Day 15: Home

Nice to be home, got in around 3:15pm.

Day 14: Dallas/Ft Worth area

Today started with a short drive from our hotel in Oklahoma to downtown Dallas. There we visited the Texas School Book Depository, the building from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK. We took the audio museum tour which chronicled the life of President Kennedy. It was interesting journey through the museum for me, standing in the building where history took place. My American History class last year talked a lot about Kennedy and the evidence behind his assassination. Still, it was definitely somber experience, but one we would highly recommend if you're ever in the area. Dad took a photo from the very spot in the road where the fatal shot hit JFK. Our initial thought was it is not as far away as you see from the film coverage we've all seen.

From here we left for a short visit to Dinosaur Valley SP to see dinosaur footprints in the rock lining the riverbed in three locations within the park. It was 106° and quite humid so we limited our time to short walks and left the car running so as not to reenter a smoking hot car. The river was quite low due to the lack of rain so many of the footprints were readily visible. Some were roped off but the one in the photo was part of a group that you could examine directly. A brief visit but very interesting to see.

On our way to our last hotel we made a detour to the water gardens in downtown Ft. Worth. Disappointed we couldn't go in them, the cool water looked mighty tempting as we walked around in the humid heat. We were only here about a half hour but we all enjoyed the fountains.

The last stop of our vacation was to the Fort Worth Stockyards for dinner at Riscky's Barbeque and then see the rodeo and wild west show. We've seen rodeo on TV but to see it up close and in person gives a whole new perspective on the event. We don't know how someone could be so crazy as to get on a mad bull and ride it around for 8 seconds.

Day 13: Robbers Cave SP

Today was mostly a driving day but we did have a fun stop horseback riding at Robbers Cave State Park. Jessie rode Little Gray (who by looks of the photo really liked having Jessie ride him), and I rode Ace. For Dad the guide brought out Skeeter, the size of a Clydesdale. We felt like real outlaws riding horses up to the cave where the likes of Belle Starr and Jesse James would hold up. Along the trail a deer startled Jessie's and my horse. Ace jumped to the side of the trail a little bit, but Little Gray darted into the forest. After about a 30 minute ride we reached a pit stop, where we dismounted our horses and were led to the cave. One of the ranch dogs, Jake (a border collie) came with us to the cavern, while the guide walked back to tend to the horses. It was fun having Jake follow us around like he was our own. Just before we got back from exploring the cave one of our guides had just killed a copperhead snake near the horses. They pointed it out to us from three feet away and it was just about impossible to see. He kept saying "It's right there" and nearly had to nudge it with his foot before we saw it. Sad they killed it but still neat to see how camouflaged it was. The guides let us feed the horses some apple, which we had packed in our bag. All the horses seemed to appreciate the treat, except mine, which looked like it was having a depression festival as it stared off into the distance.

We rode back to the ranch in the rain, our horses appearing eager to return. The ride back took about 30 minutes. Dad's horse kept trying to run him into trees, which Jessie and I found pretty funny. Once back at the ranch, we said goodbye to our guides, horses, Jake, and the goat, Billy. We then piled into our car and drove to Durant, Oklahoma to prepare for our last full day in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

P.S. Just got back from dinner. If you have a male waiter and ever want to get anything at a restaurant, don't have two pretty girls sitting next to you. Romeo would continually walk past our table to go have conversations with the girls.

Day 12: Quartz Mountain SP and Oklahoma City National Memorial

For our last hike of our trip we headed over to Quartz Mountain SP. It was really more of a climb than a hike: one step onto the trail and we were already scrambling over boulders. Though short, the steepness of the trail still left us a little winded as we continued up the mountain. After about 20 minutes of climbing we finally reached the top, where we snapped some pics and admired the view of the lake below. We didn't stay at the park for long; it was out of the way and we still needed to drive all the way to Oklahoma City for the night. Carefully navigating our way back down the mountain, we kept a keen eye out for rattlesnakes lurking between the rocks. Once back in the car, the first thing we did, as always, was blast the AC in our faces. Then we hit the road.

We only had one thing left on our to do list in Oklahoma City, and that was the city's National Memorial. This monument was dedicated to those who were killed, survived, or effective by the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. The Memorial was made up of a shallow reflecting pool between two large archways, one bearing the time 9:01, and the other 9:03 - representing the minute before the bombing and the minute after. To one side of the reflecting pool was the Field of Empty Chairs. Here, 168 chairs made from glass, bronze, and stone, were placed in nine rows, each row representing the level of the building the given individual was on. Because the Federal Building had a day care, the second row consisted mainly of smaller chairs. Behind the chairs were remains of 3 of the building's walls. The memorial was beautiful, in a tragic way. It's hard to imagine the kind of hatred in the world that drives people to commit such murderous, remorseless acts. Though heartbreaking, the Memorial is definitely something we will never forget. That's why it was so beautiful, because it unites the living and will forever continue to honor and remember the lost.

Day 11: Palo Duro Canyon SP

Well, we left New Mexico today, and are now in the panhandle of Texas, staying in Amarillo. Our first stop of the day was Palo Duro Canyon SP, where we hiked the 6 mile Lighthouse trail. The thermometer at the beginning of the trail claimed it was around 115 degrees. What a coincidence! Because we collectively lost about 115 pounds. The heat was bad enough, but there was limited shade so the sun was pounding on us the entire walk. Like every other long hike, the beginning part was easy, but we quickly became exhausted and were ready to return to the refreshing AC of our car. The trail itself was fairly level, but the last two-tenths of a mile were absolutely brutal. I stayed at the bottom, resting at a small picnic area, while Dad and Jessie continued to venture up to the Lighthouse. After Dad and Jessie slid back down the path, from what they described to be a spectacular view of the surrounding canyons, we began the long hike back to the car. It was a tiresome walk, but we made it out alive - barely. Before leaving the park, we stopped at the visitor center and each bought a large bottle of delicious Dr. Pepper. With the AC blasting in our faces, we made our way over to the Cadillac Ranch.

On our way there we drove through a huge dust storm. It was like nothing we've ever seen before and definitely really cool. Jessie was a little worried, but we drove through it no problem. I have to say was one of my favorite parts of this vacation so far. Ten cars were half buried out in the middle of a field, all covered in graffiti. Dozens of people were there too, many of whom were spray painting pictures and messages onto the cars. At first we walked around, snapping pictures of phrases we thought were amusing or intriguing. One guy spray painted "Billy drinks Pee" onto the hood of a car. When he saw us laughing he explained that Billy was his new father-in-law. We continued to laugh as his phone rang off the hook with updates as his family members commented on his work of art. Before walking away, he gave us the spray can he had been using so we could write something too. It took us a while to think of what to write, Dad ended up writing NIU, complimented by a Huskie head that I painted, while I wrote both "Jesus is Lord" and a 'hey' to my best friend Tay. Once done writing messages, we passed the can over to a little kid, took a couple more pictures, and then left. It was a short drive to our hotel, and after such a long day we were all ready to take it easy for the rest of the night.

Tomorrow we venture into Oklahoma.

Day 10: White Sands NM

We had to drive through a missile range to get here but the bombs missed us every time. As we drove through the desert, the dunes seemed to appear out of nowhere. The sand was so white, it almost looked like snow - snow on a hundred degree day. The dunes weren't too tall, making them pretty easy to climb. Jessie was careful to walk up the slopes, not wanting to get sand in her shoes, while Dad and I had fun kicking the sand at each others feet. This park was fairly popular, with other families sledding down the dunes. We on the other hand, simply enjoyed walking around, taking in the beauty of the dunes framed by the distant mountains. Before we left, Dad took some pictures of the delicate wildflowers and agave. Afterwards we headed to Roswell for the night. We were all excited to see how "alien-crazed" the town would be, but to our surprise there were only a handful of shops and restaurants with extraterrestrial themes. It was still kinda funny to see, and we all got a good laugh out of the Roswell background story we got at the Chamber of Commerce, and how seriously they took the "incident". All in all, it was a pretty easy going day, one we all enjoyed.

Day 9: Saguaro NP - West Unit

Jessie: Our second day of Saguaro NP started off by taking a scenic loop drive, stopping multiple times to take pictures. The west side of the park contained at least twice as many Saguaros as the east side, so there was more to see. Similarly, though, to the east side, it was hot and our AC was turned up to full blast whenever we were in the car. I found that since we were in the heat so often that the heat didn't affect me as much. That I started to develop a sort of tolerance to the worst of it. Now I'm not saying it was a picnic, but it wasn't as bad as when we first stepped out of the plane. But be that as it may, desert in the middle of the day didn't fall into my tolerance level, so it was still impossibly hot. A ranger recommended the Signal Hill trail because it showcased petroglyphs, and so we stopped about halfway though the loop drive to hike the .2 mile trail, round trip. Though seemingly our easiest trail we'd done the entire vacation so far, we still each brought an entire water bottle filled to the top.

Hiking the trail we went up a small hill and when we made it to the top we were rewarded with rocks filled with images of people, animals, and even a giant swirl. On our way down I stopped to take a picture of a saguaro with spines that looked reddish. I planned to take a close up of the spines with the mountains as a scenic backdrop. I took at the most, one step of the trail. I took two pictures, hoping at least one turned out. I went back on the trail holding my camera in one hand and my water bottle in another. I walked about 20 feet when I heard a buzzing sound behind me. Now at the time I thought nothing of it. All throughout vacation flies seemed to enjoy flying around my head, as if to purposely annoy me, so this bug flying behind me didn't seem out of the ordinary. Be that as it may, I didn't enjoy the sound of it so I started to walk faster. About five seconds later, there was a stab of pain in my right hand. I yelped out more in surprise than in pain but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. At the time I didn't notice but looking back on it I realize that the bug very conveniently stopped buzzing at that exact moment. Now the next few moments were kind of a blur. I remember looking down at my empty right hand and seeing the biggest wasp I had ever seen on the last knuckle of my thumb. I remember dad coming over to see what happened. What I did not feel or remember happening was my hand reflexively releasing its grasp on whatever it was holding. Which just so happened to be my new camera. I must have flung it, obviously accidentally, all the way to Alli, who was at least twenty feet away. I started tearing up, but not because of what you would think. I was crying, not because of the pain, but of my broken camera. Though my hand was involuntarily shaking, turning red, and swelling a little, all my attention was on my camera. We started to pick up all the pieces we could find. Amazingly the only pieces that came out of place, not broken just out of place, was the front ring of the lens, which you just twisted back on, and four other pieces that fit together like a puzzle to cover the lens when the camera was turned off. The rest of the camera was barely scratched, showing only a few barely noticeable scuff marks. And the best part was that even missing five parts it still worked. With everything okay we went back to the car with what was the most crazy day on vacation only a few hours into the day.

We then went to our hotel and relaxed for a few hours before we went to get sunset pictures at City of Rocks SP. The sunset was beautiful with the dark rain clouds in the sky hovering over mountains with a beautiful yellow, orange, and reddish background. We found ourselves taking more pictures of the sky than we were of the rocks. At least Alli and I were. We were surprised when we found a Great Horned Owl perched lazily on the rocks and angry when lightening electrified the sky and we couldn't get pictures of it. Soon, we were forced back into the car when it started to rain, a first in a very long time for this desert though we were told it was monsoon season, which we didn't believe. Alli and I weren't to sad we had to leave for there was a Harry Potter marathon going on and we didn't want to miss it. And with that the day was over, and we gratefully, as we are every night, went to sleep.

Dad: Just a quick note about Jessie and her second insect bite in two days. She's having quite a bad run here. The bite to her hand has mostly healed. The bite to her leg from the day before is still red and swollen. It was hard seeing Jessie crying and in obvious pain. Even worse was realizing how sad she was after seeing her broken camera. She loves taking pictures and loves her new camera. I assured her that we could get it fixed or replaced. The important thing was that she was alright. And on a positive note, no bites today!

Day 8: Saguaro NP - East Unit

Dad: This was one of our longer driving days but luckily it was mostly interstate. Love the 75mph speed limit.

We canceled our stops at Colossal Cave Mountain park and Kartchner Caverns SP. After seeing Carlsbad it didn't seem worth it to pony up $100 to see these two parks. So today we had only two stops in Tucson, Saguaro NP - East and the Apple Store to have our failing laptop looked over. First was Saguaro NP. Brutally hot and not very crowded, go figure. After entering the visitor center the ranger motioned for us to look out the back picture window. There was a family of Javelinas (baby included) resting in the shade of the building, pretty cool. We had decided that Jessie and I would hike the 2.5 mile Cactus Forest Trail while Alli drove the car around the loop drive back to the Visitor Center to wait for us to finish the one-way trail. We would then call her to pick us up when we were about 30 minutes from finishing so we would not have to wait long in the desert heat.

Jessie: We started off very excited, our CamelBaks were full, and we were taking pictures left and right. The scenery was beautiful. Tall, majestic saguaros jutted into the sky creating a nice foreground for the mountainous background. Since it was so hot, and standing out in the open with no shade, we drank plenty of water. The first half of the hike seemed to go quickly. We were keeping up a steady pace, taking plenty of pictures, and making good time. Both of us thought nothing of this two and a half mile hike, especially me. And why should I? We hiked up mountains, all over, in the summer and never once had I been broken. This hike seemed, at the beginning, to be a piece of cake. But soon things started to turn to the worse. I first realized it when I started sweating bullets, generally a first for me. I continued to drink plenty of water, as did dad, but soon my stomach started hurting. I thought maybe I was getting dehydrated and continually drank water, and much to my dismay, my stomach continually got worse. I finally realized that we didn't eat lunch. Now, I don't know if you ever had this happen to you, but hiking in an extremely hot desert with no shade and no food in your stomach with a belly full of hot water doesn't exactly make you feel fantastic. Our pace got slower, and when the trail started going uphill we felt as if we were on death's door. I shared that my stomach was hurting and dad made me drink more water, making it feel worse. I felt so bad and complained so much that dad explained later that he thought he was going to have to carry me out. There's the saying about how time flies when you're having fun. Well, when you're dying out in a desert time goes so slow that one minute feels like one hour. I swear that if I would've heard dad say we were almost there one more time I would've lost it. When he felt that we were actually close he called Alli, and she was on her way. After what seemed like an hour but was more likely ten minutes he tried calling her again, with no answer. At this point, we weren't taking any more pictures, we were just trying not to die. The rocks I collected felt like boulders, and having the one person who was supposed to save us not respond, was depressing. Finally, though, we made it to the end of the trail and we tried calling four more times and on the fourth call we got an answer with Alli saying she can't find where we were. Not to worry though, she found us about two minutes afterward and we were saved.

Dad again: Later that night Jessie and I went out to Tucson Mountain Park to take some sunset photos. While there Jessie's was bitten on the thigh by a tiny bug. Don't know exactly what it was but 1.5 days later it's still red and swollen. Made a WalMart stop to load up on medication, hopefully that will do the trick.

Day 7: Guadalupe Mountain NP

While the day started off with three parks on our to-do list, we only ended up going to one: Guadalupe Mountains NP. The previous night Dad had canceled our 9 mile hike in this park, only to surprise us with a spur of the moment 6.4 mile hike the following morning. Jessie and I were not pleased to say the least. We started our long voyage along the McKittrick Canyon trail, walking through dried river beds and scattered trees to make our way to the Grotto. It was the heat, not the elevation change that exhausted our energy. We walked for what seemed like a million hours - the trail never ending no matter how many corners we turned. Then, just as I was on the verge of dying, we came upon the Grotto - a small cavern sculpted out of the side of the canyon. While it was pretty cool to see, I was just happy to be in the shade and take five. Jessie and I sat among the boulders, me clutching the CamelBak, while Dad walked around taking pictures of the cave and rock formations. After about 15 minutes, we were ready to begin the trip back. The only thing worse about hiking to the Grotto? Knowing you have to walk all the way back through the blazing desert. The last mile or so was the worst, because we were in direct sunlight, with absolutely no shade, and our water was dwindling. Luckily we all prevailed, and once in the car we blasted the air conditioning on full and left the park, ready to spend the rest of the night resting in our hotel.

Note from Mark: The Guadalupe Mountains are quite impressive; the highest in Texas. We could have done the hike if we had gotten up at 4am but I didn't want to put the girls through that. The canyon was pretty and quite hot. We passed a family of four on our way out that did not appear to be carrying anything except a bottle of pop. We hear practically every day of people needing rescue from being overwhelmed by the heat and lack of water. I hope they're okay.

Day 6: Carlsbad Caverns NP

Thankfully, after the long hike up Emory Peak yesterday, we awoke to a pretty easy going day ahead of us. We had only Carlsbad Caverns on our list for the day, but this was definitely not a park one can rush through. We entered the caverns through the natural entrance, which was about a mile or so walk down a paved path through the mouth of the caverns. It was nice to get out of the desert heat - being some 800 feet underground resulted in a luxurious chilly atmosphere. We had been in caves before, but nothing of this magnitude. The underground rooms were enormous, filled with incredible columns and calcium draperies, as well as intricate stalagmite and stalactite formations that decorated the floors and walls. We went on a separate tour through the King's Palace, taking what was probably a thousand pictures. One of our favorite stalagmite formations was called "The Bashful Elephant", which looked like an elephant with it's rear end facing the pathway. After our paid tour we ventured through the Big Room, walking about 4 miles total. After we finished the self-guided tours we headed back up to the surface, deciding to take the elevator rather than backtracking a mile up the natural entrances' ridiculously steep path.

Later that night we came back to the park to see the bat flight program. After seeing the 2+ million bats flying out of the bridge at Congress Avenue, we immediately became disappointed when the ranger leading the program predicted only 5,000 or so bats to emerge that night. For the first 45 minutes or so the ranger was sharing facts about the bats and answering questions people in the audience had. At one point the ranger was telling us about the bats in this cave were Mexican Freetail Bats, and how they would only gave birth to one baby. In response, a Hispanic man in the audience yelled in a matter-of-fact tone, "That doesn't sound like a Mexican bat!" There may not have been a lot of bats, but that joke definitely made trip worthwhile for me. We stayed to watch the bats fly out of the cave, but it was nothing in comparison to Congress Avenue. So, we decided to duck out a little early and beat the traffic. One the way out of the park we saw our first Javelina and a mule deer, which was pretty cool. We still have yet to see an armadillo, or as Dad calls them, avocados. But there is still plenty of vacation, and still a lot to look forward to in the coming days.

Day 5: Big Bend day 2 and Balmorhea SP

We awoke extra early to get a head start on the dreaded 9 mile hike up to Emory Peak in Big Bend NP. This torturous hike surely made up for all the previous days we had gone hike-free. After loading up our new Camelbaks, and packing up the snacks for lunch we drove to the trail head and began the death march up the mountain. Luckily, because it was so early, the weather was cool, and the shade from the mountains blocked out most of the blistering sun. Still, even with these advantages, after about a half hour of hiking I was ready for a mountain lion to come and put me out of my misery. After what seemed like a million hours of hiking through the wooded slopes we arrived at the rocky summit. That's what I love most about hiking: when you think the end's right around the corner... surprise! It isn't. The last hundred feet or so consisted of scrabbling over boulders to reach the tippy top. In some spots it was pretty nerve-racking. On both sides there was a pretty drastic cliff, and the last thing we wanted was to make a wrong move. The view from the top was worth the long hike through hell. Out of all the mountains we climbed, Emory Peak probably had the best view. Seeing all the other mountain peaks emerging out of the barren desert was absolutely beautiful! We decided to take our sweet time taking pictures and eating lunch before heading back down the trail. When we got to our car, having accomplished our goal, we were all ready to leave Big Bend and Emory Peak behind us for good.

Our next stop couldn't have been more perfect: Balmorhea SP, which is essentially a natural spring, but one that has been constructed to model a public pool. After spending the day hiking in the unforgiving sun, we could hardly wait to dive into the refreshing spring and cool off. Balmorhea is definitely one of the coolest things I've ever seen - I wish Illinois had a park like this. It was really neat to see all the kinds of fish swimming along the rocky bottom below the surface. The spring was huge too, which was quite nice. Jessie and I spent a lot of time in the deeper end, which was over 20 feet deep. Although we didn't spend a great deal of time here, we all agreed that Balmorhea was worth the stop. We then finished the day by driving to our hotel, ready for a lazy evening and a long night's sleep.

Update

Sorry for the delay. Our computer quit on us and we had to wait until we got to Tucson to get the verdict at the Apple Store. DOA, but $1000.00 would probably fix the problem. We now own a slick new MacBook Pro. More blog to come after a bit of a rest.

Day 4: Big Bend NP, day 1

Today was by far our longest driving day, about 500 miles, but we Howlands always find a way to pass the time. This time it was by playing Password. During one round after miss-hearing the password and after giving a couple bad hints Jessie declared from the backseat "Oh! I have it!...Asscrap!!" Dad and I burst out laughing, nearly in tears we were cracking up so much while Jessie sat there clueless. We continued to play Password, but none of the rounds were as memorable.

As kind of a rest stop we visited Seminole Canyon SP. The park was closed so we wouldn't be able to actually hike down into the canyon. We did however walk around the exhibits in the visitor center, seeing the history of local ancient Indian tribes and the more modern cowboy culture. We also took pictures by an interesting statue called The Peace Maker, which was a robed deer holding up farming tools and a ceremonial staff.

The rest of the day was devoted to Big Bend National Park, the majority of the time spent driving. When we stopped at the visitor center, we were amazed to find that the park ranger was from Sycamore too!! We talked about home and politics, before continuing on to our hotel.

Saving the major hike up Emory Peak for the next day, we only made several scenic stops in the park, snapping pics of the breath-taking mountains and sunsets. Our last stop in Big Bend for the day was right along the shore of the Rio Grande, were we walked along the sandy shore, gazing up at the monstrous cliffs I nicknamed "The Cliffs of Insanity". Since the river was running low from the drought, it was cool to only be a stone throw away from Mexico. We meandered around, picking up neat looking rocks to add to our collection. Then, after making our way back to our car, we stopped only a couple more times to get pictures of the night sky over the desert. We then called it a night, wanting to get as much sleep as possible for the brutal hike that awaited in the morning. The photo shows the view of the night sky over Emory Peak from our balcony. The song sure rings true, "The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas..."

Day 3: San Antonio

Once again we had a hiking-less day... thank God. We started off visiting Pedernales Falls State Park, or should I say, the Pedernales trickle of water. Again we missed out on what could have been a marvelous cascade of water, but we still had fun walking among the rocks and spotting fish and turtles in the lake. With the day growing hotter by the minute though, we didn't stay in the park for very long, and within a hour or so we were making our way back up the short trail to our car.

Our next stop was the Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch, also known as the Texas White House. We were only hear to see the family ranch, but settled for taking an audio tour after the rangers at the visitor center urged participation. Two minutes after we put the CD in, we were going in the wrong direction, with a grandfather voice telling us random information about the area. Towards the end of a seemingly never ending tour, past exciting grass fields and dry river beds we came upon the Johnson Ranch. Just in time for a tour through the house and garages, we bought our tickets and proceeded into the ranch. It was like stepping back in time, seeing the outdated wallpaper and furniture, in addition to remote-less TV. We walked through Johnson's study, the family room, the kitchen (were the former president resided in a plush throne while sitting a the dinner table) and out into the yard. The house was beautiful, and our tour guide had a lot of interesting information to tell. Afterwards, we took pictures by Johnson's private plane - and my personal favorite, the presidential podium, where we had a lot of fun posing as political speakers.

After about an hour's drive we arrived in San Antonio, making our first stop in the city the San Jose Mission. We weren't allowed inside, but the building's outside architecture was beautiful - stone arches and carvings of crosses and saintly figures. There were also wooden shelters surrounding the perimeters that were made for Indians. Almost all the doors were closed except for one - and as we walked over to peek inside, we amused to find it occupied by a Coke machine. After taking pictures we headed into the visitor center, where we each got small hand made weaving, and where I made a rubbing print of all the San Antonio Missions.

Finally, we ended the day on the famous river walk. We made our way past boat tours, gardens, restaurants, and the occasional tourist shops. The entire walk was gorgeous - the kind of scenery I imagine Verona would have. Along the way we past the legendary Alamo. This was a quick stop, only consisting of a couple pictures and a brief walk through the building and the grounds. Then we were back on the river walk, enjoying the city before retreating back to our hotel room for the night.

Day 2: Austin, TX

After departing from Houston we drove to Austin to spend the day in the city. However, despite the distance we put between us and our previous destination, we could not escape the dreaded heat, and we weren't enthusiastic to hear the weather man declare "we'll be setting some heat records today."
Our first stop of the day was the Texas State Capital Building. Having just finished my summer government class, it was cool to visit the capital and check out the building where everything takes place. While the entire edifice consisted of beautiful pillars and patriotic mosaics, our favorite spots had to be the elaborate rotunda and the Senate room.
Once finished touring the Capital, we headed over to McKinney State Park to explore some waterfalls. Being worried, that because of the extreme drought, we made sure to ask a park ranger if there was any water going over the falls today. His response: "Yes, but make sure to bring your own," which we all found quite funny. Turns out he was right; there was just a tiny trickle of water dripping over the falls. Jessie still enjoyed walking through the water and chasing minnows and tadpoles, while Dad took pictures of the pond and I tried not to wither away in the scorching heat.

Once back in the car, air conditioning on full blast, we headed to our hotel for an early check in and some shut-eye. After a couple hours though, we were back on the road, headed to our final destination for the day: a boat tour on the Colorado river to see the millions of Mexican Freetail Bats emerge from under a bridge and take flight off into the night sky. I have to say, it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Soaring out of the bridge in huge swarms, the bats zig-zagged through the air in an unending stream. The event probably lasted the better part of an hour, the bats flying out in several intervals. As the sun began to set, the city became even more beautiful. The city lights glimmering on the water over a crescent moon, in addition to the relaxing tunes of a distance saxophone made the experience serene and unforgettable. After the boat ride we stayed on the docks to take a couple more pictures, before grabbing a bite to eat and returning to our hotel room. Tomorrow we venture over to San Antonio for the fourth of July!

Day 1: Galveston and Houston

Our vacation started before the crack of dawn - 3:30 in the morning to be precise. We caught an early flight out to Houston, and made our first stop the Johnson Space Center. Here we first watched a short documentary about the history of the space program, from the launching of the Redstone rockets to the Space Shuttle. Afterwards, we ventured around the museum, checking out the life sized replicas of the Skylab and early rockets. We even got to touch a tiny sample of the moon that was 3.8 billion years old! To wrap up our visit, we drove over to the Rocket Park, to see the Saturn 5 rocket (pictured) as well as a couple smaller rockets stationed outside. Though they were nowhere near the size of the epic Saturn 5, they were still pretty impressive.
Our next destination was Galveston State Park, where we spent the better part of an hour relaxing on the beach and body-surfing in the Gulf. Jessie and I even had competitions to see who could go the furthest. Naturally, I emerged victorious every time. After spending the morning in the blazing heat of Texas, it was nice to have the opportunity to cool off in the water, and we all agreed the stop was well worth while.

Finally, we ended our day attending the Houston vs. Boston baseball game downtown. At first, Jessie feared we'd be ambushed by Astro fans because I had proudly worn my Boston shirt into the stadium. But then we found our seats among the rest of our Boston posse and settled in to enjoy the game - in safety. Just as I believed they would, the Red Sox won the game - 10-4!! It's always exciting to see the pros play, but also having a lot of humorous fan-cam moments made the night extra entertaining. Our favorite moment had to be when the kiss cam stopped on a couple, and instead of kissing his wife, the guy wrapped his arm around to kiss his can of beer. After the game, the stadium had a brief firework show as an early 4th of July celebration. We gazed up at the sky to enjoy the show, while listening to the patriotic orchestra that sounded through the cool night air. It was the end to a great day, leaving us excited to continue on to our next destination - Austin, and the memorable times that are still to come. :)

Vacation Overview

This year we are traveling back to the southwest to revisit NM and AZ and add TX and OK to our list of states visited. This brings our family total to 38 of the continental 48. We leave on July 2nd and return on July 16th.

The map shows many areas where wildfires may cause us problems. As of this date, Big Bend NP, Carlsbad Caverns NP, Guadalupe Mountains NP, McDonald Observatory, Chiricahua NM, and Saguaro NP-East have experienced closures due to the wildfires. Some should open before our trip but others may be closed for the season.

Highlights of our trip, discounting fire damage, will include seeing many state and national parks and monuments. The Alamo, Big Bend NP, Carlsbad Caverns NP Saguaro NP, and White Sands NM are just a few. As with past trips we will also be doing a fair amount of hiking. Hopefully we’ll avoid the summer heat and wildfires and be able to hike most of the 44 miles of trails on our list. The hikes we’re most looking forward to are Emory Peak in Big Bend NP, Guadalupe Peak in Guadalupe Mountain NP, and the big loop of trails in Chiricahua NM. Notable side trips include horseback riding in Oklahoma’s Robber’s Cave State Park, watching live bull riding in Fort Worth, and going to an Astros game in Houston.

Note: Click on map or any photo to get an enlarged view.