“Amarillo by morning, Amarillo’s on my mind…”
I can’t say that I was entirely ready to leave Palo Duro Canyon (see last post), but I had far exceeded my 24 hour rule. It was time to move on to the neighboring city of Amarillo.
First stop – Historic Route 66.
Whew! What a crazy spring!!! From SXSW to Fort Hood to President Obama to NBA Playoffs, I’ve been photographing everything I can put my eyes on for two months. I’ve enjoyed it immensely, but it’s time I get back to traveling on my own terms.
First stop, Ennis – the bluebonnet capitol of Texas.
Bluebonnets are my all-time favorite flower. Every spring I get giddy when I see them pop up on the sides of the highway, and I thumb through the pages of the wildflower edition of Texas Highways like a little kid looking at a new comic book. I can’t help it, I’m a Texas girl.
So when deciding where I should go for my first trip back from a longer-than-expected hiatus, my first Google search was “bluebonnets.”
For most of my adventures, I spend at least a couple hours researching where I might go and what I might do when I get there. There’s always some flexibility in my plan – these are adventures after all – but I usually have a list for each place.
Recently a friend asked me, “how was your trip?” Because of my busy schedule, I hadn’t planned as much as I normally do, so I answered, “it was good, but I think I need to plan more next time.” He responded, “or less.”
Huh. He had a point.
So this time, I set out on the road with no plan.
Frohe Weihnachten!
That’s Merry Christmas in German! I learned that recently while checking out what the German town of Fredericksburg has to offer for the Christmas season.
I stayed at the Main Street B&B, which is exactly where you think is. It’s a perfect location for exploring the down town shops, museums and restaurants, and it has a balcony that overlooks Main Street.
Marfa! What a quirky little town! I live near Austin and let me tell you, Marfa could show Austin a thing or two about being weird.
In fact, the majority of people I met in Marfa were from Austin. So much so that if you were from Austin, you didn’t need any further explanation about what brought you out west.
One of the main attractions in Marfa is art. Art galleries outnumber restaurants in this little town, and in the past few years Marfa has been known for it’s large, outdoor installments. The most famous of those is Prada Marfa, a “storefront” situated out of town in the middle of nowhere.
It was my first stop of many on my 24-hour trip, mostly because it was about a half hour out of town. Take Hwy 90 west from Marfa, through Valentine and it should be about 2 miles out, on your left. You can’t miss it. (The drive through the desert is worth it!) Read more
