-
Ballooning above Plano
Chris’ mom got us a ride on a hot air balloon on Friday morning for the Plano Balloon Fest. I was leery of going because of some previous accidents in which I was thrown out of some boats and some really bumpy airplane rides, but the ride was pretty smooth. We didn’t go far or high due to zero wind and I wasn’t that appreciative of the guide bumping the treeline on purpose, but it was fun to see. I definitely wouldn’t do it again but if you don’t have issues with heights I’d would suggest going!
-
Sunday Morning Thoughts
I was on my Flickr account the other day when I stumbled across this photo tucked into our gardening section. Ah, it makes me miss all of my plants. That is a variegated vanilla orchid and one of our favorite plants. We had several types of vanilla and because of Chris’ super awesome watering system on the porch they became very, very long vines. We cut them into sections to sell when we sold all of our plants. A few plants are still at Chris’ dad’s house but otherwise everything we had is gone. I think I miss our ylang-ylang tree the most, mostly because I grew that thing from…
-
Trail Tales 5: Hot Springs to Erwin
Relevant posts: Spring in Erwin We’d heard from our friend Thin Mint had said that the climb out of Hot Springs was one of her favorites and it wasn’t a let down. As you leave Hot Springs you walk along the river front for awhile until you climb up onto the ridge and head on out of town. We saw two snakes on our way out of town, this one and a water snake down near the river. On our way out of town we ran into On the Loose who was slackpacking her way back into Hot Springs. Slackpacking is where one gets dropped off at a certain distance…
-
Texas Roadtrip: Caprock Canyon State Park
Our first stop on our road trip was out to Caprock Canyon State Park. We took U.S. 287 from Fort Worth out past Mineral Wells Wichita Falls, a town I’d never been too and I was surprised that it was a decent sized city, and on into the rugged, western setting of Texas. We thought we’d prepared and brought everything but once on the road we realized we’d forgotten our dinners. We’d decided to buy those heat and serve frozen meals, like Berrtolli or Stouffers, since they are easy to cook and pretty tasty so we pulled over into a dinky little town with a tiny grocery store to buy…
-
Trail Tales 4: Davenport Gap to Hot Springs
Relevant posts: Max Patch Bald When we left the Smokies we ended up at the Standing Bear Farm Hostel. It wasn’t our intended destination but once we heard about pizza and soda’s we were easily adaptable. We arrived around 5pm and the place was packed. The people we thought we wouldn’t see again were staying there for nearo’s and zero’s and it was an all out party. The hostel itself was kinda neat, rustic and such, but I was peeved that the bunkhouses were full and we had to tent. To boot we had to pay the same price for tenting as if we were in the bunkhouse. Probably one…
-
Roadtrip Roundup
What I thought was a milkweed bug, but I’m not sure so someone id it for me, on a yellow flower in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Check out the pollen it’s kicking up at the top right! Our whirlwind road trip across Texas is now over. Somewhere in the middle to late part of the trip I got a little exhausted thinking in photos. Thinking about what to shoot, angles, techniques and trying to go above and beyond. It was just a bit too much, I think. When we got to the beach on Mustang Island I just wanted to sit and be, to relax and love the water…
-
Waiting for the Stars….
For some reason the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department decided that putting Wi-Fi at their state parks would be a good idea. I’d say that mostly this is a good idea, except that it probably isn’t because then people like me end up online. But that’s ok, I’m watching a line of brown pelicans casually fly across Copano Bay while the moon is pushing half full, the first star is out (or is it a planet…?) and the yellow orange glow of sunset is still lingering. I’m really just waiting for the stars to fully come out so I can practice some night photography. Maybe I will come out with…
-
Wildlife in Dinosaur Valley SP
Our biggest wildlife score was seeing a fox run across the main park road one evening as we did an evening ‘animal run’. Dusk and dawn are the best chances to see wildlife, usually deer, but this fox crossed the road. It startled me at first and I went through coyote, wolf, and bobcat before I registered that it was a fox. Chris even had to say the name before I could get it out. Mr. (Ms?) Grey Fox was nice enough to linger in the grass long enough for Chris to grab his camera. Then it took off running! Of course there were plenty of deer! I’m trying to…
-
Around Downtown Granbury
On our way home from Dinosaur Valley State Park we stopped in Granbury to walk around. There was a biker festival going on and the square was ‘happening’. I love small Texas towns but I also love visiting the county seats of these towns because of the very cool, old fashioned courthouses. I didn’t take many photos but here is what I got. I’m trying not to go to Starbucks. I actually love Starbucks but I am trying to make an effort to drink coffee at home but also to buy from local shops instead of big chains. This was a very cute shop with so many flavors to add…
-
Trail Tales 3: Great Smokey Mountain National Park
Pertinent Posts: 5 Days in the Smokies Clean Clothes—the illusion of cleanliness After taking two zero’s in a row most of the people we’d been hiking with were ahead of us. It was a little disheartening knowing that you had to start over with people again. Our only hope was that folks would get off for a zero or nearo in Gatlinburg and we would see people again. We set off from Fontana Dam and said goodbye to Chris’ mom and stepdad and we were off. The Smokey’s weren’t quite as annoying as the White’s when dealing with shelters, but it was still frustrating. No stealth camping is allowed and…