A La Playa

For BH's birthday, I orchestrated a trip down to the coast--for just the two of us. It was going to be a surprise, but then when all of the thyroid b.s. came up, I felt like I needed to tell him because, there was a time when I wasn't sure we'd be able to go.

It had been at least 20 years since I'd been down to Port Aransas, and longer than that for BH. As I've mentioned before, he's an avid birder, and Port A is known as a great birding destination, especially in the fall/spring when migratory species are passing through. And me? I just like what the ocean air does to my hair. So I knew it was going to be a win-win as far as we were concerned.

We took off on Thursday morning, and 200 miles and 1/2 tank of gas later, we were there. We stayed at a nice studio apartment in a big ol' beach house that was not beachfront but only required a short walk to stick one's toes in the surf.

We went and watched birds.

We drank fruity drinks.

We ate insanely unhealthy and inexpensive breakfasts.

We watched more birds.

We visited Mustang Island State Park as well as the Padre Island National Seashore.

Then, the next day, we went to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where we saw a pair of whooping cranes and some alligators. And we saw hardcore birders, which are kind of a species unto themselves, what with their spotting scopes and "birding talk" and all.

We saw the moon rise over the ocean.

The weather was excellent and the crowds were thin. All in all, it was pretty perfect.

On the way back to Austin on Sunday, we came back via Goliad and stopped at Goliad State Park to check out the mission and the campgrounds. Very pretty.

And the whole way there and back, we saw INSANE amounts of gorgeous wildflowers. Hwy 123 between San Marcos and Seguin was absolutely breathtaking.

What a GREAT way to spend the weekend.

Sunday drives are good for the soul.

After what felt like an eternity, Austin finally FINALLY got a couple of days of good, solid, soaking rain at the end of last week. It didn't do much to put a dent in our nearly 2-year long drought, but it did momentarily cool things down and dampen things up. However, by Sunday, BH, the Geej and I were all a little stir crazy from too much time being held captive indoors by the weather.

My bird-loving, wildlife biologist husband had told me a few days before that the lovely little hamlet of Johnson City had been having quite a problem with wild turkeys recently--lots of birds bugging the hell out of residents. At that time I informed him that, aside from a pet turkey named Elvira that had wandered around Camp Huawni one summer in the mid-1980s, I'd never seen wild turkeys, you know, doing their thing in the wild. Well this, coupled with the cabin fever, was reason enough for the three of us to pile in the Honda for a little road trip yesterday morning.

The skies were cloudy and it was in the low 70s. The landscape had already greened up a bit in a few short days, and the drive out of town and through the hills to the west was lovely.

Once we got there, we slowly drove around in some of the neighborhoods until--BINGO--a hen and three juvenile turkeys (called "poults"), hanging out in someone's front yard. Awesome. We continued driving around looking for more turkeys, and we encountered this little fella. He was just hanging out, staring at some goats in someone's side yard, and his cuteness nearly killed me. He's like a cross between a schnauzer and a dachsund. What a sweetie! A short while later we encountered an ass ton of turkeys in the common area of a little post-war apartment complex near a creek bottom lined with old oaks (which is apparently where turkeys like to hang out). Seriously, people! There were even more than this that I couldn't get in my shot. I'm not sure why I was so fascinated and delighted by this sight. I guess it's because when all you really see in your yard are mockingbirds, white wing dove, billions of stupid grackles and the occasional blue jay or cardinal, the thought of having a whole flock of this huge, strange birds on my lawn is sort of mind blowing.

We kept on driving around this adorable little town, where soon, I found my dream house.

And we marveled at the gorgeous grey skies with the occasional patch of bright blue peeking through. We wondered what it would be like to live on an old farm and be surrounded by nothing but nature for miles around.

And finally, before leaving town, we braved the after-church crowds to eat lunch at the local diner that specializes in good old home cookin' and features menus made of Xeroxed sheets of paper glued on to grocery bags.

All in all, a very nice way to spend a Sunday.

Things are about to change.

I've got a confession to make: when it comes to Texas, I've never been west of Llano. I mean, yes, I've been to the panhandle. Twice. But the panhandle is its own thing. West Texas is like a whole other country, with high deserts, mountains, canyons, and miles and miles of nothingness. It's what people who've never been to Texas think of when they think of Texas. And I've never been there.

Where we're going will change this.

In Austin, it is humid and sticky and--at the same time--bone dry. Hotter than hell with no rain to help break the monotony of the dog days. Even at nearly 10pm, it's still 86 degrees outside. The place where we're going? It gets down into the 50s each night.

BH and I haven't been alone with each other--sans kids--in...well, it's been a while. Where we're going, we're going to be alone. Blissfully alone with each other.

No agenda and no plans other than let's just get there.

Marfa, here we come.*

*Potential evildoers: Don't bother. We have a house-sitter, an alarm, and a vicious dog.

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Where we'll be this weekend.

Geej, BH and I are hitting the road to NE Texas tomorrow afternoon for a long-overdue trip to see family relations. BH's two sons were supposed to be coming with us, but the nearly-fourteen-year-old is acting like...well, a teenager...and boycotted the trip. Sigh.

I'm sure I'll have many tales and photos upon my return. In the meantime, please enjoy these puppies:

Broken in.

We took the new car on her first road trip this weekend: up to the D/FW area and back. And can I just say that it's official: I love her. She got 30 mpg, was comfortable, handled well, was quiet, and in general, just rocked. I even figured out how to re-program the automatic door locking thingamajig so that the locks will undo when you turn off the car (it was my only pet peeve, and now it's taken care of)!

BH and I went up there (w/out The Geej...she was with Dah) so that we could attend a high school friend of our's mom's surprise 60th b-day party. It was out at this GORGEOUS piece of property just east of Dallas, and there were about 150 people there, a band, catered food (including, by far, the most heavenly fried shrimp I've ever eaten in my entire life), tons of balloons and decorations, and huge, blown up photos of the guest of honor from all through her life. You could tell that she'd had a helluva lot of fun in her life (thus far) and was well loved by her friends and family. I just kept thinking, "Damn, when I turn 60, I hope I'm this happy and I have this many friends to help me celebrate." It was pretty amazing.

Today we had breakfast at...wait for it...THE WAFFLE HOUSE in Mesquite. Just so you know, I had mine scattered, covered and smothered. We ate with the future brother and sister-in-law (who'd also been at the party the night before). First up, let me just say, I LOVE the BIL and SIL to be. They are fun as Hell, and have been happily married for 22 years. (They were Jr. High School sweethearts, and have been together ever since.) I pretty sure the reason they have such a happy marriage is because they really make each other laugh. You can tell how much they enjoy being around each other when you hang out with them. It's inspirational and completely sincere.

Today we took Hwy. 281 back to Austin so that we could pick up the Geej at Dah's house on the way home. I'd never been that way before, and once you got west/south of Cleburne, it was a GORGEOUS drive--hilly, and green, with TONS of wildflowers, especially Indian Blankets, straddling the road.

Do I have any photos to document this wonderful weekend? Why, no. I'm a dork and left my camera at home.

It was a good Mother's Day. When we got home, BH worked on our new flower bed, mowed the back yard and then (drumroll please) went to the grocery store to do the weekly shopping!! I swear, this was like a gift from the gods. I seem to spend every Sunday afternoon at the damn grocery store (Geej in tow, of course), and really, that's the LAST place I want to be since I work at a grocery store Monday thru Friday. So yeah. It was freakin' awesome.

Oh, and then we cooked out on the grill and had an awesome supper on this wonderful cool, spring evening.

Yes, life is good.

By the way: To all you mommies out there (you know who you are...most of you on on the blogroll there on the right) HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! You all rock, hardcore.