Spring break to me has always meant more than getting a week out of school; it is a challenge to hit the road and seek out an adventure. I love road trips any time of year but especially spring break. I am an home with my atlas in my hands. My first spring break road trip was my 9th grade year. I joined a friend and her family on an RV journey out west. Seeing as it was a childhood dream to travel in an RV, I was ecstatic. The way a dinner table could morph into a bed was hardly less than magic. And who would have thought a shower could fit in a broom closet? That was my first and, to-date, last RV venture, and it was my first introduction to the massive state of Texas. (One of these days I'm going to convince Logan to rent one. I'm planning on a future family vacation to Yellowstone, and my idea of roughing it includes sleeping on an indoor bed that was once a table.) While traveling through that never-ending state, I remember thinking that the barbed wire museums were great and all, but I was waiting for the real wild west with its ghost towns, canyons, and red monuments. For me, Texas was standing in my way to my real destination. Now, I'm giving it another chance.
I have been to Texas three times since then, and it has yet to pull at my travel-heart strings; however, I have never gone to Texas for the sake of going there. In the past, it has been the location of an outreach mission, a conference presentation, and a cruise embarkation point. Logan and I have been out of the country several times since we've been married, but this will be our first time in Texas together (except for the Houston airport in route to Vegas) since we were in high school. This time, we are going to the cultural capital, San Antonio, to visit some dear friends who have recently made Texas their home. As much as I've read about San Antonio's famous riverwalk and musems in Southern Living, I feel like I will finally be able to feel a connection with the Lone Star state. My husband is more skeptic. Logan, who loves history, had his first taste of San Antonio when he was much younger and was left disappointed when the Alamo didn't appear as it did 175 years ago. As a child, he envisioned cowboys and indians and was disallusioned upon realizing the city had surrounded the famous monument. My mission is to restore his wonder in the Alamo and, for myself, finally kindle an appreciation for Texas.
I have been to Texas three times since then, and it has yet to pull at my travel-heart strings; however, I have never gone to Texas for the sake of going there. In the past, it has been the location of an outreach mission, a conference presentation, and a cruise embarkation point. Logan and I have been out of the country several times since we've been married, but this will be our first time in Texas together (except for the Houston airport in route to Vegas) since we were in high school. This time, we are going to the cultural capital, San Antonio, to visit some dear friends who have recently made Texas their home. As much as I've read about San Antonio's famous riverwalk and musems in Southern Living, I feel like I will finally be able to feel a connection with the Lone Star state. My husband is more skeptic. Logan, who loves history, had his first taste of San Antonio when he was much younger and was left disappointed when the Alamo didn't appear as it did 175 years ago. As a child, he envisioned cowboys and indians and was disallusioned upon realizing the city had surrounded the famous monument. My mission is to restore his wonder in the Alamo and, for myself, finally kindle an appreciation for Texas.
This will not be as difficult as it would seem because we have two San Antonians to lead us. And besides it's not a road trip without friends. While I am a sucker for the touristy attractions, I am looking forward to experiencing SA with the locals. All I know about SA, which is not alot, revolves around Southern Living and the riverwalk. Part of the goal of any road trip, I would imagine, is to be flexible and ready to head off the beaten path. Therefore, for once, I am not going to do tons of research and planning. I'm going to be a carefree girl who detours for barbed wire museums on purpose.
Oh, and one more thing about road trips...I think they should always include multiple destinations, which is why Logan and I will be spending the night in Baton Rouge, LA. I am teaching In the Sanctuary of Outcasts this semester, and I promised my students that I would visit the National Hansen's Disease Museum located in Carville, which is the setting for the novel.
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