Texas

Austin

One fortunate side effect of our holiday travel delays was that we were given a very nice compensation package that enabled us to take a trip this winter. Since we moved to CA and Dad and Yoli moved to Texas we haven't had a chance to see each other. Texas was the perfect use of the free tickets.

This past week was Nye's President's Day vacation. I took a couple of days off from work and off we went. But first we had to rendezvous with Archil on his return from NYC. (Lots of airline travel that day for the poor guy!) We traveled to Austin and then on to San Antonio.

Austin is the capitol of Texas. Its slogan is "Keep Austin Weird." I have to say that you don't really feel like you're in Texas in this lovely little city. Lots of quaint neighborhoods with old clapboard houses, tons of music halls, trendy restaurants, nice Children's Museum and a river walk. We also had a chance to explore a bit south of the city - the Lady Bird Johnson Native Plant Preserve. What a cool place! The whole sites architecture is designed to harvest rain water (some pictures of that in the movie.) There are lovely trails, gardens and sculpture. (Though for future reference I'd recommend coming in April rather than February.) It was a great respite from work and travel.

San Antonio
On Valentine's Day we drove an hour or so south to San Antonio to visit Dad and Yoli. While the three of us relaxed and caught up Nye and Archil were ready to get their boots dirty in the clay and soil with a little gardening. They volunteered to help transplant a Yucca tree. I hope it survives! Knock on wood that the rest of the winter won't be quite as harsh as it has been! Well okay it doesn't look too harsh from the picture, right, after all they are wearing long sleeve shirts rather than down jackets!

We got a chance to explore downtown San Antonio complete with a visit to the Alamo. (And, yes it is smaller than you expect it to be, given size of the story!) After exploring the mission and its grounds we were off to explore the River Walk. Have to say that the Rive Walk is really quite cool. I'm sure in the summer it is a delightful place to stroll in the shade. It had some of the feel of a European town. (Of course the restaurants and fellow strollers were decidedly Texan.) Nye made friends with the local ducks. We stayed overnight and enjoyed the hospitality. Nye had his own room. In the morning we went to the small market square or Mercado. A little taste of Mexico in San Antonio, it felt very familiar. Lots of friendly shop owners, good food, and of course the wonderful colors and sounds of a market in action. (I think Nye and Arch love the pastry smells.)

We had a great time visiting Texas. It was wonderful to see family again. It's nice to know where folks are living and to have a sense of their lives in a new locale.

Thanks again Dad and Yoli for welcoming us into your home!


Love,

Sara, Nye, and Archil



P.S. Enjoy the little slide show!

From Hidden Willa to Hidden Villa

The rains of winter have been keeping us inside a bit more than usual. But today Nye and I decided we'd had enough and headed off to Hidden Villa for a bit of exploration time. (I chose the center because it is just a short drive away, 15-20 max, so if the weather turned we could come home quickly.) We had fun visiting the farm animals. Nye has been reading Charlotte's Web at school. There were lambs, piglets, lambs and a calf. Seems like everyone has been quite busy on the farm! We had a good time visiting with all the different farm yard animals and talking about the different characters in the book.

Once we'd spent time visiting the animals we headed off for a hike on the Little Bunny Trail. "What a cute name," your probably thinking. Well apparently the trail is named after some, as yet unknown, euphemism where "bunny" actually means "mountain goat"; and little doesn't mean "short" but rather means "very narrow." Nye and I had a blast hiking up twisty mountain goat paths which were about 10" wide. Most of the trails were overlooked beautiful streams and waterfalls. All of these would have been more scenic for me had Nye not been skipping along ahead of me on a slick leafy track. (Argh!) Our climb to the top was well rewarded. We had a great view of the San Francisco Bay and into parts of San Jose from the mountain top. There among the golden madrones and with Stellar's Jay's squalking we had a pleasant snack break.

Nye proposed that the education center should install a zip line from the mountain top to our home. "Yeah," he said, "then we could go from Hidden Villa to Hidden Willa!"

On our walk back we saw a wonderful example of a Banana Slug being protected by a fellow hiker till it could finish crossing the path. (Very sweet that he would stay to ensure that the critter crossed safely!) There were plenty of fun places to play around the main building including a great swing, logs, ponds, and puddles. What more could a boy ask?

We're looking forward to joining up with Archil at the San Francisco airport on Friday. We're on our way for a brief visit to Texas. It's a first for the guys. We'll spend a day or so with my Dad and Yoli in San Antonio and then some transition time in Austin. It should be an interesting change of pace from Callie!

Wishing all the best,

Sara

In Memorium - Goodbye Kitty-wa

"Q"
1994-2010

This month started on a very sad note with the passing of "Q". As most of you know he was a constant, and very vocal, companion.

Ever the alpha male, he never hesitated to join in any activity. He'd happily visit for meals, sit on books while I was reading them, or "help out" (as in walking on the keyboard) while I worked on the computer.

In days since I took him to the vets, I've been very surprised to discover just how large a hole a small creature can leave. He certainly enriched my life and he will be very, very, missed!

Sara