The Story of Seven UT Students and One Spring Break in West Texas

the numbers are in...

2006-03-28T12:53:00.000-06:00

...and we each spent a total of $140 dollars on communal things like the hotel room, gas and groceries. not too shabby of an attempt at a cheap spring break i think.

i presented my thesis sunday so i should finally have time to upload the hundreds of pictures i took and decided to keep. stay tuned.

Boys (and girls) in Da Hood (well...my car)

2006-03-20T22:51:00.000-06:00

Here's the second video shot with Kim's digital camera as we were pulling out very old records of mine. Here we all sing along to Dynamite Hack's cover of the Easy E classic "Boyz in Da Hood" which I belive to be one of the true symphonic opuses of our generation (Easy E... we miss you, boy). I hope you enjoy the musical stylings and you'll see why I DJ and don't sing at all:

Don't Quote Me, Boy...

the first video is up!

2006-03-20T12:10:00.000-06:00

Watch as Will, Matt and Robin discuss the silly demands of some artists as we wait our turn at the Chinati complex to view a piece that can only be seen by 5 or fewer people at a time...

Disclaimer: This video (and the others to be posted later) are taken with my digital still camera and aren't great quality. In this one, the wind tries to overpower my camera's baby mic.

More video fun to come later!

Too Little Time

2006-03-20T08:34:00.000-06:00

I'm posting this from Austin as I didn't get a chance to write about it out there. Everyone got up early on Saturday, save Julie (who slept almost the entire day), Kim, and I. The rest of the group took a trip out to Ft. Davis to the Stables for an early morning horse ride. The horses went very slowly and everyone (except Tiff) wore a helmet which did not really make them look like "cool cowboys." After they got back, I had fixed everyone fajitas (they were a little too hot due to the addition of local spices) and we tried to see what else there was to do. Matt, Robin, Katie, Kim and I all went out to Monahan Sand Hills to ride down the dunes in these plastic disks, seen here:

Yes, I'm mooning the camera with my disk. The dunes were a lot of fun, despite the fact that I got sand on/in/attached to every part of my body and clothing. I didn't want to go at first and the 80 mile drive wasn't helping that, but Robin said it was a good thing and he wasn't wrong (not once) the entire trip- so I went. I was really glad we did that, though walking up the really tall dunes in very soft sand was such a freaking workout. I drove back (everyone was asleep except Katie) and all in all, I'm glad I went along!

After we got back and got showers (I don't think I've felt better after a shower in a long time) we decided to go eat at "The Cutest Resturant in Balmorhea" but then, the power went out. Cueva de Oso (Cave of the Bear) was out so we called up a place in Ft. Davis to see if the grid streched that far (power was out in our room too). Ft. Davis had power so we drove out there. It had turned cold and slightly rainy, so deer weren't really out (which is a great thing). Instead of the pizza place we had called, we turned into a well-lit mexican resturant called - I shit you not- Cueva de Leon (Cave of the Lion)! So as we traded one cave for another, we found that they had a cheap Saturday night buffet of beef and chicken fajitas, rice, beans, two types of cheeze enchiladas, chili rellenos, and a salad bar. The food was great and we took some pictures before we went back for an early bedtime (I packed first).

After waking up at six thirty, the gang got into the cars with amazing speed. We checked out at eight right on the dot! We had to stop at Ft. Stockton to take a picture of the giant roadrunner. Afterwards, we stopped in Fredricksburg for lunch at the Pizza Hut that Kim's mom used to work at as a teenager. The food was ok, but Kim and I passed off Julie to the other car so we could go visit Kim's Oma (German for grandmother) who lives in this beautiful house in Fredricksburg. After spending an hour and a half with Kim's family, we had some great cake and headed home, not too late after the other car.

Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping...

horsing around

2006-03-18T18:13:00.000-06:00

The last full day in West Texas has been lots of fun. Got up early this morning and drove over to the Lajitas stables to ride horses. I've never ridden a horse before, so I was kind of scared of the horses. With the help of a safety helmet and the realization I was riding the prissiest horse at the stable (Paco was something of a diva), I ended up having a blast. I kind of want a horse now. Or a donkey. I would settle for a donkey.

This afternoon we went to the Monahan Sand Hills and sledded, of sorts, down sand dunes. Climbing the dunes was really hard, and I think that if I did that for an hour or so every day, I'd have the most fantastic legs in Texas. (Not that I don't already have some pretty spectacular gams.)

We did not stop at Dairy Queen again, much to my dismay. Oh, well. I have heard we might be swinging by the one in Fort Stockton tomorrow on the way home, as well as stopping to get a picture with the giant road runner statue. I am really excited about that. Not so excited about going back to Austin and back to homework. Oh, well.

The Title Goes Here

2006-03-18T17:40:00.000-06:00

Much fun has been had both today and yesterday. Yesterday, we drove to Marfa, home of the previously maligned lights. However, Marfa redeemed itself by being a very cool artsy city, in the middle of an area whose major industry appears to be jerky. We started off with lunch at Squeeze, a sandwich/smoothie cafe across from the Marfa courthouse. I had a delicious turkey sandwich, and everyone else's food appeared equally tasty. The staff were friendly and the weather was warm, so you couldn't ask for much better. We also ventured into the Brown Recluse, a coffee shop which was the very image of Austin's much beloved Spiderhouse. As Will noted, house roasted beans and an arachnid theme seen to be the key to coffee success. I call dibs on "Black Widow".

After that, Will, Kim, Robin, and I, eager to uphold our status as cultured art snobs went to the Chinati gallery. Built on an abandoned cavalry base, it houses some absolutely fabulous pieces of modern art and sculpture. It also has a fine collection of inscrutable "sketches", "art poetry" and other things which would have gotten me an F in Eighth Grade Art. The Dan Flavin installations were very interesting, and our tour guide helpful and knowledgeable, so if you find yourself in Marfa (and who doesn't at some point?) do go visit.

That evening, we went to the Davis Mountains, and enjoyed a breathtaking view, along with some sandwiches and soda. Very nice indeed. We were warned of bears and mountain lions when we went in, but a hungry Julie swinging a rock was more than enough to ward off any predators.

Today, Katie, Tiffany, Robin and myself went horseriding in Fort Davis. Apparently, it was early enough that the horses were still hungover from last night, because those beauties were slow as could be. It was a good time though. Staring up at mountains, among the cacti and dry river beds, I could almost imagine myself as a cowboy, tough folk legend of the open range. On further reflection, the dorky plastic helmet I was wearing did not quite gel with that image.

This afternoon, after a meal of "so hot your tongue is crying" fajitas, courtesy of a certain enthusiastic cook, we drove to Monohans Sand Dunes and spent a couple of hours sliding down the dunes on discs. We were gritty as a miner's socks by the end, and I loved every minute of it.

Sorry for the excrutiatingly long post. I'll be off now, as somewhere out there, is a quesadilla with my name on it.

The Third (and one-half) Coast

2006-03-18T08:44:00.000-06:00

Due to car issues, Kim and I set off early yesterday to Marfa, Texas to get my car looked at. I dropped it off at a good mechanics and we went exploring. I have concluded that Marfa is a little baby Austin. I do not mean an Austin for babies, but rather that Marfa is a fairly liberal, artsy, and fun city with lots of culture. We started by going to Marfa Book Co. which is a small art gallery/ wine bar/ coffee house/ bookstore that is quite nice. Kim got a few little things and the nice guy at the counter told her how "RENT" was a modern version of "La Boheme" and that was odd if not fun. here's a picture of said bookstore from the outside:

Kim and I then went to the Paisano Hotel which was very swank and had a visitor information center where we found a map of town and some fun things we should do. After lounging in their soft leather chairs and looking out at their beautiful Spanish courtyard with a fountain, we decided to walk (no car yet) across the old train depot yard to another little coffee shop called The Brown Recluse. This place is so close to Austin independent coffee shops it was scary. They roast their own beans, sell used books and rare records, and even have funny cut-outs with staff-drawn talk bubbles ("alms for the pour" was on their tip jar). I will be writing up a "rate it" for Brown Recluse for the Austin Traveler Magazine when I get back to Austin. I guess the secret to a good coffee shop is to have an arachnid-themed name and roast your own beans (see Spider House in Austin). Here are a few good pictures taken at the coffee shop so you can have an idea of what it's like:

After hanging around the coffee shop for a while, we went to Squeeze Marfa, a little sandwhich/ juice/ chocolate place hidden across from the courthouse (Matt will be putting this place in a "Rate It" on the Austin Traveler Magazine site soon). with lots of shade, very nice staff, and sandwhiches that were the best I've had in a while! They had lots of veggie options and no one was left out. If you're ever in Marfa (you should go) then this is where you must have a healthy and tasty lunch. We got a few pictures when the rest of the Magnificent Seven joined us from Ft. Davis. This is the courtyard where we ate because the weather was just so nice and breezy:

The group split again a little before 2pm and Matt, Robin, Kim and I went to the main gallery about a mile or so from downtown while Julie, Katie, and Tiff went exploring around Marfa. The galleries were about 50% great and 50% crap, so it was better than most modern art exhibits. The were some great Dan Flavin works and many others. The galleries need their own post so perhaps this evening I will write about the galleries before Julie and I go on our night dive in the spring. Suffice to say we got dozens of great pictures from the galleries and Matt, Robin, and I need to make a band because the shots we took are so money as cover art. We will call ourselves "The Checkered Demon Leisure Institute" so you should buy our album (if we ever make any music):

Head out on the highway, leave the world behind..

Picture This

2006-03-17T21:33:00.000-06:00

Hello readers. Kim is terribly eager to show you some of the picture highlights of our little excursion, and I am only too glad to help. Enjoy, and reflect upon the wonders of modern technology.

Here's the natural pool at Balmorhea. Not pictured, ravenous fish.

Will enjoys a pint at the brewery in Alpine. I'm not sure why we drove 500 miles for Will to drink beer. He does that in Austin all the time.

The gang assembles in Marfa. Notice the total lack of Mystery Lights and the total lack of enthusiasm for waiting in a cold wind for said lights to show up.

I hope that you all enjoyed the pictures. More are coming soon, thanks to the tireless photojournalism of Kim, Tiffany, and Katie.

message about pictures

2006-03-17T21:24:00.000-06:00

so our internet connection is slow and we're more than half way to our monthly flickr upload limit... the gazillons of pictures we're taking will wait to be uploaded to a storage site until after we're safely home and have our cable internet connections.

until then, you will have to content yourselves with limited relevant pics that will be loaded into the blog. and of course, the ones that are already uploaded from the first day to our flickr site...

i will have someone without carpal tunnel upload ones from the past couple days that are relevant to previous posts.

OMFG

2006-03-17T19:22:00.000-06:00

I find laptops extremely hard to type on, so this will be short.

I love that damn bird Coco. He loved me, but then he left me for Julie. I tried to get him to perch back on my shoulder, and then he tried to bite me. Cheating bastard. Julie steals all of my boyfriends.

So far, this has definitely been the most interesting trip I've ever been on. My only complaint: sandwiches for every meal. No one else seems to have a problem with this, but damn if I'm not tired of peanut butter sandwiches.

The landscape here is definitely beautiful. Very austere, and nothing I actually want to be right in the middle of (I'm not much of a "nature" person, and I'm damn scared of rattlesnakes), but pretty to look at nonetheless. The sheer rock cliffs I find particularly nice. However I've begun to get homesick for Austin, and I've realized how much I've taken for granted the fact that you can drive down the street to purchase hard liquor, and not 35 miles.

We've seen antelopes, deer, horses, a skunk, rabbits, a duck, a heron, and a crapload of cows. I tried to catch the duck, but was foiled. And then Matt yelled at me for trying to feed the fish.

The one thing I DIDN'T see was the very attractive German boy who led the Marfa art museum tour. I can't believe I missed him. I mean, only for the opportunity to speak German. I am a German major after all. I expect Kim to post a picture of him. HOTT.

Tomorrow we ride horses!!!! Besides Coco, I expect them to be the highlight of the trip. Hooray!

It's A Long Way To Anywhere

2006-03-17T08:56:00.000-06:00

Day Two of our trip proved three things.
1) Spring Break with friends is great.
2) Sometimes, places are 50 miles from gasoline and hamburgers.
3) Highways through the mountains are rarely well lit.

Things are going well on the trip. We started off with some swimming and I even tried my hand at snorkeling. I loved the view under the water, and sincerely hope the fish did not mind my intrusion. After that we headed to Alpine, to the smallest brewery in Texas. It follows German purity laws (which I pray refers only to beer), and I enjoyed the food, while non drivers enjoyed some beer.

Like the bandit attacks of old, Fort Davis repelled our incursion with a 5 o'clock closing time. Instead, we enjoyed the Largest Rattlesnake Exhibit in the World. The snakes were suitably impressive, and the owner was a real character. One of the best parts of trips is meeting new people, and Buzz, the owner, was fun to meet. Born in Upney, London (small world huh?), he runs the rattlesnake exhibit in Fort Davis, which is quite the journey of a lifetime. He clued us in on some good places to visit, and told some good engineer jokes too. Thanks Buzz.

The Marfa Lights lived up to their mystery, by asking the question "Why would seven people drive fifty miles to see some lights which may not really exist?" Adventure is why. We didn't see the lights, but the stars were wonderful and time with friends is never wasted. Fingers crossed that today is as interesting.

so far so good

2006-03-17T08:36:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we got up early and went to the pool here at the Balmorhea Park. The pool is absolutely gorgeous, clear and blue straight to the bottom. I opted out of swimming, but laying out and watching my friends paddle around was still a lot of fun.

After swimming, we got dressed and headed out to Alpine, Texas. We visited a Bavarian Brewery for lunch (service was kind of slow, but the waitress steered us clear of bad dumplings and in the direction of good beer, and the cheeseburger was fantastic). Alpine is a pretty interesting little town, and I wish we'd had more time to stop and look around. In one store we poked in, they had a lot of vintage jewelry and sunglasses, which I thought was pretty spectacular.

After Alpine, we drove back to Fort Davis, but it was almost closing time so Matt, Julie, Tiff, Robin, and I decided to visit the Rattlesnake Museum. The guy who runs the place is named Buzz, and on top of catching his own rattlesnakes, he also has a lot of interesting stories to tell and a very fickle bird named Coco.

We drove back to the state park for a much needed nap. When everyone was awake and refreshed, some small children staying next door showed some of the boys to a very large turtle. The boys then showed the rest of us the turtle, and I must say, it was quite impressive. Then we bundled up and headed to Marfa to see the mystery lights.

When we got there, a guy from the Observatory was there with binoculars and telescopes set up, and we got to see the moon and the Pleiades, which were very pretty. He said he'd been out there a couple dozen times to see the lights and so for was 0 for 25. His luck didn't get any better last night. Oh, well.

After that, it was back to the hotel for sandwiches and sleep. All in all a pretty good day.

an update from Julie

2006-03-16T18:17:00.000-06:00

After a long day of driving, we finally made it to Balmorhea State Park yesterday. After arriving we went swimming, picked up some SCUBA gear, and had a relaxing evening in our hotel room (seven people and two beds makes for an interesting time!).

Today began with a breakfast of pancakes and a trip to the pool. Will and I suited up in our SCUBA gear and went for a dive in Balmorhea’s nearby hot spring. The dive was amazing, and was my first dive since I got my diver’s certification in June. Several different types of endangered fish swarmed around us as we explored the depths of the hot spring. The visibility was excellent. At the bottom of the pond/pool we found the small upwellings of hot air that give the spring its year-around comfortable temperatures. The dive lasted about 50 minutes and will be followed by a night dive sometime in the next few days (probably Saturday).

After that, the entire group cleaned up and drove to Alpine, about 50 miles away. Alpine is the home of the Holland Hotel and its well-known German restaurant, where we all gorged ourselves on sausages and other tasty food.

Our original plans to visit the Historic Site at Fort Davis were overturned in favor of seeing the famous Marfa Lights, which we will head out for in a few minutes. Across from the Historic Site (which we briefly stopped at) was the Largest Rattlesnake Museum in the World (so said the sign at the front). For the bargain price of $12, Tiffany, Matt, Robin, Katie and I saw a collection of live snakes, spiders, scorpions, and other creatures that would blow your mind. The best part, though, was the flirty bird Coco, who wooed Tiffany and then abandoned her in favor of a nice perch on my shoulder. Coco sang to me for about 15 minutes before we finally decided it was time to put him back in his cage and head back to Balmorhea.

After my brief romance with Coco I joined the others for coke floats and a nap. Stay tuned for more updates!

PS: Kim says that she is resorting to photo-blogging instead of real blogging as a result of her carpal tunnel. So check out the neat photos of the trip!!

My West Texas Top 5 (so far):

2006-03-16T11:49:00.000-06:00

1. Giant wind mills
2. Truck removing dead deer from highway
3. Giant statue of road runner in Ft. Stockton
4. Pretty rock found at a rest stop
5. The Balmorhea pool...you can swim in that

Honestly, I slept through about 6 hours of the drive here, so I didn't see much. For the brief period of time I have been awake, though, I have decided that West Texas is beautiful.

the photos are coming!

2006-03-16T11:41:00.000-06:00

I'm still in the process of getting them uploaded but the first batch of photos will be posted at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/westtexastrip/.

We may move to a different storage site for later ones because we may exceed flickr's uploading max soon... Stay tuned.

Destination: Arrival

2006-03-16T08:27:00.000-06:00

400 miles, 2 gas stations, 1 German bakery, and 1 Dairy Queen, and we arrived in Balmorhea. The drive was long, with delightful scenery, ranging from big rocks to roadkill. We made great time, even without the hyperdrive engine Will apparently has access to (I was the slow driver). Their car speeded along with mechanical precision, with my humble posse and I following to the sounds of the Pogues (if I had the stereo), Cake (if Robin did), and the Starlite Mints (if Tiffany controlled the music). Special thanks go to Robin, who translated complicated concepts like North and West, into simple Matt level commands like "Go left now".

We made it safely, and things are going well. The water's crystal clear, and cold enough to wake you up, without being cold enough to actually cause pain. We had soup last night, and I helped by not ruining the mushrooms. Today, we are going to swim, then go to lunch in Alpine. I anticipate more fun than seven and a half barrels of monkeys. I'm glad to be here, and things are going to be even more fun.

Tequila Sunrise

2006-03-16T08:02:00.000-06:00

The drive over wasn't too bad. I drove with Kim and Julie and we bumped and beeped and thumped with our robot music all the way to Balmorhea. The drive wasn't too bad, I drive a '97 Saturn and as such it's pretty aerodynamic. I stuck pretty close to the speed limit the entire way, though the other car (Matt drives a Honda CRV) swears that I was hitting the triple digits. Mom, I swear I wasn't.

We had a pretty uneventful drive, save for a few stop overs that ended up almost taking all the time we saved by taking forever to eat or pee or whatever the hell they were doing. We got to the park, checked in, got our gear (SCUBA) and got unpacked and still had time to go swimming in the pool/lake/spring. Everyone seemed to really like it and the girls actually went swimming too!. The pool is a little different than I remember, the bottom seems less interesting (the rocks have been moved I think) though all this is from the surface, not from underwater where I saw it last time.

We went back (swimming in warm water makes you cold when you get out...very, very cold) and I made everyone some mushroom, green onion, lime, ginger udon (Japanese noodle dish). I went into the town with Katie and Tiffany to get a few supplies that we had forgotten and everyone else relaxed on the bed and watched Contact on the TV. Julie and I planned the dive (that should take place shortly) and then I went to bed alone with my fan in the kitchen.

I woke up pretty early (I went to bed about ten and got up this morning about six) and made everyone pancakes. They seemed to enjoy and I didn't want anyone to skip out the most important meal of the day. Well, now that everyone is up (they missed the most beautiful sunrise) I think we're going to the pool and I get to hang out underwater...I'll post about my dive later tonight.

Morning I'm waking up...can't focus on the coffee cup...

OBLIGATORY POST

2006-03-15T02:04:00.000-06:00

Hello there.

I suppose I too should post on this thing. I tend to avoid anything blog-y (bloggy?) like the plague since my unfortunate Xanga phase, but since this is for science, I will post. This is for science, isn't it?

All I can hope is that I have packed enough underwear. Nothing ruins a trip like not having clean underwear. You can be having the most fun in the entire freaking world, but if you're wearing dirty underwear you'll still feel cold, oh so cold.

I'm worried about the shower situation. Smelliness is another of my phobias. I'm kinda out of the loop when it comes to the exact accommodations at our fabulous hotel suites (haha).

Actually I've been kinda out of the loop with most things affecting our trip. I've had other things on my mind. Like the thought of clean underwear, fresh out of the dryer, lightly scented with the mountain breeze scent of Downy softness.

I wanna go horseback riding. I WILL pout if I don't see at least one pony. Just putting that out there.

Also, I am not a morning person. Let it be known in advance. The unlucky one who awakens me tomorrow will be very... uh... unlucky.

Ok the end.

Time is Tight

2006-03-14T23:29:00.000-06:00

I'm back in Austin after visiting Houston, and tomorrow morning (at about 6 am, a time which I am not sure exists outside of stories to scare undergrads) my friends and I will be making out merry way to West Texas. This evening, we gathered essential supplies for the trip, like peanut butter and chips, as well as a bag of limes to ward off the scurvy. As soon as I finish this entry, I'll be packing up my belongings and selecting some music for the road trip. The car passengers are divided neatly between Will's car, which will be beeping and thumping with coldly efficient "robot music" and my own vehicle, filled with people who like recognizably human effort in their listening material (Will, I kid because I love).

Wish us luck everyone. With my sense of direction, we are going to need it.

I'm still coming.

2006-03-13T21:52:00.000-06:00

Howdy, y'all! My name is Katie, and I was kinda worried about being able to make the trip because I just found out I have mono. But despite having glands the size of the lake at Balmoreah and being unable to stay awake past 9 PM), I am still coming to West Texas, because like Will said, I love all things fun. I hope the hotel beds are very comfortable, as that is probably where I will spend most of my time.

Top 3 things I hope I can stay awake for in West Texas:

1. Marfa lights
2. swimming (and much bikini-wearing)
3. taking crazy pictures in the desert

See you in West Texas!

- Katie

Here Doesn't Come the Rain Again

2006-03-12T21:57:00.000-06:00

Looks like the weather will be nice when we're in West Texas! I would have hoped that both the highs and lows would be like 5 degrees warmer, but I can't complain too much cause Austin may get nasty while we're gone.

Time for a Quicky?

2006-03-12T20:38:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to update (I'm in Dallas) that I have bought us a new toy! Some 8 mile range two-way radios! They have a charger base and they should last us a good while in the cars. I've god a good feeling they're going to come in handy as we're driving.

In other news, everyone will be happy to know that my car's CD player has a line-out function that will adapt to any MP3 player so we will change up the music (in my car at least) . I will bring all my CDs, so when it's my turn there will be much in the way of robotic music played to apease my cold, unfeeling robot masters.

Come up and see me sometime...

Last Minute Planning

2006-03-12T10:15:00.000-06:00

We're trying to get everyone together Tuesday night in order to make sure we're all on the same page with daytrips. I have a rough schedule that I'm going to propose and I'll post it if people like it. We'll also send some people grocery shopping because we intend to cook or prepare some meals in the hotel in order to keep costs down.

Almost everyone is out of town or busy for the next few days. (Julie's in Houston, Robin in Arlington, Will in Dallas, Matt in Houston. Katie's mother is in town visiting. Tiff's recovering from strep. And I'm frantically working on my thesis and helping getting Austin Traveler Magazine to the printers.) I've told several people about our plans to get together but I forgot who I have and haven't told so I'm going to send out an evite again and use the function that lets people vote on what time is best.

Lastly, we found a new toy, courtesy of google. But I'll use an excerpt from Will's personal blog to explain that:

I'm pretty impressed with Google on this one: Google's Send-To-Phone. You highlight text on any webpage and click the icon on the toolbar. The text will then be placed into a text message(s) that you send to any phone number. The only problem is that you need to know the cellular carrier. But the really nice thing is that we can text directions to everywhere we go and have it on our phones. I need to get ahold of some walkie-talkies so we can communicate between cars when there might not be cell towers out there.

I like it when things are well planned out but sometimes I think I get too nervous when they aren't... even though I know they'll prolly work out fine. What do you think? Will we be able to pull this off?

Or will our lack of planning about who rides in each car be our inevitable downfall because so many of our friends have strong and conflicting musical tastes?

Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring - Banana Phone

2006-03-10T12:02:00.000-06:00

I've been on the net and on the phone all day today. I found that the St. Genevieve winery changed its name to the Mesa winery, and no longer gives tours or tastings. The Starlight winery is not yet operational (many Bothans died to get you that information). I got the Blue Mountain Vineyard on the phone once, and they said they weren't open. When I called again to see if that meant forever, or today, or not the new business hours, or not this season...no one picked up! Wine trips, it seems, may be off our list of things to do.

I did however find a good route to where we're staying (Google maps is the best - true that! Double True!) and I'd like some input as to whether or not you guys and gals like it (or can think of a more time-friendly way to get there) see if this works for you. We'll have to stay on 290 for at least a good 1/2 hour outside Fredricksburg. We should really stop there for lunch or something because it's a really nice little German town.

In other news, I will edit a little later on about reservations for the art galleries (though I am sure public tours are given at 10am and 2pm for any number) and the McDonald Observatory.

EDIT:

I looked online at the Chianti Foundation (art gallery) website and this is what I found:

The Chinati Foundation is accessible by guided tour only. Tours are given every Wednesday through Sunday in two sections:

Tours of section 1 begin promptly at 10 AM and include permanent installations by John Chamberlain, Donald Judd, Ilya Kabakov, Richard Long, and David Rabinowitch.

Tours of section 2 begin promptly at 2 PM and include permanent installations by Carl Andre, Ingólfur Arnarsson, Dan Flavin, Roni Horn, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, and John Wesley, as well as the museum’s current temporary exhibition.

Please arrive slightly before the starting time of the tour you wish to take. Visitors who arrive more than ten minutes after a tour has begun will be asked to wait for the next scheduled tour.

The museum is closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and free for Chinati members and children under twelve years of age.

So we will have to see which parts of the collection (examples are up on their website) we would like to see. I think my vote is for the 2pm tour, as it shows more artists and also shows the temporary exibitions. We could eat lunch in Marfa and then go on to the museum.

The McDonald Observatory is open for more hours over spring break, so we will have many times open to see it. The cost is a bit much and it's a travesty that they don't offer any student discounts (we help pay for it!) to admission. I think if we go in a group (>5) then we can get a "family" discount to the "star party" and if we want to see everything during the day, we'd be looking at $20 spent at the observatory alone, which would make it a rather expensive outing when compared with other things we planned to do.

I think it would be a great idea to meet up on Tuesday when everyone gets back from their trips and visits and we try to plan a somewhat solid itinerary of where we want to go, etc.

Hang up and drive!

Alpine? Bavaria?

2006-03-08T08:25:00.000-06:00

Apparently there is a place in Alpine called the Edelweiss Brewery that serves German food that to satiate even a real German's craving for the homeland. They also serve beer that is in adherence with the old school (think 1500s) Bavarian purity laws. German beer purity laws don't apply in exports so we've prolly never had it so good!

Should we stop in Alpine if we get the chance?

Photo Storage

2006-03-04T10:29:00.000-06:00

I haven't had much experience with storing and posting photos online. My digital camera is prolly going to be the primary one used on this trip, so I'm trying to learn more about the best way to upload and share the photos.

As I understand it, we have a number of options of how to upload them. We could use the google service, flickr or just our UT accounts.

For photos that we want to be in our posts themselves, we can just use the blogger interface that I'm using now I think. But how many photos do we want to do this with? I think I'll prolly be taking a ton of pictures-- Should we upload the majority of them to the web and only include the very best in the posts?

What do y'all think?

Westward Ho!

2006-03-03T01:11:00.000-06:00

Sorry, "ho" as in the exclamation. I'm not trying to offend anyone here. Well, this is Matthew Donovan and I'm just happy to be along for the ride. We'll be heading off to the uncharted wilds of West Texas rather than Ye Olde Mexico, but honestly, I'm as pleased with that. I'm not from this state, and a lake in West Texas is going to be equally as different for me.

I'm also very pleased to be going along with such a great group of people. I'd call us the Magnificent Seven over some group of filthy cowboys or lazy samurai anyday. It promises to be a trip filled with good friends, fun activities, and spooky lights from the world beyond. All in all, what else can you really ask for?

Early Planning

2006-03-02T00:29:00.000-06:00

We met in person, organized by evite as Will mentioned, on Feb. 18. Two days later I sent out an email with the details that we discussed, including the following:

Hotel:

We will be staying Wednesday night through Sunday morning at Balmorhea State Park, home to the largest spring-fed pool in the world. It is 1.75 acres big and up to around 30 feet deep. People can scuba dive or skin dive to the bottom where the water is still very clear. It remains 76-78 degrees year round.

If you think the water might be too cold for your taste, Will has info on renting wetsuits (for skin divers/swimmers too!). He also has info on scuba diving rental info, for those of y'all who are interested.

We will be staying in a small motel in the park called San Solomon Spring Courtsin a room with two double beds and a kitchen, which have fridges and ovens but we will have to bring all the dishes, utensils, etc. Canals along the motel lead to a restored wetland where a window built below ground provides a fish-eye view of the underwater world.

Day Trips:

We will probably spend a day at Balmorhea but intend to take day trips other days. We will have two cars, so people can decide to split up into smaller groups if necessary.

Fort Davis is about 40 miles away from where we'll be staying. It is home to Lajitas Stables where we can make reservations to go horseback riding. The oldest vinifera vineyard, Blue Mountain Wineyards, in Texas is right outside town. The town also contains the Fort Davis National Historic Site, one of America's best surviving examples of an Indian Wars' frontier military post in the Southwest, which encompasses 24 buildings and over 100 ruins and foundations.

Marfa less than 60 miles away. It is home to the Marfa Lights which we will go see after sunset one day as well as the some cool art galleries. The greatest of these is the Chinati Foundation, a complex which spans 340 acres and about 12 buildings. Marfa is an up and coming center for American modern art.

McDonald Observatory is around 50 miles away. It will be offering additional star parties, solar viewings, and twilight tours while we are there for spring break.

Other places that we may visit include Big Bend National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, the ghost town of Shafter, Davis Mountains State Park, Monahans Sandhills State Park, and Ste. Genevieve Wines.

See map of West Texas for more location info.

The Money

The room is $70/night plus $7 per person above double occupancy. Assuming that we have 7 people in one room, its $105/night for 4 nights which comes out to $60/person.

We estimate that we'll take two cars and that each person will spend around $40 on gas.

Other costs will include food (we are going to take ice chests in the cars with snacks and groceries), walkie talkies (because cell phone reception is spotty out there) and other expenses dealing with our day trips.

I also had people let me know for sure whether or not they wanted to go in on the hotel with us by midday Tuesday, Feb. 20. This was important because we were close to the cut off to needing more rooms and wanted to make sure we have enough room!

This does not preclude the possibility of more people joining us. Other friends are still welcome, they just have to find their own hotel rooms...

The Best of Plans

2006-03-01T22:20:00.000-06:00

Well, well, well. Not the first to hear about its creation, but the first to post about it, I'm going to talk a little about my experience of planning our spring break trip. I'm William (Jean Paul is my online pseudonym) and I'd like to tell you a little about myself. I am 22 years old, from Dallas, a 4th year microbiology student at the University of Texas and I like to SCUBA dive, DJ, blog, and generally have a good time. I'm a lifeguard, Eagle Scout, and not a bad cook (or at least hope I'm not).

Our spring break plans originally started as going to Mexico on the cheap. We had planned to go to Monterrey and see the Mexican Museum of Modern Art, the historical sites, mountain ranges, shopping, breweries and other great sights of the third largest city in Mexico. This fell through, however and we decided to try the United States instead. We had a good idea of who wanted to come, but the logistics of getting them together in one place was a little daunting. Kim, who will be posting later helped us out by using her internet savvy to create an "E-vite". Evite is a site that anyone can use to help plan, invite, RSVP, and create a great party or gathering. Kim used the voting function to work out what time worked best for everyone and the replies helped us to plan out a meeting.

Six of the "Magnificent Seven" came, each with a plethora of ideas and some with an attitude of "whatever-works-for-you-works-for-me." We suggested trying to avoid the gulf coast, as it would be packed to the gills with college students and what were we trying to get away from in the first place?

We instead decided to take some sage advice and, "head west, young man." We decided to set up shop at a place I had been before years ago: Balmorhea State Park. The park is mostly a pool created by the CCC ages ago around a naturally occurring hot spring welling up from the desert. The pool is two acres large, crystal clear, twenty-five feet deep, about seventy-eight degrees year round, and home to some beautiful species of endangered fish. There is a small dive shop next door and SCUBA diving or skin diving is enjoyed all year long. Only a few of us are SCUBA certified, so we'll be the only divers, but I promise pictures when they are developed.

Diving is not the only thing to do in West Texas, otherwise this would be a boring trip for most involved. Marfa, Texas is the proud home of the Chinati Foundation, a huge modern art gallery from Europe built out in the little town. There is also horseback riding not far from the state park at the Lajitas Stables and there are two wineries where one can indulge their palate after some riding (Blue Mountain or St. Genevieve wineries offer award-winning wines grown out in the west Texas sun).

The park is situated at the foothills of the beautiful, purple Davis mountains and as such, is close to Ft. Davis, Texas which is home to the Ft. Davis Historical Site and many other attractions. Lest the desert nightlife seem boring to you, Ft. Davis is home to the McDonald Observatory just outside the city. The observatory is run by our alma mater, and since our money is hard at work for space explorations, it seemed like a good idea to check out some amazing scenes through the powerful telescopes. Julie, our aerospace engineer also wanted to check out the unexplained phenomenon of the Marfa Lights, an eerie effect outside Marfa which seem to hover and roll out in the desert.

We've so far planned that we'll be taking two cars, our own food (as the room has a kitchen), and plenty of music. The desert gets cold at night, so we'll need to be prepared for that. I think I'll be driving my little Saturn so hopefully we can get good gas mileage going and coming. Kim did a little number crunching at it looks like the trip (for the whole week) will cost everyone well under $200 for all we get to do. I think I'll let her talk more about that as she posts.

With all the fun sights and activities, we all decided that this would be a peaceful (and most importantly--cheap) trip away from school to explore the little known area that is West Texas. Kim, Katie, and Matt will be introducing themselves as they post later, but I will take the liberty of giving a brief view of the "Magnificent Seven."

Tiffany (Tiff): Tiffany is a 22 year old, 4th year linguistics major from Dallas. Tiffany has a sharp, sarcastic wit about her and as such is the one with all the snappy comments for our screw-ups. Tiffany is a blast simply because she's never afraid to voice her stance on things and loves having a good time; it might also be good to mention she's a vegetarian.

Julie: Julie is a 21 year old, 4th year aerospace engineer from Shreveport, Louisiana. Julie is a cyclist, a future astronaut, a SCUBA diver and an all around tough girl. She's not one to take anyone's crap and as such she's a blast to hang out with. Julie is a carnivore.

Robin: Robin is a 21 year old, 3rd year civil environmental engineer from Dallas. Robin is the quiet one of the group and always has a smile. Very knowledgeable on all things environmental and outdoorsy, Robin was there with a myriad of options for other outdoor sights near the park and many of the day-trips were suggested by him. Robin is also a vegetarian.

Matt: Matt is a 21 year old, 3rd year English major from Houston. Matt was born in Dubai to English parents, is a South Londoner at heart, has lived in Texas, Scotland, and Canada. Matt is our very polite Englishman with a penchant for punk rock and having a good time. Matt hates to offend and as such is pretty easy going. Matt is a thespian and has an amazing sense of humor that really comes out in his writing. Matt is most certainly not a vegetarian.

Kim: Kim is a 22 year old, 4th year journalism major from San Antonio. As the only professional writer, she's been doing this better for longer than any of us. She's the original intern for Austin Traveler Magazine and got Katie involved. Kim is always really busy but she loves to go out and explore Austin. She's waiting to hear back from grad school sometime before the blog is over, so you may see references in her posts. She and I are in a relationship, so we're often in the same place at the same time--we are not, however, the same person!

Katie: Katie is a 21 year old, 1st year graduate student in communication studies. She's the new addition to the Austin Traveler team as their foreign movie reviewer. Katie is the girliest one of the group and worried about what the desert might do to her hair (it's nice hair!). Katie loves all things fun, Bollywood, and cute boys. Katie, though younger than most of us, already graduated but found that her undergrad friends are much cooler than depressed grad students.

Hit the road, Jack...

Hello World

2006-03-01T22:16:00.000-06:00

We are a group of friends heading to West Texas for spring break (March 15-19). We're staying in Balmorhea SP (home of the largest spring fed pool in the world) and taking a number of daytrips to cool stuff in the area-- McDonald Observatory, a couple wineries, horseback riding, the art galleries in Marfa, the Marfa lights, maybe Big Bend, etc.

And we are going to blog the whole thing, from the planning stages to our stir craziness from sitting in the car for 8 hours to the sunburns which are inevitable for some of us.

This is our first attempt at a group travel blog. We look forward to seeing how it works and welcome your feedback.