Pros and Cons to Vacationing in West Texas

Pros to vacationing in West Texas:

-There are neat historical sites.
-There are neat state and national parks.
-If you are into lots of space, this are is for you. Everything is really spread out and there is ton of space.
-There are long scenic drives.
-Life is just different here.
-There are mountains and desert areas.
-The stars are amazing!
-It is a different experience everyone should experience.
-There are great "Mom & Pop" restaurants to try.
-You can see/touch Mexico without a lot of trouble.
-State and National Park employees are great--nice, polite, helpful.
-Spending precious time with my niece & nephew, making memories, and sharing great adventures & experiences.  These moments are priceless!



Cons to vacationing in West Texas:

-Most chain restaurants & hotels have not made it to these towns.
-It is not easy finding local eateries.
-It is not easy finding websites or Facebook pages for local eateries.  (I guess they don't really have to put their info out there for the world.)
-They haven't heard of gluten, don't know how to pronounce it, don't know what it is, and don't always have the most nutritional choices for those needing to be gluten free.

-Gas stations are few and far between.

-Gas is much more expensive (it is about $0.60+ more than when/where we left). I guess this is b/c there are so few stations, and they can charge whatever they want.

-Not sure I would choose this part of the state for a "girls only" weekend.
-Although you can drive 70-80 on the major highways and 70 on the state highways, you don't get anywhere fast b/c everything is so spread out.

-Restaurant owners, greeters, and waiters/waitresses are not nearly as friendly, welcoming, or courteous.

-You easily sunburn and sweat.  

Summer Vacation 2014--Day 6

Today, we headed back, but we wanted to see what we could visit along the way.

During breakfast, we discussed our plan for the day.  We could either see anything else they wanted there near Ft. Davis (really, not much left) and then see whatever was available in the towns along I-10 on the way back OR we could go to Big Bend National Park and then see whatever we could along I-10 on the way back if it wasn't too late.  

We decided to go to Big Bend National Park.  We overlooked the Rio Grande Valley, saw the Rio Grande River, and looked across to Mexico while at the Hot Springs area.

My GPS said BBNP was a little over an hour away from Alpine, where we had out motel.  Well, that wasn't exactly true.  That must have been to the northern most point, but that was fine.  I can't remember how far it was to Marathon and then it was 70 miles to the park "gate" and then 2 miles to the check-in and then 26 miles to Panther Junction (kind of in the middle) and then 20+ miles to the Rio Grande Overlook and Hot Springs.  All was fine. Let's just say that I didn't adhere to the 45 mph in the park.  Too dang slow!  We figured we would actually see the Rio Grande River at the Rio Grande Overlook.  Nope!  We went to the Hot Springs, and we found water (a stinky portion of the river) and could see Mexico across. To get in and out of the Hot Springs area, you had to drive on the edge of a cliff (literally).  There were rocks jutting out on the passenger's side and nothing but drop off on the driver's side.  Yes, I was driving.  I was unnerved! There is one way in and one way out.  We went back to Panther Junction (had to get gas) and then back to Marathon.

We got to experience Border Patrol on our way back--3 officers and a dog.

Make sure you have plenty of gas in this part of the state.  Gas in Marathon was $3.95 a gallon, and it was $3.80-$3.85 in the Park.

The next town we came to was Fort Stockton.  Still not a lot of choices for places to eat.FYI:  They have no idea what gluten is, what it is in or not in, or even how to pronounce it.  Do not go to Subway b/c they do not have gluten free bread or Thousand Island dressing.  Also, the Sonic Manager was not friendly either, and thanks to him, we just ate on the road as we drove.  I was never more ready to leave a town than I was Fort Stockton today.

Our final stop was in Ingram where there is a replica of Stonehenge and the statues on Easter Island.  When I visited Stonehenge in England in June 1994, I was so disappointed I couldn't go stand in the very center.  I got to do that today in Ingram!

Summer Vacation 2014--Day 5

As we drove from Alpine to the Fort Davis Historic Site, we stopped to read two Historical Markers along the way.  One was the first location of a school back in the 1800s.  The other was the ruins of a ranch home of a pioneer, which was abandoned in 1854.  It was later used as a Ranger Station from 1880-1882.

We decided to stop at the Chihuahuan Desert and Nature Center too.  It had a botanical garden completely made up of native plants to the Fort Davis Mountains and Chihuahuan Desert.  We walked through the botanical garden and a cacti greenhouse.  We then took a hike down to a creek, which we thought had water in it, but it did not.  It had a mine with items actually used in mining.  We thought it was a working mine or an area where the kids could mine, but it was not.  More of a little museum dedicated to mining. While it is situated in the desert area, it was a neat experience.  Take bug spray and sunscreen or an umbrella.

At Fort Davis Historic Site, we watched a movie about the history of Fort Davis and visited the museum.

We then walked the Fort.  A few of the buildings were open as museums for us to see how life would have been.  When comparing life there then to life now, they are very different.

We asked a few people at the Fort for lunch recommendations.  They told us about the Fort Davis Drug Store, Lupita's, and Cueva de Leon.  We decided on the Fort Davis Drug Store for lunch and we would choose one of the other restaurants for dinner.

We arrived for a late lunch, somewhere between 12:30 & 1:00.  It was a "seat yourself" kind of place, and it was full, so we waited. The people in front of us got tables, and then we took a table--a little small, but with 5 chairs.  During this 15-20 minutes, no one greeted us or even spoke to us.  We sat at the table for several minutes before a waiter came to clear part of the table from the former patrons.  He said he would get menus and a waitress.  Didn't happen.  We waited and waited.  Either Mom or my sister-in-law went and found menus.  We changed to a larger table.  Still no waitress.  Finally, a waitress walked by, and my sister-in-law stopped her and asked her to get us a waitress.  You should have seen the look the waitress gave my sister-in-law and heard the tone she used.  If there was anywhere else to eat, we would have left!  Once our waitress showed up, things got a little better.  She was kind, apologetic, and took our order.  However, a very large group of ladies came in after us and got their orders well before us.  Thank goodness the food was delicious (or maybe we were just starving).  By the time we left, we had been in there well over an hour and a half to two hours.  

Not only are towns few and far between in this part of the state, but restaurants are few and far between in each town.  Also, they do not have the best customer service.

We decided to go back to Balmorhea State Park to swim until dinner.

After our swim, we went to Cueva de Leon for a Mexican buffet of fajitas, enchiladas, rice, beans, and more.

We ended our night with a visit to the McDonald Observatory.  The view of the stars was AMAZING!!  We were able to look through telescopes after the constellation discussion to see Saturn, Mars, a galaxy, and a nebula.

Summer Vacation 2014--Day 4

When my niece and nephew were tiny, my brother and sister-in-law took them to the Fort Davis area on a rare family vacation that did not include Mom and me.  We did a little research, figured out how far it was, and decided to go for a weekend.  We hit the highway by 8:00 am and headed west.

We made it to Fort Stockton for a late lunch.  FYI:  They do not have anything gluten free at Pizza Hut except salad.  That just is not enough when you have gone that long without a snack.

When making this drive, you must get gas whenever you are in civilization b/c the towns are few and very far between.  Also, make sure you have snacks and water on all trips and blankets/coats during the winter.

We decided to drive straight to Balmorhea State Park to swim.  It is a spring with fish and turtles.  The water seems really cold when you are getting in, but once your body is in, you don't notice the cold at all.  I wish there was more shade around the swimming area.

When we finished swimming, we decided to go find our Value Lodge in Alpine.  I got a really good deal on this motel, and the pics looked decent for a family on a budget.  We weren't quite prepared for the dilapidated bathroom, but overall, the stay was fine.  You can tell the couple is working to fix up the place.  If you are used to fine hotels, this one is not for you.

We did a little research on places to eat.  We finally settled on a little Mexican food place.  When we arrived, we found it to be a house, and we noticed a sign saying they only took cash.  We made sure we had cash.  When we entered, we were greeted with "Do you have a reservation?"  We did not and had no idea we needed one.  Needless to say, we left.  We drove around town and saw a few saloons, but other than a McDonald's, we didn't see any place to eat that interested us or that looked kid friendly.  We decided to drive to Marfa to eat and then we could see the mysterious Marfa Lights on our way back.  We drove around Marfa and found even less than Alpine.  We finally found a restaurant, so we got out and went in.  Again, we were greeted with "Do you have a reservation?" Of course not! The waitress gave us a restaurant suggestion.  On our way out, a nice gentleman sitting at a table outside gave us the same suggestion.  Thank goodness for kind people!  We went to their suggestion--a Mexican food place.  We got out and went in.  This time we were not greeted with "Do you have a reservation?" but we did have to wait for them to clear a table.  The food was good, service was slow, and everyone in the place knew one another.

On our way back to the motel, we stopped at the Marfa Lights viewing area.  It was neat standing out in the cool summer wind watching the lights blink on and off making our own predictions.

Summer Vacation 2014--Day 3

Today, we went to the Cave Without a Name near Boerne.  We forgot to ask why it doesn't have a name, but we did enjoy our visit.  It is a fairly small cave--about a quarter of a mile in and a quarter of a mile back out.

They had a labyrinth outside, so I explained what they are and had my niece and nephew experience it.  They didn't quite get it, but they enjoyed walking around the "maze."  They had an area outside to pan for gems too.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch at Guadalupe River State Park and then we took a swim.

Summer Vacation 2014--Day 2

Today, we went to the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham.  After our tour of the factory and eating a heaping scoop of ice cream, we drove through Chappell Hill, which holds significance on Dad's Mom's Mom's side of the family, to Washington-on-the-Brazos, the birthplace of Texas.

The Barrington Living  History Farm was a big hit.  The lady on duty was completely in costume and in character.  She was great!

We stopped for photos at Junk Gypsy in Round Top.  Sadly, they weren't open.

Summer Vacation 2014--Day 1

On our first day of Summer Vacation with my niece and nephew, we went to the San Antonio Zoo.  The kids love visiting zoos, and we love doing what they love, so we braved the near 100 degree temps and visited the animals.  We rounded out our day trip with a train ride and picnic.

Educators on Summer Break

Educators, have you seen 26 Signs You’re a Teacher on Summer Break? Some of you will read it and immediately connect to several items on the list. 

My alarm has gone off 80-90% of my summer mornings.  When it hasn’t gone off, I’ve been up between 6:30 & 7:00 and out of bed soon after. I also know what most days are.  I have also been in professional dress 75% of my days off. Why?  Because my 2^nd and 3^rd jobs started the Tuesday after the year ended—teaching Summer Acceleration and writing 6^th gr Science curriculum.

There have been no beach visits & hammock swaying, or any other fun, relaxing days or activities either.  Summer is the time to get everything done that had to be put on the To Do List during the school year. I am cleaning out and cleaning up my grandmother’s house and cleaning up and reorganizing my house. This has been a huge, exhausting job.

My mind is constantly racing with ideas for the next school year, and I am reading various books and articles for ideas we can implement.

Yes, I do visit Pinterest looking for ideas for my house and school.  If I had children or some children to borrow, I would try out some of my new ideas. I had the energy, I would try out some of the ideas for the home I have found.

Sadly, because I have been so busy with housework, teaching, and curriculum writing, I have not visited the library. That doesn’t mean I haven’t read about 5 books since school let out.

Yes, my treadmill and BFF’s neighborhood streets are getting a workout.  I try to get 2-4 miles in a day.  More than when school is in session.

I hate deciding what to eat for lunch and dinner.  It just seems easier during the school year.

Yep!  An educator’s job is never finished.  We end working with one group and prepare to work with the next group. We read, find new ideas, think of ways to improve on last year, wonder about the new students and faculty, worry about those no long in our classrooms or schools, and prepare to make a difference in the lives of the students and teachers we will meet in August.

Resources:

Hudson, H. July 2, 2014.  26 Signs You’re a Teacher on Summer Break.

Retrieved from http://www.buzzfeed.com/weareteachers/26-signs-youre-a-teacher-on-summer-break-h0xt on July 12, 2014.

International Reading Association Conference in NOLA - Day 4

This morning, we got up early to hear P. David Pearson and Sharon Robinson, author and daughter of Jackie Robinson.

We went to a session on books for boys and got to hear Louise Borden, Tim Federle, and Barb Rosenstock.

More authors and illustrators:

We had our Poster Session from 11:00-12:00, and it went well.

We finished our day in NOLA by going to the St. Louise #1 cemetery and 9th Ward.

After a drive home and in some torrential rains for the last 2-3 hours, I was happy to be home and in my bed.

International Reading Association Conference in NOLA - Day 3

We got up before the crack of dawn again this morning to hear Dav Pilkey, author of Captain Underpants and other books.

We went to more great sessions all morning, and then we led our workshop from 3:00-5:00.  We had around 80 participants.

We grabbed Subway to eat in the hotel before we went out for our evening of fun -- Haunted Walking Tour with Witches Brew Tours.   It was a great tour, and we are so glad we did it.

Before we started on the tour.

Tour Guide

Halfway through the tour.

End of the tour

On or way back, we stopped at Harrah's and then tried to have dessert at Root, but it was closed.  We settled for ice cream cookie sandwiches from the hotel shop.

 Fun pictures from our morning:

International Reading Conference in NOLA - Day 2

We got up before the crack of dawn to have breakfast and get in line to see/hear Jeff Kinney, creator of Poptropica and author of the Wimpy Kid series.

Waiting in line.

Jeff Kinney

We spent all day going to sessions and learning so much, and we even skipped lunch!  By the time 5:00 rolled around, we were starving.  We tried an Italian restaurant between the Convention Center and our hotel, and it was good.  (I don't remember what it was called.)  We went back to the hotel to plan out our presentation for tomorrow.

After planning out everything, we decided to head out to the Nerdy Book Club gathering at a hotel a street over.  We had the privilege to meet Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild, and spent some time engrossed in education talk.

Heading out to have some fun!

The Triad with Donalyn Miller

We stayed up far too late for when we have to get up tomorrow.