Time flies when you're in Texas

I've been in Texas since Tuesday, and it feels like just the blink of an eye.

I'm staying in Pflugerville with my gracious aunt and uncle who are willing to put up with my shenanigans for an entire week. So far, I've been to the Austin Museum of Art at Lugana-Gloria (housed in a beautiful Italian villa overlooking Lake Austin with 12 acres of amazing gardens and sculptures) and walked around Lake Pflugerville. I went shopping at Barton Creek, ate at the Iron Cactus and Opal Divine's (margaritas, yes please) and saw the Texas Stars in action in Round Rock (they won).

Yesterday I traveled to San Antonio to tour the Alamo and the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk was AMAZING. Because the landscape of Texas can be a bit desolate compared to say, Virginia, (but still very beautiful) the riverwalk is like an urban oasis with winding paths, lush landscaping, sparkling green waters and spontaenous Mariachi bands. I also toured the Witte Museum, which had their dinosaur exhibit in full-tilt (always fun to see children screaming and crying when a giant animatronic T-Rex roars).

I've still got a lot of activities on my to-do list including shopping in SoCo, Mexican Martinis at Trudy's, a scenic train ride and more, but even if I just sat on the patio for the rest of the trip and soaked in the 70+ temperatures and beautiful blue skies, I would consider it time well spent.

Desert blues

I am gearing up for a trip to Austin in a week, and I am super excited. I fully intend to drive west from Austin at some point while I'm there to take in the desert landscape.

I've been up and down the East Coast, hiked in the Pacific Northwest, toured Canada and swam in the Gulf Coast. I had a ball in Bermuda and went 4-wheeling in Michigan, but I've never seen the desert. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my expectations aren't too inflated like they were for Niagara Falls.

For some reason (I'm not sure why) before going to Niagara Falls (the Canadian side), I had a romantic image of it in my mind, but what I discovered there was basically a Myrtle Beach-like tourist trap, complete with a wax museum of famous criminals and a roller coaster. Not to mention, the nightly lighting of the falls with garish colored lights turning black and blue roiling water into an orange/purple/green nightmare. To me, it was akin to decking out the majestic California redwoods with blinking Christmas lights.

Here's hoping the desert doesn't disappoint!