Category: South Central
Eight days in Austin, TX (visit #1)–Winter Loop to Austin
We visited Austin in January 2017 as part of our Winter Loop to Austin trip. Read about our subsequent visits in 2018, 2019, early 2021, during the snowpocalypse in late 2021, and in 2024. We loved Austin so much! I have too many words to type about the city and all the eating, drinking, and exploring that…
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One night in Grapevine, TX–Winter Loop to Austin
We visited Grapevine in January 2017 as part of our Winter Loop to Austin trip. After two days in Memphis, we wanted to hightail it to Austin as quickly as possible, which meant a long day of driving. Eyeballing the map, it seemed that the Dallas area was a good distance to shoot for, so…
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Winter trip brainstorming, Part III
This brainstorm was for a trip in early 2017. See Part I and Part II of the brainstorm, and read about what we actually ended up doing! We finish our sun-seeking brainstorming exercise here, after discussing Coastal South Carolina and Georgia in Part I, and the beaches of Northern Florida and the Panhandle in Part…
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Three days in Santa Fe–Big Trip #1
We visited Santa Fe in March 2016 as part of Big Trip #1. We had a fantastic stay in Santa Fe, but we struggled a bit to get a real feel for the city. There are several distinct neighborhoods, connected by highways and strip mall corridors. Downtown is touristy; the Railyard District has a mix of…
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Two days in Whites City, NM / Carlsbad Caverns NP / Guadalupe NP–Big Trip #1
We visited Whites City in March 2016 as part of Big Trip #1. Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of Whites City, NM. (Wikipedia says the 2010 population of Whites City was seven!) Here’s an easier one: have you heard of Guadalupe Mountains National Park? We hadn’t heard of either place, which is nuts because…
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A Driving Tour of Big Bend National Park (visit #1)–Big Trip #1
We visited Big Bend in March 2016 as part of Big Trip #1. Read about our subsequent visits here: early 2018, late 2018, and 2021. [UPDATE! We returned to Big Bend in 2018 and stayed in the park for a few days, so got a much fuller Big Bend experience. Read about our magical visit…
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Three Days in Ft Davis, TX–Big Trip #1
We visited Ft Davis in March 2016 as part of Big Trip #1. On our big wish-list map of places we want to hit on this trip, we have two dots in far southwest Texas: Big Bend National Park, and the town of Marfa. Marfa is on several “best small towns” lists that we came…
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Four days in Fredericksburg, TX (visit #1)–Big Trip #1
We visited Fredericksburg in March 2016 as part of Big Trip #1. Read about our second visit in 2018 here and our third visit in 2024 here. Greetings from charming Fredericksburg! You may have noticed a glaring omission in our route through Central Texas… We very much looked forward to spending time in Austin on…
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A half day in Waco, TX–Big Trip #1
We visited Waco in March 2016 as part of Big Trip #1. No offense to Waco, but we didn’t seek it out as a specific destination, rather as a stopover to break up the drive from Hot Springs to Fredericksburg, TX. We didn’t expect to do much there, but we had a good time! Camping…
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Two days in Hot Springs, AR (visit #1)–Big Trip #1
We visited Hot Springs in March 2016 as part of Big Trip #1. Read about our second visit in 2018 here. We arrived in Hot Springs, set up camp, zoomed downtown, walked around for about an hour, and then it started raining. It hasn’t really stopped since. I was awoken last night around 3 by the strange…
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