Deep in the Heart of Texas

Captain's Log: Day 14

Last week, the Eldest went back to school.  We had a fabulous summer with her this year, and it is so much fun to see her becoming her own person, with her own friends and adventures.  This summer, she not only worked as a nanny and tutor for a couple of families, but she also got some experience working at an occupational therapy center for kids.  She found time to go on a few getaways to various places in California with her high school friends, who were all back in town for the summer.  She definitely lived her best life!

At the start of the summer, we shipped her car home from Texas so that everyone had access to a car, and she planned to drive it back to school in August.  She made a week of it, spending time with family friends and a long weekend with one of her besties whose family moved to Phoenix after she graduated.  I flew down to meet her in Phoenix on Monday, and after having breakfast with her and her friend, we hit the road to Texas. 

When I was a kid, my dad worked for the University of Phoenix and literally commuted from Denver to Phoenix every week for over a year.  I am scarred with the memory of driving down there once, only to have my mom get sick (probably with the flu or something like that), which forced us to stay in a small apartment because it was 1,000 degrees outside.  I’m sure it was only a day because my mom rarely gets sick and rallies very quickly when she does come down with something, but to my childhood memory, that one day was equivalent to like five days, and I felt like we were cooped up in hell and would never be free or cool again.  To add insult to injury, I distinctly remember watching The Land Before Time, where I was further traumatized by the death of Littlefoot’s mom.  It was not a happy time.  So to me, while Arizona has its own beauty (and I do really love the northern part of the state), Phoenix = hot, dry and sadness.

The lower part of New Mexico is quite similar.  I-10 is a nice long, flat, straight ride.  We powered through that baby in no time, stopping only once at a rest stop with strangely short bathroom doors that came up to my shoulder and could easily be looked over.  (Ew…don’t even want to know the reasoning for that one…) We hit El Paso right around rush hour and pulled up to a border patrol checkpoint soon after getting through the city. This brought an enormous amount of anxiety to the Eldest because she was sure that we would be pulled over and searched, but alas, we just had to claim that we were U.S. Citizens and were on our way.  We had an epic meal at Wendy’s for dinner because there really is not a whole lotta civilization in that part of the country and eventually found ourselves at a very comfortable Hampton Inn in Fort Stockton, Texas that night.  It was fascinating how the oil fields looked like cities at night, but you really couldn’t see anything during the day. 

The next day, we pushed on to Austin, where we would stay the night and then the Eldest would take me to the airport before finishing the drive to school herself.  It makes it so much easier to move back into college when you’re living exactly where you were the last year and you don’t have to move back in!  The highlight of that day’s drive, was when we got honked at by the last pickup truck in a five truck convoy.  The Eldest was totally mortified because people just don’t do that sort of thing these days, but this midlife mama was absolutely tickled that people still honked, waved and flirted between cars in this day and age.  I actually considered flashing them for a quick second…but the frontal lobe won that battle, because really, who wants to see 47 year old boobs in a non-sexy everyday utility bra?  Our trip also took us through the Texas Wine Country, which is apparently quite up and coming, although I can’t say that I’ve ever been to a restaurant or bar where they’ve served wine from Texas.  I'm going to make it my personal quest to order some if I ever do see it on a menu. I also think it would be a lot of fun to spend a long weekend wine tasting in Fredericksburg to see what it’s all about out there - especially living so close to the Wine Country here in California, so that may be an adventure for another day.  It was quite a cute little area, and after a day and a half of straight and flat, the Hill Country was beautiful and welcome.

Once we made it to Austin, we relaxed in our hotel for a bit before heading out to walk around shops in the Domain, which is a trendy shopping and living area.  We had dinner and ice cream and spontaneously completed our mission to get permanent bracelets together when we happened upon a store that did them.  We had been talking about that for years, and now every time I look at my wrist, I will smile and think of this adventure.  The next morning, we said our goodbyes at the airport, and the Eldest headed off to her junior year!

P.S. We also decided that this was a one and done trip - next time we're shipping the car back and forth!

Weather: Hot and sunny.