Westward Ho!

Days 1 and 2 (October 20 and 21, 2014)--San Antonio and Alpine

It took forever to pack, and the back of the SUV was completely loaded down, but we did, indeed make it out of Corpus Christi on time on October 20, after stopping to participate in early voting for the November election. 

The difficulty in packing for 7 weeks on the road came in planning for temperatures from the 30s in Vail to the 90s in Palm Springs...so we pretty much emptied our our closets!  That first time we actually had to get into the bins to get something quickly led to some testy exchanges and frustrated looks...but I do believe this trip can be saved!

Just out of Corpus Christi, we ran into a strong thunderstorm--the type for which a driver should pull over.  We did, especially after the driver in front of us hydroplaned and spun out on the road, directly in front of us, and then bogged down in the saturated median between the highway and the frontage road!  What a way to start out--but he seemed to be fine so we continued on, cautiously.

By the time we arrived in San Antonio, the weather was clear.  We went to our friend Randy's house for an overnight visit, which is always enjoyable.  We went to see the new movie, "Pride," showing at the Santikos Bijou theatre, which always shows those good independent and foreign films that don't make it to Corpus Christi.  This was an excellent film about the Welsh miners' strike in 1984, and the support they received from an outcast group of London gays and lesbians.  It was neither preachy nor smarmy--a very good movie which I highly recommend.

Randy always has great suggestions for dinner.  After the movie, we went to Darna, an Indian restaurant on Fredericksburg Road-wow!  What a feast, and economical, too!  We had chicken kabobs and shawarma.  Our server welcomed us with a sampling of hummus, babba ganouch (sp) tabouli, and delicious bread.  Total bill was about $35 for the three of us.  I would definitely go back!

My only complaint so far is with my persistent outbreak of gout, which has rendered me a gimp since last Friday.  I thought it would pass before I left, but it didn't, so I called my doctor from San Antonio and he promptly prescribed meds which I was able to quickly obtain from a nearby HEB,  Getting better now!

Took the I-10 route from San Antonio west to Fort Stockton, then south to Alpine.  Alpine is a beautiful little town I've visited three or four times in the past.  The weather was markedly cooler when we arrived--in the 50s last night.  we had a bottle of wine and a light dinner at a local bar / restaurant called The Saddle Club, and then called it a night a the local Hampton Inn, where we will stay until Thursday morning.  For Wednesday, the plan is Marfa and the Chinati Foundation, with dinner at Cochineal, in honor of our friend Todd!!!

dse


Comments

  1. JanisOctober 22, 2014 at 7:56 PM

    You're proof that baba ganoush (sp?) is for real! Glad you made it safely.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ScottOctober 23, 2014 at 4:44 AM

    Would you believe it's the second time I've had baba ganoush (sp!) this week? If I'm going to eat it, I better learn how to spell it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. giraffeintexasNovember 10, 2014 at 12:13 PM

    I've stayed in that Hampton Inn...small world.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Day at the Courthouse

Just another "Texan Tall Tale".... “They look so young,” the gray-haired woman said wistfully to her spouse as she looked toward the counter on the opposite side of the small courthouse lobby.  He smiled and nodded in agreement. She had spied the youthful couple when they entered the building, holding hands and smiling as they strode confidently across the linoleum floor, across to the window marked, “County Clerk—Marriage Licenses.”   Seeing them made her think of a day long ago when she and her beau had taken that same walk. The woman began to create a story in her mind about the youngsters as she saw them being greeted by the clerk.  She imagined the young man to be named Mark, like her grandson.  In fact, he looked a bit like him. The girl?  She looked like a “Kelli” or “Brandi,” or some other name that could end with either “i” or “y.”  They’d probably met at college, through mutual friends, no doubt.  They looked comfortable with one another, she though
Read more

An Open Letter to My President

January 21, 2017   The President The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: As a proud citizen of the United States, I want to extend my congratulations to you on the occasion of your inauguration.  The events of this weekend, starting with the words of your speech, all the way through the many demonstrations across the country in response to your ascent to the highest, most respected office in our great country, have moved me to write to you, my president . My president .  Many, like me, have struggled with that notion.  Many Americans have decided that they cannot refer to you as such.  They, like me, did not support you, nor did they vote for you.  They, like me, have been alternately baffled, amused, and frightened by the things you have said and done in the past months.  Though many of my friends and loved ones who did support you suggest that we take you seriously rather than literally, others, like me, are deeply
Read more

We Fear What We Don't Understand

Bathrooms.  Who would have thought we would be talking so much about such private, yet shared experiences? Today, March 7, Senate Bill 6 will be heard in the Senate State Affairs Committee at the State Capitol.  Authored by Sen. Lois Kohlkorst (R-Brenham), the bill aims to restrict access for transgender persons to restrooms and other facilities. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has made bathroom access one of his top priorities this session, and his message sounds an alarm: “Menacing men dressed as women are preparing to assault our children and womenfolk!”   Mrs. Kohlkorst, ironically channeling former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, wrote an opinion piece that appeared in several Texas newspapers this weekend, in which she wrote, “Women’s rights are human rights.”  She also wrote that opponents of SB 6 seemingly have only one goal in mind—to let boys and men into women’s restrooms to prey on girls and women.  “Young men who are ‘curious,’” she wrote, “or hold mor
Read more