Day One: July 14 Austin to Marfa
Like most road trips, departing from Austin took a little longer than we anticipated, and we didn’t get out of the city until 2pm. Only two hours late, but when you have a seven year old with you and 7-8 hours of driving ahead of you, no bueno. But the drive was easy. Dealing with the complete loss of cell service proved to be the biggest inconvenience along the way with these very random spurts of activity that quickly fell off with each undulating slope in the road. We were in big sky country with nothing to keep up company but each other and our own, racing thoughts.
The scenery was breathtaking, to be sure, but the utter desolation only confirmed that I am in fact a city dweller that appreciates the wilds of the west, but in truth, could never live there; so starkly removed from the hum of city life, my soul would die a slow and agonizing death.
In terms of the first day of food encounters, I packed 2 killer stainless steel stackable lunch boxes with grilled chicken breast, steamed shrimp layered with basil leaves served along a homemade lemon dill aioli and ecrudité. The second was filled with sun dried tomatoes, basil and comté cheese, fresh fruit, including pineapple, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and mint. Finally, a layer of dried majooli dates, raw almonds and raw cashews. I also brought three apples just in case.
Alas, except for the nuts, and the apples it only lasted for a day, but it saved us when the hunger pangs swept through the car like a crushing wave.
It was 8:30 pm and a storm was brewing. Big thunderheads inflated overhead as a gentle breeze scuttled down the seemingly abandoned town as we pulled into Marfa.
The crunch of the rocks beneath the tires as we pulled into the Thunderbird was a welcome comfort. We were all exhausted and just wanted to stretch our legs and climb into bed, and in that order, we did just that.
The timing couldn’t of been more perfect. The sun was beginning to pull her ever changing veil beneath the horizon, a swath of purples and pinks exploding beneath that thin filament like a boundless bomb, while bending with the arch of the orb in which we live. I breathed in deep and was neither hungry nor tired, although my body felt otherwise.
“Hold me mommy,” Leo cooed as he wrapped his arms around my legs. “Oh, honey, we’ve been in the car all day. Strolling is the best thing for us right now,” I replied as knelt down, hugging and kissing him.
We walked down the way that is San Antonio Street, popped into a restaurant to take a gander at the menu, which looked good, but with only salads as the gluten free options. We doubled back and walked straight to our room, number 12 on the ground floor, gave Leo a quick bath, took a very hot shower and climbed into bed.
