Texas Radio and the Big Bend

This Blog is a long time coming. I recently rediscovered my pictures from the little point and shoot Canon and saw that plenty of them were post-worthy. We spent about 2 weeks in Texas before heading back north, but the first week or so was mostly spent in cities (Houston and Austin). Luckily we got some time off of the Interstates and into the countryside.
We found out about a Scenic Drive between Austin and Del Rio which takes Farm to Market routes off of the only slightly larger main road. Every few miles there were stream crossings with flood warning signs and water level indicators, but only once did we encounter a flooded road which was just barely wide enough to drive over. We decided to use the skills we learned playing all those hours of Oregon Trail and Ford the River! We made it across safely with all of our Oxen, Supplies and sense of adventure intact.

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The road did have some great photo ops. I'd never been able to capture beams of light poking through clouds so well before. I've always found that to be particularly beautiful.

We stopped for lunch (Subway and Blueberries) at a picnic area along the road. It overlooked the Rio Frio, and further investigation found it overlooked many piles of bones too. This bonesy was nearest to the road and perfectly bleached by the sun.



The aforementioned Rio Frio. This was one of the nicest days we encountered all winter (~60) so I was ready to jump in.

We took another scenic drive on a whim when we got sick of the I-10 and took the nearest exit. We were heading towards "Attwater Prarie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge" but went through the back way which was locked. We never did get to see any Prarie Chickens but we did see some great scenery.

Part of the reason for this trip was to find a place where we belong and might want to settle down. A big part of that for us was meeting people we connected with. We met a few such people, always by chance and with a little bit of social skill.
These people pulled up next to us in their VW van while we were enjoying a meal from Taco Cabana. We have always admired these models and assumed that the owners must be cool too. So on the pretense of throwing out some trash, I ran into the owners and said "Oh, hey, is this your van? We were admiring it..." Turns out, they WERE cool and we ended up having an hour long conversation about travelling in vans and cool places we must visit in the country. They were very much in love, too and we could relate to them pretty well. I was glad I made the leap to say Hello as I would have missed out on a great experience if I had just kept walking past.

We also met some Dirty Kids in Austin. While they aren't quite on the same path as us, they are always great to get to know. I had a great conversation with the owner of this jacket and I hope to run into him at the Mystic Garden Party this year! (We missed each other last summer.)

Eventually we made our way to Big Bend National Park, which I'd heard about from my Aunt Pammy. We only got to stay one night because of family affairs making it necessary to drive back north, but we had a blast and now have a better idea of what to do next time.

While we were at the Panther Junction Station to buy a national parks pass and some hiking guides, a sounder of Javelinas crossed the parking lot. I leapt out of the van with the camera and chased them into some brush, where this guy and I shared a moment.

We spent one night at a campground at Chisos Basin, and when we woke up in the morning the campground, mountains and roads were dusted with snow. It was a brutal winter all over the country, but we were in the desert on the border with Mexico with 20 degree weather and snow. Quite a sight! 

Later that day, things were clear enough for the road to reopen and we found that there was little snow on the ground and temperatures were a pleasant 40.

Jim shot this picture of me getting the above picture.

Outside of big bend, there were acres of farmland. Texas has way more species of deer than I ever knew existed.

This picture was technically taken in Arkansas, but I wanted to stick it in. The sky was incredible that night- the locals were as flabbergasted as us passers-through.

Oregon calls to me

We have fallen in love with Oregon. There's no better way to say it. The natural beauty, the kindness of the people, the sense of adventure. It's all there. And as a result, we decided to stay in Ashland a while longer (using the fact that we're waiting for a package as a flimsy excuse).

Look at this beautiful countryside!


Before we arrived in Oregon, we perused craigslist to find some likeminded people to spend time with. It turns out a couple of self proclaimed geeks were looking for another couple with whom to adventure. We decided the risk of running internet creeps was worth taking. So after the events of the Mystic Garden Party, we looked them up and arranged a meetup. Our rendezvous took place at a coffee shop called The Roasting Co. We quickly picked them out of the crowd by physical description and talked for a little while before heading the Senor Sams for some tasty burritos.

Afterwards we visited a gaming shop to pick up a fun travel game. One appealed to us so we plunked down the cash and were on our way to Lithia Park for a rowsing game of Space Munchkin. A dip in the river later, we visited our new friends' house and watched half of Team America. However, allergies to their adorable pets forced me to depart before the movie's conclusion. All in all it was a good night.

A scenic sunset drive later, we were back at Jumping Joe's in Hugo and we went to bed, content.
A couple of days later, we decided to meet our new friends again. This time, they invited us to Lake of the Wood, a beautiful lake in the mountains of Oregon.



That's Mt. McLoughlin in the background. It's beautiful peak is pretty much what I think of when I think of mountains.

The drive over there was something else. Plenty of winding roads and sharp turns running through an amazing forest of towering Ponderosa Pines. Our friends led the way in their truck.



On the way, we spied with our little eye, something brown!



A wild cow, just grazing by the side of the highway. We wanted to stop but we had to avoid the temptation lest we lose our guides in the process.





Before long, we arrived at the lake. Instantly, we decided that we wanted to camp there. It was a bit pricey, but it was so beautiful that we couldn't resist. We were crushed to find out that there weren't any RV spots left so we kept a stiff upper lip and went to the marina to rent a watercraft.

Initially, we rented a canoe and had a wild time racing with Kris and Ivory. There were a bunch of close calls and near collisions but we eventually got the hang of it. After about an hour, we returned to the dock to requisition something with a little more horsepower.

We rented a small powerboat with a 6 horsepower engine and zipped around the lake at a severely underwhelming speed. Regardless, we have to think of safety first. Behold! We are positively buoyant!





In our search for a prime swimming spot, we ran into some ducks having a girl's night out. Before long they were intruded upon by a flock of males on the prowl.



After a nice cruise, we docked at a floating dock. The ladies took a refreshing dip while Kris and I worked on our tans.




By this point it was starting to get late so we began to make our way back. Reluctantly, we left the Lake of the Woods in our rear view and prepared for a scenic drive back to Ashland, where we would spend the night.



Who should we see on the way back but our good friend A Cow! As he was still grazing away by the side of the road, we decided to pay him a visit.



Unfortunately, being the cautious cow he is, he did not appreciate our intrusion and beat a lazy escape into the wood.



He must have been a Holy Cow because something magical happened this day. Our animal related wishes began to come true. "Oh Dear!" Angelica exclaimed, and moments later we saw some deer! We were too surprised to take a photo so we decided to experiment. "Oh bunnies!" I shouted out. "Oh goats and donkeys" we called out.

Sure enough, one by one they began to appear:









Completely satisfied with our day we drove back to our favorite place in Ashland: The Jackson Wellsprings and rested our weary heads.

Cross Country

Driving across the country, we found some absolutely beautiful scenery. Everytime we got to a new state, we said "Now this is the best state yet!" We are in Oregon now, and of course it's our favorite so far.

We also got to reconnect with some more family in Minnesota/Wisconsin. That's my mom's cousins and their husbands, and pets. I have always loved lakes but unfortunately there was some unseasonably cold weather so we didn't get to jump in!

Driving through Nevada, we came across this car. We stopped to give him a jump, but the car was empty, and there was a ticket on the window, dated 2 days before. It makes you wonder where a disabled person went off to in the middle of a desert.

We found a sand dune on the way through Nevada. Of course we stopped to roll down it!

I have always loved the image of the road stretching off into the distance. Nevada was great for scenery like this.

Our van in front of the mountian scenery of Nevada. We climbed up a hill to check out an abandoned cement building and to get a better look around us.

We just couldn't get enough of Nevada. After so much farmland, we welcomed the desert and the mountains. Needless to say, we got out of the van dozens of times to take pictures and take in the view. Once at nighttime, we even stopped the van and climbed on top to look at the amazing stars.

We finally made it to Oregon last night, just in time to see the sunset. The terrain changed from desert with low-lying brush to desert with tall pine trees, and then farmland with mountains all around. So far we love the Northwest!

Later this week, we are going to find the place where my dad and his friends had a commune. It turns out that it is located in Ashland, where we will be, and that Ashland was one of his favorite places. How serendipitous!