daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
こんばんは. How are you today?
This afternoon Mariko and I attended a funeral. Mariko’s co-worker’s son passed away this past week… the service was sad of course, but it reminds everyone that life is fleeting and we should take the time to hug our kids whenever we can.
Here’s another photo I took this evening. Aren’t clouds amazing?
Let’s have a good week!
おやすみなさい！
– B 
こんばんは！How’s it going?
Today was the final day of our road-trip out to the Big Bend area of Texas. At the semi-last-minute, we decided to visit the Caverns of Sonora, which were on the way home. But first, it was a 3-hour drive to get there… 🚗 Grey clouds and no sky, but no traffic!
We read some really good reviews at Trip Advisor so we were confident that it would be worth our while, and I’m happy to report that it was a really cool activity! We took the regular tour, which lasted a good hour and 45 minutes, and learned a lot about the history of the cave and the cavers who explored the caverns. Those explorers were very brave, and also very crazy!
Our guide, a self-described cave nerd, had a genuine enthusiasm about the caverns, and had plenty of stories for us. Good stuff!
The caverns and the rock and mineral formations were incredible, and we saw some types that we didn’t see at Carlsbad Caverns, or perhaps they simply weren’t pointed out to us there. What I thought was most amazing were the super-long soda-straw stalactites. I don’t remember seeing anything like that before at the caves we visited previously. (sorry, no pic of these)
After visiting the caverns, we ate an early dinner before hitting the road again for the final 3-hour drive back home. We arrived safely, not too late (8:30 PM), and now it’s time to relax and catch up with the cats. 🐱
It was another memorable Thanksgiving road-trip, and I’m already looking forward to our next one… but where will we go? 😜
I hope you had a nice Saturday!
おやすみなさい！
– B
こんばんは！How’s it going?
We spent today traveling the triangle of Fort Davis, Alpine, and Marfa. After a nice breakfast at the B&B, we made the 30-minute drive to Alpine to get two new tires for the Prius, then headed to Marfa to see the town. One of the highlights was grabbing coffee ☕ at Do Your Thing. It’s a really cool little coffee and toast place, with a nice atmosphere and yummy drinks. Worth stopping by!
Marfa is a cool town with an interesting, artsy vibe. I can definitely see the appeal.
Unfortunately, our time in Marfa didn’t extend into the evening, so we weren’t able to see the famed Marfa Lights. We did stop at the viewing station since it was on the main highway. Maybe some day (night) we’ll be back to experience it.
After Marfa, it was back to Alpine to visit the Big Bend Brewing Company for a flight of beer 🍺. The people there are cool and friendly and it was nice to drop in for a little while.
Lunch in Alpine today meant a visit to Cow Dog, which is a food truck with maybe 15 different kinds of hot dogs. Delicious and messy! 🌭 Gourmet hot dogs. Recommended!
After lunch, it was back to Fort Davis. While shopping, we spotted this funny door:
The last planned activity of our vacation was a visit to the McDonald Observatory. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy and rainy 🌧, so we weren’t able to look through the telescopes at the Star Party. 💫 But there were alternate programs offered which were really interesting and fun. I actually thought these were a good complement to the traditional Star Parties, so I think we lucked out on the weather!
We did a lot today, but it was relaxed and relatively stress-free… just the way a vacation should be. Even though we ran into snags with the weather and flat tire, everything worked out in the end. 😄
I hope you had a nice Friday!
おやすみなさい！
– B
⛅📷
