My mini-roadtrip blog!

Greetings all! A few days before Christmas...hopefully you are all ready!

What do donkeys, a shotgun, blackbuck, dinner over the river in Marble Falls, small Texas towns, antique shops and an incredible time have in common?

The answer?

ME!

What an incredible time. I scribbled words in my hand written journal as we trekked this great land we all know as Texas, but I don't even know if my meager words or lame attempts at photography can really do justice. But I will try.

We spent the week exploring small towns. There was no agenda, no time constraints. It was just Terry and I enjoying the incredible outdoors. If you know me, you know I LOVE animals. Terry and I have this ongoing joke about how the list of animals I want keeps growing weekly. On that last, high on the list are donkeys. I would like to have a miniature donkey, the size of a large dog and a spotty regular sized donkey. Part of our trip, he pulled over so that I could pet some donkeys. They were just adorable! As I got out of the truck, they brayed, their eyes lit up and ears went back. The more I spoke to them, the closer they got. It was awesome!! We saw SO many donkeys! So little space....so many incredible animals!

Later in the week, he asked if I wanted to go shooting. I said, "heck ya!" (If been researching dove/quail hunting. It is a sport I think I would very much be interested in because it is amazing to watch these dogs "work") So, with a small shotgun in tote, he found 50 acres we could make camp at and as he opened the truck to display a small arsenal of guns, I got nervous. WOW! He explained the in and outs and as he put the gun in my hand, I started shaking. "Are you ready?", he says.
I nervously nod my head.

As I stand off to the side, he tells me, take a deep breathe in, hold it and pull the trigger. I take a deep breath in, hold it and put the gun down. "I'm afraid!" He takes the gun, combs the hair out of my face as the cool, country breeze caresses my face. "It's ok baby. If you don't want to do this, you don't have to. What do you need?" I look at him and say, "give me a second." I take a few steps back and think...what the heck am I afraid of!? I ride motorcycles for pete's sake! I can ride a quad like it's no one's business. I'm not afraid. OK, breathe. Just breathe. Once we round off the first few shots, this will be fun!

I return to where he is standing.

"OK. Ready!" I take the gun, aim, take a deep breathe in, hold it and pull the trigger. YOWSERS!!!!!! HOLY MOLEY!!!!! WHAT THE!??!?!?!? WOW!!!!!
Let me tell you....it was incredible! WOW! We shot off a few rounds...it was pretty cool!

Let's see...what else to report? Gosh...I could go on and on...we saw so many things, did so many things...all with no agenda! I don't know...what can I say...awesome is just so awesome! LOL! Every night was ended with great campfires, talking and lots of laughing about the day's events. Of course, Terry had to get some hunting in, so we did that for a few hours and he got some more meat for the rest of the year. There was one point that we pulled over to watch the sunset...the sky was SO incredible. I looked in my rear view mirror and thought, "what is behind me isn't so bad anymore."

Anyway, instead of boring you with my simple words, trying to frame them to show the extraordinary, I will just say this....I am grateful.

If you are traveling for this Holiday season, please be careful. Wishing you an incredible Christmas!!!!