with a dust storm, forget it!

Day One

Our first day on the road, and not much to say, really.

We got out the door around 10:00 and dropped off Tid at the bunny spa.











I feel guilty about it because she’s doing so well and I’m sure she’s wondering what she did to end up back at the vet’s, but she’s in good hands and will get a special bunny spa salad every day.

We drove without stopping to just outside of Kerrville where we had a picnic snack at a rest stop. Texas has some very nice rest stops, complete with wireless internet. We didn’t have time to boot up the laptop, but it was fun to think about as I ate my lunch that I heated in foil in the sunshine on the dashboard. Because of the overcast day, my lunch didn’t get as hot as I would’ve liked, but it was adequate. Note to self: start earlier on cloudy days.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures of the hill country because the day was so hazy, making everything look washed-out and colorless. I did get this amusing shot at the rest stop, though, proving that Texas rest stops provide for the entertainment needs of dogs as well as humans.











When we finally got to our hotel in San Angelo, I did a 30-minute treadmill workout before dinner. It’s not much when you’re used to running for four hours on a typical Saturday, but it’s better than nothing.

Dan wants to head out around 7:00 tomorrow, since we’ve got nearly 500 miles to cover to get to my father’s place in New Mexico. I would like to get in an early elliptical workout before we leave, so that means getting up no later than 5:30. We’ll see about that. I just know that if I don’t do it, I might not get another chance to work out tomorrow and it’s way too early in my vacation to start slacking on workouts. That will come later.

Gonna try to do a little writing for my novel blog now. I expect to have internet access at my Dad’s tomorrow night, even if it’s dial-up, so hopefully the weather will have been nice and I’ll have good pics to share and some exciting (strictly in the fun sense of the word) adventures to share.

Day Fourteen (Second Try)

For the first time on this vacation, I was a bad girl and didn’t get up to exercise. The alarm went off and I was just so comfortable that I said “screw it,” and turned off the alarm. I slept until a little after 8:00, and then got up and had a nice breakfast of coffee, banana and oatmeal while Dan indulged with waffles and sausage patties from the hotel’s breakfast buffet.

Then we were off to Yorktown.

















I liked Dan’s great-aunt Elena very much—she’s 75, active, energetic and sharp as a tack. We talked in her living room for awhile, then went to see the church and school Dan’s mother attended as a child. . .






















and then went to the cemetery.
















I was amazed to see Elena walk the narrow concrete borders of the grave plots as if she were a thirteen year old gymnast! I hope I have her sense of balance at 75!

Then we went back to her house and hung around in the garden, playing with the dog for awhile.

















































And then we left for Goliad, where we toured the presidio. Odd that I had never been here before.








































And then we headed home. In the rain.
































































When we got home, we found the power out, due to a big storm that had come through and a lightening strike that blew the transformer. It was cool in the apartment, though, so we figured the power would be back on in a few hours, and started unpacking. Then I took a nap and Dan went to see some friends, and when I woke up later, the power was still out! I called to get a status update and was told that the transformer had been repaired and that any further problems were on site here at the complex. So I left a message for maintenance and puttered around a little, until I heard some stuff going on downstairs and went to check.

It was the electrician! Yay! I went to bed feeling sure that we’d have power by morning.

No such luck. I went for a run and ran into two electricians on my way out and they said they had worked all night but still not found the source of the problem. Upon my return from my run, the problem had been found, but they weren’t sure if their fix would work. But I tried to make my morning as normal as possible, and since there was power in the gym, I went there to dry and style my hair after my shower. Then Dan and I went to pick up my bike from the bike shop, had lunch, and when we returned, the power was back on.

Tonight I finished my unpacking, put together gift bags for my co-workers, and basically tried to put things back to normal around here. I have tomorrow off, so I’m looking forward to a nice rest day before I have to return to the rat race. It’s good to be home and have everything where I expect it to be. But when I took a nap this afternoon, I dreamed I was still on vacation—one of those intensely vivid dreams where you can actually smell the earth and trees, and feel the touch of the wind on your skin. It’s good to be home, but I sure wouldn’t mind home being west of here.

Day Thirteen

My alarm went off at 7:30 but I dozed until nearly eight before getting dressed and going to the exercise room. The room was quite nice, and I had it all to myself. When I was done with my workout, I found Dan still asleep, so I woke him up and we went downstairs and had breakfast.

By the time we went back to our room, it was ten, and I still hadn’t showered yet. But I’m at that point in a vacation where I’m starting to know how to cope with living out of bags, and I was ready in thirty minutes—shower, makeup, hair, clothes, and everything packed. While I got ready, Dan watched the weather report, and we learned that there was a flash flood in effect for Central Texas and that the whole area had gotten a lot of rain. We weren’t too thrilled at the idea of camping in the mud with the possibility of a flash flood, but we figured we would wait until we got to Kerrville before making a final decision.

We took a few pictures on the way out of Fort Stockton, including one of the roadrunner, which they list as an area attraction, which should give some idea of what they have to do in Fort Stockton.
















It was a long trip east to Kerrville, passing mesas and wind farms. . .



















cutting through the hills. . .

















and finally ending up in the Hill Country, as storm clouds swirled all around us. . .

















and we drove through rain.
















In Kerrville, we stopped at a little coffee bar where I had a really great curry chicken salad and Dan had a roast beef and provolone sandwich. We confirmed the local weather conditions with the shop owner, who told us there was flooding in the area. This cinched our decision that we would find a hotel for the night and we decided to push on to Victoria, where we could be sure of finding a decent hotel while being reasonably close to Yorktown, our last stop before going home.

But first we had to go to our favorite bookstore, where we browsed until nearly 5:00. After that, we strolled downtown a little, and then resumed our journey east.


In San Antonio, we did a side trip to find some of the places I remembered from my childhood. We found my church with surprisingly little trouble, for not having been there in thirty years. . .


















But finding home was harder. We finally found the high school, and after that it wasn’t too hard to locate my elementary school. . .


















and finally my house.


















Mission accomplished, we pressed on to Victoria. By now, it was growing dark and soon we were driving down highway 87 in the dark, from town to town.

















We got to Victoria around 9:00 and wandered around a bit before finding a nice place to stay on Navarro. Since our room had a microwave and it was too late to find anything better than a Denny’s open, we went to a grocery store and bought some frozen foods. I got an Amy’s Organics, and Dan got a Marie Calendar’s, so we were set.

And now were settled for the night. Our plan for tomorrow is to see the presidio at Goliad, then go to Yorktown and see Dan’s aunt. Then we’re off toward home.

Tomorrow night’s post will be from the comfort of my bedroom!

Day Twelve

I got up at 7:30 and went to use the exercise room. It was still under construction and had only a recumbent bike and treadmill. I have never been able to use a recumbent. They bother my knees and I can’t get my heart rate up, anyway. So I got on the treadmill, which was brand new and very nice. There was no TV in the room, so I decided to do an interval workout. Intervals are great for making the time pass, for some reason. And after a bit, Dan wandered in with a bagel and coffee from the breakfast buffet and he kept me company while I finished my workout.

We had hoped we could get into a tour at the caverns today, but the ones that we wanted were full, and the only one available was four hours long and involved getting wet and dirty—not good when you’ve got a long drive ahead of you afterwards. So we did the self-guided tour. It was an easy tour, with asphalted trail, railings and just enough light to see by without ruining the entire cave effect. In sum, it was nice, but not particularly strenuous.


















The route down from the cave entrance is about 750 feet, and there’s a lot to see on the way down.


















































It took about an hour and a half to make our way down, seeing everything there was to see.



































The only thing I didn’t like about the tour was the tourists. It was a weekend and not high season yet, so it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. But the rangers don’t let you in before they explain the rules, and they’re quite clear that there is to be no talking, only whispering. Just why this is so hard for grown adults to understand is quite beyond me, but it sure explains why some kids act up the way they do. When even the grownups refuse to play by the rules, how can anyone expect the children to do better?

But enough of that. Once we were at the bottom of the cave and had done the loop of stuff to see, we went to the cavern gift shop and restaurant, where Dan had a sandwich and I had a soft pretzel at one of the picnic tables in the depths of the cavern. It’s not everyday you get to eat 750 underground!

















After we ate, we took the elevator back to ground level, checked out the gift shop and bookstore, then went to a vista point where we could get some shots of the canyon and desert around us.























There was a desert nature trail somewhere out there, but we decided to hit the road, even though it wasn’t a long drive to Fort Stockton.

















Well, it was just as well we left when we did. Once we were out on the flat West Texas plains, Dan got sleepy and I had to keep him caffeinated.




















Then just as he started saying how perky he was and how he could continue on, dark clouds started rolling in.

















Luckily we had made reservations the night before in Fort Stockton. It’s the only town for the next several hundred miles, and they do a thriving hotel business. If you can’t find a place to stay here, you’re looking at questionable truck stops, camp sites, or hauling it on to nearly San Antonio.

As I was waiting to check in, the phone rang and the girl at the counter took a reservation for her last non-smoking room. Good thing we booked ahead! And a good thing we got to Fort Stockton when we did, because fat heavy drops began to fall as we unloaded, and just as we got everything into our room, the skies opened up and it just poured, hail and all. A young couple from California joined us on the balcony to watch, staring in amazement. Apparently they don’t get hail in Monterrey, and they were fascinated that ice would fall from the sky like that.

It took about an hour for the storm to abate, but finally Dan and I headed out in search of food. We decided on a Chinese place recommended by the hotel, and although it sounds strange to eat Chinese food in Fort Stockton, we’d already done steakhouses and Mexican food in other places on our trip, so it was a welcome change. My tofu and vegetables were quite tasty, too!

When we got back to the hotel, I checked the exercise room and I think I’m going to have a very nice workout in the morning. And then we’re off to see what adventure we can dig up. Our first choice is to camp at Lost Maples. But if the weather isn’t good or if it’s too muddy, we’ll just knock around Central Texas for an afternoon. Then Saturday is when we see Dan’s aunt in Yorktown, and after that, home!

Day Two

I made myself get up early and use the hotel gym. I had paid for it, and I was going to get my money’s worth. Besides, it looked like another long day of driving, so I wanted to get a workout in case I couldn’t later. It took until nearly 9:00, but we finally got on the road.
















What can one say about West Texas? We drove through a lot of run-down towns and flat, empty places that stretched for mile after mile without a break. You look at the map and you think, “Surely there’s something out there!” Then thirty miles later with still no relief in sight, you realize all your assumptions were wrong.

Still, the landscape does change as you move across West Texas and into Eastern New Mexico.

















Sterling City, Texas, was a run-down dump.
































Between Sterling and Lemesa were wind farms galore.
















West from Lemesa was full of red fields.
















There was so much dust we had to turn out headlights on at one point. We saw a dust devil start up in a field to the west and cross the road right in front of our bumper, swirling off to the east in a hazy fury.

Fairview and Seminole, near the state line, were surprisingly neat, orderly towns. I don’t know if they were just more prosperous than their neighbors, or what, but the contrast to shabby Hobbs, New Mexico was striking.

After Hobbs, we gave up looking for a picnic spot. We had kept our eyes open for a long time, to no avail. But we had plenty of road food packed with us, so we ate well as we drove toward Artesia.
















The area between Hobbs and Artesia is mostly oil fields. It reminds me of how West Texas used to be, with pumps bobbing up and down everywhere you look. We were surprised that a lot of the New Mexico pumps were painted to match the desert sand.


















In Artesia, we stopped for gas and I took a picture of a local sculpture.
















Then we drove past a refinery whose smell brought back not-so-fond memories of Pasadena (Texas), and continued on to Roswell.

Once in Roswell, we decided to go to the UFO Museum. Neither of us is into UFOs, it was one of those “When in Rome…” things. I went into the museum being with an open mind and left convinced that every UFO ever reported was a weather balloon. The museum was THAT hokey. But I’m glad we went. There are certain things it’s good to do when you’re a tourist, just so you can have some idea what all the fuss is all about. But really, if the UFO Museum wants to convince people of the existence of aliens, they’re going to have to do a much better job.

After Roswell, we turned east and went to the Bottomless Lakes. I went there once as a kid, and Dan hadn’t been there ever. So it was a great experience for us both, and we were the only people there, other than the rangers. It was so peaceful!




















By now it was 4:00 and I was for staying the night in Roswell, but Dan said he felt fine to push on for Santa Fe, so we headed north. For over an hour we went through even more desolate country than in West Texas until a train:
















and a rainstorm:
















perked things up around Vaughn.

We got into Santa Fe around 8;30 and Dan was loopy from all the driving. Well, he asked for it. We got checked into a hotel, went to Whole Foods and got some takeout, and settled in for the night. Dan is crashed now, and I don’t blame him.

Our plan for tomorrow is to spend the day knocking around Santa Fe. We’ve had enough driving for a couple of days!