The Lee Family: Alpine, Texas

We spent this past weekend with CK's boss, Tex and his lovely wife Vaughn, at their house in Alpine. We visited the house, which has an incredible view of Alpine and the surrounding mountains, when we visited the area during Spring Break last year. It's absolutely beautiful and so relaxing and quiet. We arrived mid-afternoon Friday after a 2 hour flight that took us through a rain storm just before we landed. Once we landed, it was lovely to step out into the 73 degree weather, despite the light rain. We drove up to Tex and Vaughn's house and settled into our rooms, putting the girls into a room with two twin beds upstairs and decided to stay in the guest room on the first floor so the girls could possibly sleep in a little longer.

Friday night we enjoyed queso and fritos, followed by roasted chicken and salad. It was all so delicious and the girls were so hungry that they both devoured their chicken and carrots, since they aren't salad eaters yet. Tex and Vaughn do not have kids, so we ate a lot later than we normally do at home but both girls were great. After dinner, Sofia read on the couch and Olivia played with the books we brought with us. We put the girls to bed around 9:45pm and they took a long time to get settled and fall asleep, probably since they both enjoyed long naps on the flight out.

On Saturday morning, the girls both woke up around 6am and crawled into bed with me as CK was just getting up to go watch the sunrise outside. After both girls fell back asleep, I joined CK for a cup of coffee outside and enjoyed the mid-70 degree weather and beautiful landscape. It's so quiet and peaceful and just very relaxing. Sofia was soon awake and Olivia shortly after, so they ran around the front yard. Tex headed out and brought back possibly the very best donuts I've ever eaten! We all ate donuts and then headed out with Vaughn and their two vizslas, Chula and Rigley, for a walk. We followed the road up toward the peak and passed two houses before the road became more like a trail. Olivia rode on CK's back while I stuck in the back of the group with Sofia and she collected rocks. There were small bright red rocks on the trail as well as other interesting finds. Sofia, as usual, took her time and really searched for just the perfect rock or rocks. I took pictures of the landscape, and just enjoyed the quiet as we walked. Once Sofia's hands were full, I put her rocks into my back pocket and told her she would have to limit her find to what she could carry. The rest of our group - Vaughn and her two dogs, CK and Olivia on his back, and Ginger, the lady who lives on the premises and takes care of their house and property - headed back toward the house and met up with Sofia and I, so we turned around and headed back. Sofia convinced Olivia to search for rocks, and soon her shorts pocket was filled with rocks too. Olivia also found a centipede which was really cool. We returned to the house and the girls washed all of their rocks and displayed them in the sun.

CK and I got organized and loaded the girls up into Tex's truck and drove toward Balmorhea State Park, where there is a fresh water spring that has been turned into a swimming pool with fish. The spring produces so much water that aqueducts were built almost 100 years ago to transport the fresh water to the nearby town for crops. It's really remarkable to see miles of aqueducts full of clear water in the middle of the desert. On our way we turned down Boy Scout Road, as suggested by Tex, and drove it just to get some new scenery. Sofia kept asking if we could go for a hike, so we decided to pull off the road and climb up a short rocky area. CK and Sofia set off and Olivia and I started up after them but were rebuffed by the thorns and stickers and turned back to sit in the truck and watch Sofia and CK climb. I took more pictures of the area and enjoyed the views. They climbed to the top pretty quickly and hung out at the top briefly before heading back toward us. We continued along the road for a while before deciding to turn around for lunch at Fort Davis. Tex had also suggested Lupita's for a good burger. We stopped there and ate with the girls getting grilled cheese sandwiches, CK the burger and I ordered a burrito.

After lunch, we continued on to Balmorhea. Once we arrived we had to sit in a car line to get into the park! Luckily we were only about six cars from the front and were told that it often gets backed up by at least 50 or more cars! After waiting 15 minutes, we were in and parking the truck. The girls changed into their swimsuits in the truck and CK and I took turns using the bathrooms near the spring-fed pool. It was rather crowded, and Sofia was in the water and swimming with the fish in no time. Olivia was a little less certain but wanted to go in to see "the mermaid." When Vaughn first suggested that we visit Balmorhea, I pulled up a video to show the girls and we were later redirected to a video of a "mermaid" swimming in the pool with the fish. She was transfixed and told CK as soon as he got home from work that there was a "real" mermaid and she saw the video! It was so sweet!

Olivia and I headed into the pool and despite the "stairs are slippery" sign, I still nearly fell and killed myself as we walked in. The stairs and bottom of the pool are covered in thin algae and it's hard to stand on, especially with a slippery little girl. The water was cool but very refreshing and Olivia wasn't interested in letting go of me or trying to put her head under the water. We weren't in long before CK and Sofia were both in with their goggles and looking at all the little fish and larger catfish. We also found another area that was less crowded and I dove into the water from the diving board, as requested by Olivia, who watched while sitting on the side wall. She was sad that she didn't get a chance to see the mermaid and I told her that the mermaid is shy and probably hiding from all the people swimming around. She didn't buy it and was upset and sad (also known as a tired 3-year old). After swimming and just lounging by the pool for about 2 hours, we headed back toward Tex and Vaughn's house. Of course, Olivia fell asleep within minutes. Sofia stayed awake and read her book. As we drove up the dirt road toward Tex and Vaughn's house, we told the girls they could unstrap from their carseats and look for wildlife. They loved it! The road to their house is rough so the maximum speed is 30 mph, which is perfect for two little girls to look for animals and giggle.

For dinner Saturday night, Tex made steaks which were divine and went with baked potatoes and salad. Delicious! We sat outside by Tex's grill and enjoyed the sunset and watched the landscape change. After dinner, I let the girls watch a video on my iPhone before putting them to bed. Sofia was so excited to get up and go for a walk again.

On Sunday morning we got up and had another fresh batch of donuts for breakfast while watching the morning unfold. We packed and and Sofia and I headed out for a walk. Olivia and CK started off with us but Olivia was immediately fussing about walking and wanted to be carried, so CK and she turned back to the house. Sofia and I had a great time walking, looking for new rocks and enjoying the sights. We also saw a snake, a few jack rabbits and a few quail. We walked for around 45 minutes before Tex, CK and Olivia arrived in Tex's truck. He took us on a drive of his property while we looked for wildlife. Sofia was dying to see a roadrunner, since she'd missed seeing the couple that we'd spotted over the weekend. Finally she saw one and it stood so still that I was able to get a few great pictures of it! We also saw a quail mom with her little baby, although I wasn't able to capture that photo as well. They blend into the grass and surrounding so well. After our wildlife tour, we loaded up our stuff and Tex took us to the airport. We took off and I captured a few photos of Tex and Vaughn's house from the air before we headed back toward home. What a fun weekend and it would be so much fun to spend a few weeks in the area to explore, hike, etc. Such a lovely part of the country.

Saturday morning hike