Texas

Hello, I have not written anything for a week because I’ve been very sick! It started with migraines last weekend, then the reason for the migraines became apparent on Monday when I came down with a cold. By Wednesday I was super sick with a bad migraine plus the cold and missed a day of work. I was quite sure I was never going to make it to Houston the following day.

But by Thursday afternoon I had only the cold and not a migraine, so I got on the plane and that went ok. Except my ears hurt and I had a lot of trouble trying to pretend I was a sophisticated traveler with snot dripping out of my nose.

I was glad to be in Houston (Cypress, actually, which is west of Houston), which was quite lovely. But on Friday I still had the cold and the migraine was back again, and the same with Saturday…so at that point we went home.

Actually, we drove home, because John had driven down earlier in the week with the van and the dogs and his tools in order to do some repairs to Monica’s house. So we drove part-way back on Saturday afternoon and the rest of the way on Sunday.

Here’s what I learned on my trip:

  • Don’t travel when sick. Even if you have a plane ticket! Its ok to miss a plane flight.
  • The drive from Houston to Placitas is a full two day drive (not one day drive, and not a “one day plus a couple hours the previous evening to get a head start”). Nope, it’s two whole days.
  • And most startling of all – parts of Texas are actually quite beautiful in the springtime.

Typically I have the same negative opinion of Texas as most of the rest of the non-Texas west harbors toward our large neighboring state to the southeast. When I think of Texas, I think of miles and miles of reeking oil wells and refineries, interspersed with stinking cattle feedlots dotting the flat, brown expanse of nothingness, overshadowed by backward politics. (That is a very accurate description of the portion of Texas that I’m most familiar with – the portion that borders New Mexico.)

I had heard that Austin was a “little spot of California,” by which I assumed they meant “expensive with high tech jobs for the millennials”. Thanks but no thanks. But it appears that the area around Austin is really quite pretty. From google maps, it looks like the area around San Antonio might be pretty too. I don’t know, but it’s worth checking out.

I would hate to allow my west coast prejudices lead me to miss out on some beautiful country! Sorry I didn’t take pictures of the wildflowers. I wasn’t feeling very well. But they were impressive!

Also I have always loved oak trees. I grew up with oak covered hills – they are common in northern California, and southern & western Oregon. I had no idea Texas had so many oak trees! You could have blindfolded me and dropped me down in the right part of Texas and told me I was in Oregon and I would have believed you!

Which I never would have believed. We all know Oregon is beautiful. But Texas?

Well, you know me. Pretty soon I’m on Zillow.com checking it out and thinking OMG, I could get a house on a river with oak trees and fruit trees and a pool and tropical flowers for about two million dollars less in Texas than in California (and about one million less than in Oregon) and it’s already warm, green and blooming by March!

(Red alert – keep that girl off Zillow or next thing we know she’s gonna be a Texan)