West Texas Traipsing

Back in early July... Two vacations ago...

After arriving in the stillest of the night, Sam and I were up and at em searching Ft Davis for breakfast tacos first thing the next morning. Just as in San Antonio, Zahra wanted to accompany us (as on any adventure out of the house) and it would take a considerable bribe (or threat) to get Zayd out the front door. So we took our Littles and headed into town. We found a tiny shop at the base of Sleeping Lion Mountain. My goodness. This was the view walking into the taco shop.

It was breathtaking. I was glad to have arrived so late and thus experience the Davis Mountains with fresh morning eyes at the very start of the vacation.

Through out the trip we enjoyed our home base of Fort Davis. We enjoyed ice cream at the local drugstore and soda fountain, ice cream out of a train car, and fresh honey lollipops. Yum! The kids both discovered awesome finds at the rock and fossill  store. The town was tiny but the mountains we unbeatable. Most of us took a quick hike up a mountain on the second morning. The kids complained quite a bit but I'll make adventurers of them yet. Ziyan was beyond eager to hike and actually walked down the last little stretch while I held both hands firmly so he didn't just tumble all the way down. I loved seeing that at least one of these Zs is going to be exuberantly Lonely Planeting with me. (I knew I needed a third baby!)

For Sam and I, a highlight from trip was absolutely the McDonald observatory. We went to a Star Party that we would do again any day... Without our kids. We saw Saturn, Jupiter, and some nebula before we had to whisk Zahra off that freezing mountain.

Ziyan, Zayd, Nani and I ventured to Alpine to catch the Big Bend Cowboys in their win over some other tiny Texas town. I think it was Zayd's first baseball game and he enjoyed it. I'd been to Jon's little league games in bigger stadiums and loved the down home feel... Mostly.

Honestly, the entire trip I thought repeatedly about the things I've learned about America over this past year or two. That lots of Americans don't like immigrants, for example. Not all, by any means, but apparently lots. That's not even getting into religion where we know I, again, don't fare very well with "many" Americans. Throughout the trip, I repeatedly questioned my decision to traipse all of the beautifully pigmented babies out to meet "many" presumably good and loving Americans. I would never claim there are more of the "many" out in Alpine than right here in San Antonio, as I have no idea. I will say, when suddenly you (and the people you brought) are the only people who look like you that you've seen in five days...it can be unnerving. All of that said, everyone was pleasant and my worries were for not. My occasional discomfort though, is a useful resource that serves to keep my family safe. A depressing, realistic resource.

Just as we started that first morning, this vacation was wonderful for giving each of us special time together in different little groupings. I don't know if Sam, Zahra, Ziyan and I have ever done ANYTHING alone as a foursome. Ziyan spent so much extra time with Nani and Nana that he likes to video chat them these days! It's amazing how you create and then evolve unique dynamics when on a big family vacation. It was an opportunity to experience each other more fully, which is probably exactly the purpose of family vacation.