Incoherent Scribblings

Mexican Gray Wolf
Originally uploaded by blondelibrarian

Yesterday Mr G and I visited the Living Desert State Park and Zoo in Carlsbad, New Mexico to see its collection of desert life (plant and animal) in the Southwest.

Since West Texas Town sits right in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert I was already familiar with much of the plant life I saw. However, I will admit there were lots of plants that I recognized but didn’t know the names of until I looked at the little ID plates. There were also a lot of names that I knew but didn’t know what the plant looked like so it was nice to finally be able to put the plants together with their names.

After we looked at all the plants we went through the zoo and saw the desert wildlife. In addition to a large variety of birds, we saw a javelina, a black bear named Maggie, a porcupine, some elk, mule deer, pronghorns, and bison, a pack of Mexican gray wolves, a pair of cougars (aka mountain lion), a bobcat, and a huge variety of snakes, lizards, and other desert reptiles.

Although it was a little chilly, Mr G and I had a very nice time at the Living Desert State Park and Zoo. In and around Carlsbad, New Mexico there are quite a few fun things to do and since it is only about a 3 hour drive from here it makes a nice day trip. I will definitely be going back.

(P.S. More pictures– along with a couple of short videos- from my trip to The Living Desert State Park and Zoo can be found at Flickr.)

This is just a quick post to say that Mr G and I are headed to the Living Desert State Park in Carlsbad, New Mexico shortly. Hopefully I will have some photos to supplement this post later this evening. If not, look for pics tomorrow!

Prada Marfa
Originally uploaded by blondelibrarian

This past weekend, He-Who-Must-Not-Yet- Be-Named and I went on a road trip to New Mexico to celebrate my birthday. We are still planning on seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull this weekend (actually not until Monday), but since he had prior commitments for most of this up-coming weekend we decided to do the whole birthday shebang a week early.

On our way to Mesilla, New Mexico we stopped along Highway 90 outside of Valentine, Texas to visit the (in)famous Prada Marfa. Now, before you get too excited and think that we actually have a Prada store out here in the middle of nowhere, I must warn you that not only is the collection from 2005, it isn’t an actual retail store. Marfa has become fairly well-known for its artist community and Prada Marfa is actually a work of art. However, it is one of those places, along with the Marfa Ghost Lights that everyone around here has to experience at least once.

The trip to Mesilla was first and foremost a margarita tour of West Texas and Southern New Mexico. We stopped in El Paso for the first margarita of the day; a traditional margarita on the rocks with a salt-rimmed glass. This margarita was quite tasty, but what set it apart was its sheer size. It was, as they say, a Texas-sized margarita! (I wish had a picture of it, but wouldn’t you know it, my camera batteries died at Prada Marfa and I didn’t have my spares!)

We then continued on and once we arrived in Mesilla we inquired where the best margaritas in town were. The verdict was a toss up of two places: Either at La Posta or the Double Eagle Restaurant. We had fantastic mango margaritas at the Double Eagle and awesome “La Patronas” (made with “the top of the line 100% Blue Agave, Patron Anejo Tequila, Cointreau and freshly squeezed lime juice”) at La Posta.

Honestly, I am not sure how to cast my vote for the best margarita that I had all weekend. I have learned a lot about margaritas and tequila since moving to Texas and I must say that the “La Patronas” were good in a way that cocktails are when you use the best liquors available as opposed to the bar stuff. However, I think I am probably a little more partial to the mango margaritas because as much as I enjoy a good margarita on the rocks, I have a fondness for that extra bit of sweetness that fruit margaritas offer.

Sea World
Originally uploaded by blondelibrarian

Last Tuesday I picked Sissy and Neecy up from the San Antonio International airport and the long-awaited Spring Break Birthday visit began.

Neecy was practically bouncing when I found them at baggage claim. It was her first flight and she had been treated like a princess complete with extra cookies and a personal note from the pilot welcoming her aboard. Needless to say, she loved it.

Sissy and Neecy’s flight arrived in the middle of the afternoon on Tuesday so after we found our hotel and got settled in we had time to head down to the Riverwalk and San Antonio’s most famous landmark… The Alamo. We ate Mexican food outside while drinking margaritas (Neecy had a virgin one) and after the sun went down we took a “cruise” on the river and learned about San Antonio.

On Wednesday we drove to Corpus Christi for the sole purpose of showing Neecy her first “big water.” (Big water is how I refer to any type of water that continues to the horizon when you look at it. This includes, but is not limited to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Michigan) Neecy was pretty impressed with the big water and even though it was windy and only in the low 70s insisted that she be allowed to swim in the “ocean.” After she changed into her swimming suit and splashed around in the water for a while we collected sea shells on the beach.

Ever since she had arrived on Tuesday Neecy kept reminding me that I had promised her a surprise when she got to Texas. I don’t ever remember promising her such a thing, but she sure got her surprise on Thursday when Sissy and I announced we would be visiting a boring war memorial but then pulled into the parking lot of Sea World San Antonio instead!

I can barely even begin to describe how much fun we had at Sea World. It was definitely the highlight of our trip. We saw all the animals you associate with Sea World (dolphins and killer whales) and some that you might not (sharks, sea lions, otters, and penguins). We caught a couple of fantastic shows and rode some rides.

Since it was Spring Break the lines were long but the expression on Neecy’s face when Sissy and I took her on her first roller coaster ride was worth every penny we spent and every minute we had to wait.

We drove back to West Texas Town on Thursday night and I got pulled over for speeding by the Texas Highway Patrol about 20 miles outside of town. It was late (as in 1:00 am) and when I told the patrolman we had been on the road for almost 5 hours he took pity on me and my exhausted passengers and let me off with a warning.

Friday was a day of semi-rest as all three of us slept in until about 11:00 am. After we got up we took a tour of West Texas Town and did a little shopping. We then made spaghetti before getting ready to go to a Star Party at the McDonald Observatory later that night. The Star Party was fun and educational and Neecy got to look through a telescope and see the Moon, Saturn, and the Orion Nebula.

On Saturday we visited Big Bend National Park and stopped at ghost town on our way home. There is a lot to do at the park, but Sissy, Neecy, and I were content with a sightseeing tour of the park from the car and stopping every once in a while to take photos of the beautiful desert mountains.

It rained on Sunday, but that was OK as we slept in and then spent the afternoon in the car on the way back to San Antonio so Sissy and Neecy could catch their flight back to Iowa early Monday morning.

We had such a good time and crammed so much into a week that I seriously think I need a vacation to recover from my vacation!

(P.S. I will be uploading more pictures from the trip on Flickr soon.)

Here is this week’s progress on “Harvest Witch.” As you can see, Harvey now has a kitty to keep her company.

This will probably be my only post for the week since tomorrow I am going to the airport to pick up Sissy and my niece for their Spring Break/Birthday visit to Texas!

When I moved down here in September, I promised my niece that she was welcome to visit anytime. Although my niece thought that meant over the summer, somewhere along Christmastime Sissy and I decided that a March visit to Texas might be more enjoyable than an August one. After all, Iowa is still cold and lots of times snowy in March and in August Texas is hot, hot, hot!!! In addition to that, my niece’s birthday just so happens to be in March so Sissy and I agreed that a Spring Break/Birthday trip would be a nice present.

Sissy was sick and in the hospital when we first began planning this trip but we decided that one way or another, my niece was coming to Texas in March. I started looking into all the details about air travel for unaccompanied children, but when it was actually time to make the reservations Sissy was healthy enough to travel, so they are both coming.

We are planning visits to San Antonio and Corpus Christi before driving back here to West Texas Town and seeing the sights around here. It should be a fun-filled week with little time for blogging OR stitching, but that is just fine with me!