This would be my first attempt at staying connected consistently for an eight hour day to do my virtual job remotely, so I started the day with high anxiety. Failure would mean that I would soon be on the bus headed back to Texas, leaving Don here to soak up all the ambiance alone. Continue reading
Don reassembles office pieces wrapped in plastic
Everyone was up early for Mike and Val’s departure for Italy. Once they were out the door, Don and I took a collective deep breath, then he went to work on my “virtual office.” After stringing a few miles of cords and a maze of routers, Continue reading
Loaded in a taxi to maximum capacity, we arrived at Mike and Val’s front gate to open arms and the red carpet treatment. After warm greetings and a few minutes to catch up, they announced they were throwing a party in our honor! Continue reading
Miles and miles of Mexican Two-Lane
Okay, maybe not my thumb, but definitely my rear, on a twenty-two hour bus ride on Transportes de San Miguel, bound for San Miguel de Allende. Continue reading
I always said “Texas has but two seasons; green and brown.” It would appear that I overlooked one —BLUE!
Field of bluebonnets near Ennis, TX
Wildflower Season in Texas
The delicate fragrance is glorious!The bluebonnets are early this year…very prolific. A local Ennis resident said she had only seen them this thick maybe three times in the last 23 years she had lived there. The field across from her front lawn looked like a solid blue carpet of flowers….
Somehow, I didn’t remember bluebonnets being so fragrant, but the aroma was wafting through the air so heavily that you could smell the perfume from the car with the windows rolled down. Standing in the field of flowers reminded me of Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz” skipping through the poppy fields.
Bluebonnets tickle my fancy!
I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright. ~Henry David Thoreau
Thanks to the Ennis Garden Club for the excellent trail markers!
Hope, Arkansas Train Station
My New Year celebration now behind me, I took to the highway headed back to Texas, opting for as much two-lane as I could cover before sundown. Continue reading
Entrance to Hot Springs National Park
Traveling to Arkansas over the New Year holiday afforded me three milestones – visiting a state I had never been to before, seeing the Clinton Presidential Center, and crossing off another one of our great National Parks! After a couple of days enjoying downtown Little Rock, I made the hour drive toward Hot Springs. Continue reading
Harriet Tubman Statue leads to Clinton Presidential Center
Those who know me, know that I am a not-so-closet Bill Clinton fan. In fact I stop just short of an “I MISS BILL” bumper sticker on my car and stalking him through the back alleys of earthquake-stricken Haiti. So when I ended up with a few extra days off at the end of 2011, I figured it was the perfect time to make my long anticipated “Billgrimage” to the Clinton Presidential Center. Continue reading
Fuel stop along Interstate 20
I went from a three bedroom home packed full of 25 years worth of “stuff” down to a 6′ x 9′ pallete of goods in less than 30 days. I got by with a little help from my friends — Craig’s List, ebay, a garage sale, Good Will, and Atlanta Step-up, a local charity that helps homeless families get back on their feet again. Continue reading
