Today is our last day on the road for the winter, so I’m thinking positively about Brownsville, at the Tip o’ Texas. It’s where we spent last winter, and Tracy loves it there. I am going to learn to. I was actually getting the hang of the place at about the end of the three […]
Tag: texas
Things That Move Along the Shore
The land here on Padre Island National Seashore is like one long, flat sand dune. We watch northern harriers fly beside the shoreline hunting for rodents and we see crested caracaras perch on the few high spots to peer into the grasses. A healthy-sized coyote stared us down along the road, and (I mentioned this […]
Happy Funhouse of Light Thanksgiving
I was about to say that I should post on Thanksgiving if only to commemorate where we are, since I love looking back at anniversaries. There was our first Thanksgiving in the beautiful Everglades, the next one boondocking in windy Joshua Tree, then camping right in New Orleans (which feels like last week, not last […]
Not Feeling Insta-worthy in Galveston
I gotta admit, my life on the road right now is not what it looks like on my Instagram feed. Shocking, I know. For example, I considered calling this post, “My Day with a Urine Hat.” Part of our annual trip through Texas is seeing our doctors in Houston, which is stressful in the best […]
I Got the Bigger Half
That’s what my friend, Karen, and I used to say when we were little to my mom as she fixed us lunch. “I want the bigger half!” My mom tried to explain that that’s not how “half” works, but we didn’t care. We were having fun being together and just wanted something to say about […]
Hello, North Texas
Just a quick post here, as our first day near Dallas/Ft. Worth is full of errands so I should get going. Hico That top image is from the small town of Hico, where we spent one night on our way north from Austin. It’s a super charming town, with a revitalized main street and shopping […]
Highs, Lows, and Weird in ATX
There is so much about Austin, Texas, that maybe once was weird but now is American cliche. Young people with long, groomed beards and handlebar mustaches. Statement eyeglass frames, cowboy boots with 70s-style jumpsuits. Putting your toddler in a t-shirt with a portrait of Ruth Badger Ginsberg on it. As I say anytime I start […]
Austin = D.C. with Cowboy Hats
I joked last night to Tracy that Austin, Texas, seems just like Washington, D.C. but with different hats. He looked around, at the hordes of sweaty soccer players and the hipster parents with feral children—all at the brewery where we were sitting—and he totally agreed. Except that the only cowboy hats around were on the […]
What 10 Million Bats Looks Like
They don’t look like anything I can describe, is what they look like. There is no way to capture in a photograph, or even a video, the enormity and beauty of this many animals moving all at once, together as a colony and individually as mammals, feeding. They fly together, and they fly into each […]
Hiking Texas’ Hill Country
My Texan friend, Karen, told me that this central region (the Edwards Plateau) is lovely, and right she is; it’s unlike any part of Texas we’ve seen. Not to imply Texas is generally unlovely, but this area is special. We’re in Garner State Park, along the Rio Frio, west of San Antonio. Right now it’s […]