Don’t Mess with Texas

There are actually signs that say “Don’t mess with Texas” along the roadways.  Well, okay!  Although I’m sure the signs were mean as a reminder to keep the roads clean, it sort of fed into my mostly unfounded idea that Texans are a lot-bit sassy.  The only place in Texas I’d ever visited was Austin and I wasn’t sure what to expect from the rest of this big state.  Nevertheless, we set out for a HUGE loop of a road trip, about 2,500 miles driving, 56 hours in the car, through nearly the entire lengths of Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico.  

……With our 2.5 year old…..

Why did we choose to put ourselves through something many would describe as torture?

Simple.  We are not those people, obviously!  

We like the slow-moving journey.  We couldn’t wait to explore a new area of the world and show Colton the great expanses of the South/Southwest.  This would be mostly new landscape for all of us. Texas was sure to bring warmer weather, great wildflowers (fingers crossed), opportunities to kayak and hike, and even the chance to see a few old friends.  I mapped out great spots for us to camp, while Mike put the finishing touches on getting our truck and new trailer ready for the adventure.  On the trip, we traveled through snow, rain, high winds, and lots of gorgeous weather.   

I made the mistake of telling Colton that he’d been to New Mexico once before where we saw lots of balloons at the Albuquerque Balloon Festival.  He took that as we were going to see lots of big balloons on THIS trip and continuously (Don’t take this word lightly.  He’s a toddler.  Non-stop asking.) asked where are the balloons.  Mid-way through our second day, he points at a large water tower in the middle of no-where Texas and says, “BALLOON!!!” Whew!  We found so many balloons driving through the small towns of Texas that he got his fill that day and never asked about it again.  Colton was a champion hiker, kayaker, sand digger, and rock thrower.  The Easter bunny left some eggs for him to hunt at the Monohans Sandhill State Park and he couldn’t have been more excited.  Near the end of the trip, whenever Colton didn’t want to do what was being instructed of him, he would say “I wanna go to San Antonio!” in the sweetest little voice.  He would also randomly tell both Mom and Dad “I love you sooooo much!”  This little man did did awesome in the car and on the trip.  In fact, he only complained of his “hurt bum-bum” on the last day.  

We traveled the countryside for 11 days.  Just the three of us.  Making memories, getting dirty, and having lots of fun.  We all love our new trailer and can’t wait for more adventures to come.  

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