Incoherent Scribblings

Margarita Tour

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.

Spring Break Wrap-Up

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.)

Spring Break Visit

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!

Golf Ball Cactus

Golf Ball Cactus
Originally uploaded by blondelibrarian

West Texas Town University has a cactus garden.

Dawn’s son liked my picture of the cactus with the snow on it that I took over Thanksgiving so much that I promised him that I would take some pictures of the cacti in our cactus garden.

This one is called a Golf Ball Cactus and is my favorite.

The Day I Became a Texan

I know that once you move to Texas technically you have 30 days to transfer your vehicle registration and driver’s license from the state in which you last resided to Texas.

However, since this is not only a university town, but a snowbird destination as well, I figured that I could probably get away with an Iowa license and plates for as long as they were valid. Nevertheless, when I planned my budget for this month, the whole car/driver’s license thing received top priority.

On Tuesday I made an appointment to get an oil change but also took the opportunity to get my car inspected so that I could complete the first step in getting it legal. That afternoon I continued my task by downloading the appropriate forms and filling them out. Because I had the paperwork all filled out when I went to the county tax office the next day, I received my new license plates and registration sticker within a possible record time of 20 minutes.

After I replaced the Iowa plates with the Texas ones late this morning I headed down to the Department of Public Safety so that I could fill out yet more paperwork and get my Texas driver’s license. Unlike last year when I had a bit of trouble getting my driver’s license, this time there was no test (written or driving) involved.

I smiled pretty for my picture and noticed that I was wearing the same shirt today as I was wearing a little over a year ago when I smiled for my Iowa driver’s license photo.

Though it was a lot of red tape and took most of the week to fit these things in around my work schedule, I am pleased to say that the whole process went smoothly. And as I put my new driver’s license into my wallet, the nice lady at the driver’s license office actually smiled and said to me, “Congratulations. You’re a Texan now.”