After 3 canceled flights, a 1+ hour delay, and some wicked turbulence (thank you, Mother Nature), I made it back to my humble abode 36 hours after my ill-fated journey began. I have never been so happy to be in this hot and hazy city I call home. Let's rewind a bit though because all-in-all it was definitely worth it.
The last time I was in Texas, Beth and I got to talking about doing something (anything) for my then upcoming decade transition. We don't usually make a big deal out of birthdays. It's a good year if we remember to call each other within a week of our respective birth dates. Most years it ends up being an 'oh right that happened - how was that?' kind of thing. But this year we decided to mix things up.
Throughout our teen and undergrad years, we went to see a lot of bands. Emphasis on a lot. Like this band is playing and it's only a 10 hour drive away and we can totally just drive back home over night to make it to work the next day a lot. This was also a period of our lives where we both displayed some pretty poor decision making... no harm, no foul? So what better way to ring in a new year/life transition/we're (sort of) officially adults than to go to a show.
The easy way to do this would have been to fly into or at least base ourselves in the city where the band was performing. Instead our itinerary looked more like this:
Day 1 - Fly into Dallas.
Day 2 - Drive to San Antonio.
Day 3 - Drive to Austin. Try not to get struck by lightning.
Day 4 - Drive to San Antonio. Try not to get swept off road by flash flood.
Day 4.5 - Drive to Fredericksburg. Try not to fall off of giant pink rock.
Day 4.75 - Drive back to San Antonio. Try not to get run off road by semi.
Day 5 - Recover from Day 4.
Day 6 - Drive to Dallas. Attempt to leave Dallas.
Day 7 - Actually leave Dallas.
Writing it all out makes it look much worse than it felt. At least up until that whole flying snafu I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I mean it wholeheartedly though when I say it was worth it. There are good people in Texas. I mean there are good people everywhere but some of my people are in Texas. And they make my life better. (Full cheesiness intended.) Also, with these people I managed to have a weekend full of adventures which is the very best kind of weekend. However, in the interest of keeping this post to a reasonable amount of words, here are some of my favorites:
Exploring the Medina River Natural Area in San Antonio, TX
It's mostly paved but it is beautiful and if you time it right there are wildflowers to accompany your walk. Definitely one of the easier, if not the easiest, routes my hiking buddy and I have conquered but we enjoyed it nonetheless. Besides which it had its own excitement when we were caught in a torrential downpour on the way back. The weather changed from what you see above on the left to the right in a matter of minutes.
Reliving my teens at Mohawk in Austin, TX
So many lessons were learned during our evening at Mohawk. Namely, that it is in fact an outdoor venue. There’s a small indoor space but check the weather and your ticket when heading to a show…I really should have picked up a poncho. Remember those flash floods I mentioned? Soaked us to our bones. Also, mohawks are not just a hairstyle. Who knew? (Lots of people. Apparently.) Perhaps most importantly, the venue is a pretty sweet spot and the band did not disappoint.
Staring at the stars on top of Enchanted Rock
Do this. If you do nothing else when in the San Antonio/Austin area, go here and spend some quality time under the night sky. It is breathtakingly beautiful. I may also have a thing for stargazing but trust me on this one; you don't want to miss out. The area is designated as an International Dark Sky Park meaning that when you have a clear night you can see the Milky Way. Their website has a dark sky monitor so you can check the conditions before you make the trek. A note of warning - hike up and down the Summit Trail at least once while it is daylight before you attempt it at night. I had been there before and we still got a bit confused on the way back down.
Wandering aimlessly in some of San Antonio's best and worst markets
To be fair, the majority of this adventuring wasn't started until the afternoon which I have since learned is well past the prime shopping hours. The people watching and festivity partaking alone were worth the entrance fees. Bonus points: we managed to make it just in time for the Mexican wrestling match finale at Traders Village. Yes, that's a church facade behind them.
All in all an amazing weekend in the Lone Star State. I still have dreams of making it to Big Bend. Time to start planning for another Texan getaway.
notes:
- even with the rains, it was still hot in texas. be sure to bring ample water with you on your own adventures. we brought our water bottles with us as an afterthought to enchanted rock and it was very much needed when we reached the top.
- i had some good food (mainly pancakes, a taco, and some homemade chili) but no amazing-i-must-share-with-everyone food while i was in texas this time around. suggestions anyone?