Christmas 2001, Kate and I were lucky to be flown over to Houston, Texas, USA for a holiday with my Dad's side of the family. He's lived in Houston for 20 years and had flown my sister Lucy and her husband Jeff, his wife April's kids Alistair and Alex and Alex's husband Philip over for one of those holidays of a lifetime. We arived in Houston and immediately drove to Texas Hill Country to spend Xmas day. Then on to Big Bend National Park before returning to Houston for New Years. As soon as we hit the road I started a journal on the Handspring Visor and recorded everything of note until we returned. Because of the stylus handwriting there are loads of typos and spelling mistakes which I've left in.
December 22nd
17:07: In Houston on Toll Way heading South, then west
17:13: First sighting of Houston skyline under rain storm
17:30: First big sky- 180 degrees horizon to horizon. And an oil rig
17:38: Playing game - spot most flags on cars. We're on 9.
17:40: Driving west on I10
18:19: Stopped for 'gas' and bought Nachos and Root Beer! Kate hates Root Beer - says it tstes like TCP. More fool her!
18:37: Dark. 2.5 hours to San Antonio
19:05: Driving through Bastrop.
19:17: Coming into Austin, capital of Texas.
19:32: Just worked out, in the last 42 hours I've had 4.5 hours sleep & Kate's on about 7. Two hours to San Antone & then dinner (chilli)- eek!
20:18: Johnson city
23:15: 9 bottles of wine later & the day finally ends, and what a day. Place is amazing but I'm knackered. To be continued tomorrow...
December 23rd
10:25: Slept like a baby & feel GOOD! About to leave for San Antonio for lunch & a wander.
Managed to block the toilet so had my hand down the U bend first thing this morning. Nice. Will try & find a plunger in San Antone.
Lovely weather: clear blue skies, light breeze, warm sun, cool in the shade. 9 degrees. Luvley.
10:39: Buzzards!
12:54: Brunch at the Menger hotel. Big buffet - first large multiple dish meal in a long time. Feel very full.
12:57: Plan for the day is to visit the Alamo, see the city (lovely old colonial buildings) and finish with a walk along the river at night.
14:06: Street preaching outside the Alamo - praise the Lord!
14:19: Alamo. At a memorial monument, a guide with a mike holds an audience with an impassioned history of the battle. Incredibly... true, for want of a better word. A thousand times more effective than a tape .
15:20: Hot, and people are wearing Santa hats on boats - very odd
15:27: Moricone on pan pipes by the river.
15:32: And we've only gone and sat down - "merry xmas" Peruvian panpipe style. Óle!
15:36: Jingle Bells on, you guessed it, pan pipes!
16:57: Margaritas, proper ones with ice & salt & stuff (although I'm on Bud). Considering we're at a bog-standard bar they're damn well made. State drink.
17:15: Rudolph la Red Nosed Reindeer - the Latin American Xmas songs are getting rather surreal.
17:57: Street lights on palm trees.
18:08: Driving back from San Antone telling really bad jokes over the walkie talkies. Margaritas have their down sides.
19:16: Got plunger! And loads of booze & stuff from HEB, a supermarket.
19:22: Carmena Burina at full volume on I10. Yes.
December 24th
10:22: When we got back to the house at 8.00pm I went for a quick nap, and woke up 12 hours later. Now I finally feel well rested and alive for the first time in weeks. Excellent.
The change in temperature throughout the day is quite dramatic. At 8.0am there was a heavy-ish frost across the field. It was freezing in the shade but then the sun built up and it's t-shirt weather, as long as you're being shone on.
Plan for today is to walk around the country side, and about time too. I think a little background is needed. We're staying in a homestead-type cottage in a vinyard about 5 miles off the main road down a dirt track. It's completely isolated from everything - even though Dad and April are staying next door they're a couple of miles down the dirt track. The house is beautiful - wood beams and bricks and rafters and such - garden shed chic, if you like. There's a big open fire, etc, etc, etc. What's amazing is sitting out on the porch, smoking a fag and staring across the scenery. This part of Texas is the Hill Country, yet it's still Texas so you can see for miles and the sky is still pretty big. It's been clear skies since we got here and the stars are stunning - too many to see consalations clearly.
The end result is of being simultaneously overwhelmed and confortably contained. Very nice indeed. We are so fucking lucky to be here!
Using this diary function as a camera seemed to work pretty well yesterday so I'm going to try and keep it up. Hopefully it'll make sense later on. In the meanwhile, time for breakfast.
10:32: Obligatory toilet news - I did block it this morning but cleared it after 6 flushes thanks to the hardcore thick bleach I bought and planning ahead - flush, then wipe.
11:37: Driving through the vinyard in a convertible with the hood down in the sunshine. On Christmas eve.
12:17: Creationist Xmas gifts.
13:08: Been shopping in Fredricksberg - a town in a straight line.
13:46: Pedernales State National Park
14:02: Alex examines the boot. (sorry, trunk)
14:10: Starting the Wolf Mountain Trail.
15:00: Top of Wolf Mountain- beautiful view. Photo to follow...
16:28: Jones Spring
17:37: Walk completed!
17:59: Big sky sunset over the mountains.
19:20: Barbeque is lit - burgers in one hour. Feet are comfortably numb.
December 25th
0:04: Still Xmas eve. Been to the Lutherian church in Fredricksberg. As a total non-church go-er it was interesting. Before that, burgers on the BBQ. Very nice. Whetted the appetite for Rosnoskys in Houston.
0:08: Happy Christmas.
11:00: Xmas breakfast completed, about to start on the presents.
12:21: Presents opened, now sitting outside on a rocking chair in the sun smoking and drinking champaign while a spider walks by.
About to go for a picnic.
13:15: Phoning home for Xmas from a Chevron gas station on the state freeway. Kate's folks are engaged and Grandma's phone ain't connecting!
13:24: Girl at gas station cleaning pumps with fag in mouth.
13:57: Just entered Pedernales national park.
14:21: Phoned both our folks from the top of a hill in the park.
15:09: Lying in the sun on a rock in the middle of a river eating. If the siren goes we have five minutes to get off or we die in the flood. Extreme picnicing.
15:22: Lying on my own on a fairly inacessible piece of rock by a torrent of water staring at the clear blue sky. Peace.
16:01:Been running around on the rocks "like a little James Bond" to quote Alistair. Now sunbathing topless.
17:09: Driving back to the winery. Sun is setting.
17:15: To be frank, I'm knackered!
17:43: Back home. BBQ lit. I'm having a snooze.
20:15: Don't worry, only slept for 30 mins. Been hectic since. Steak on the BBQ, plus zuchinni & mushrooms. Everything else in the kitchen but I can't get in there to see. Kitchen & BBQ in radio contact & working well. Dining table looks stunning with a candelabra with real candles & it's ready now so sod ya, I'm outa here to eat!
22:22: Just popped out for a fag. Xmas dinner going swimmingly. one of the best ever, methinks.
22:37: Philip & Alistair teaching Lucy how to towel-whip public school style on Alistair's arse.
23:20: Dancing like well co-ordinated drunken monkeys.
23:24: Special mention to Lucy - those who were here know what I mean.
23:26: Nearly forgot the piggy backs. See photos!
23:37: Should really mention the stars. Stunning. Later I'm going to wrap up warm & lie on the grass for half an hour or so.
23:49: Still dancing - on to the Charlston.
December 26th
0:24: Limbo.
0:30: Picking up boxes with the mouth without touching the floor, if you get me
0:32: We did individual toasts eariler and since this will one day be posted on the web it seems apt. Someone, I think April, toasted to absent friends. I followed this up with a toast bearing in mind that while we are having a fucking good Christmas there are those, some of whom I know, who aren't necessarily having such a good one, and not because they're just ignoring Xmas - more power to them. I've been there myself. I mean those who are generally having a crap time. I guess it's a "there but by the grace of god go I" kinda thing.
1:09: Lucy & Alistair are down to 1cm.
1:48:"Adults" have gone. Pink Floyd on full volume. Shine on...
1:50: Lucy won the competition. Picked up a flat piece of cardboard with her tongue.
2:15: People are crashing. Kate shit faced saying she needs Aha. I'm getting second wind. Stars approach....
11:19: Quite spectacular hangovers all round. Last night I did go and lie down in the field to look at the stars but they were moving too much so I shut my eyes to make them stop and opened them an hour later. I'd taken a bottle of wine out and forgot to bring it back in so had to get dressed up again and look for it at 3.30. Unfortunately the moon had sunk away and it was pitch black so I had to figure out where I had been sitting by triangulating between the big tree and the house and using my lighter to look around. Just gave up and started walking back when I stumbled right into it. Succcess.
Loads of mud all over our room and the bathroom rug is filthy. Must wash it.
Again, it's a lovely day. Clear blue skies, etc. And warmer than the past couple of days.
Plan for today is to go for a greasy spoon at the Chevron station, book a tour of the winery and wander around the vinyards, whilst packing for the early start tomorrow.
12:39: House cleaned. Fredricksberg for breakfast.
13:04: Wheelers diner
14:09: Wheeler's was stunning. Real good food. $11 each.
14:42: Met up with April & Dad in Fredricksberg and drove to Grape Creek barbeque place for a beer. Amazing food smells. Sitting outside in the sun.
15:37: Sitting outside the Becker winery waiting for our personal tour with Dr and Bunny Becker. No wind. Blue sky. Kids playing.
17:17: Tour over. Lucy playing the washtub bass - bit tipsy. Previousy playing fiddle & impressing everyone.
18:32: Packing up the house before going out for dinner. Early start tomorrow - leave at 7.00am.
20:26: Fredericksberg Brewing Company for Germanesque food. I'm on the Sausage Sampler. Yum.
20:41: The Saurkrauts (.com) are yodeling
23:01: Back home. An uneventual night, which is probably for the best.
December 27th
5:51: Early start
6:39: Breakfast
7:05: And we're off!
8:29: Junction city on I10
8:34: Kate fascinated by truck laden with bricks made by the ACME company.
8:51: Heard the 'Osama, yo mama didn't raise you right' song on KOOK.
9:28: Senora for gas
9:40: One station on the FM dial. You're listening to West Texas Country 92.1
9:49: Road works - pilot car, follow me.
10:20: South on 277 to Del Rio for lunch.
10:40: Mexican radio 99.7. Just as we pass a border control.
10:43: We're in big country country. Can see for miles & miles.
10:47: 17 miles to Del Rio.
10:49: Kate finally hit by the fact that she's in Texas.
10:53: Spotted what could be the Rio Grand.
10:55: No, it's a reservoir.
11:06: Federal Border Patrol Firearms Training Facility.
11:22: Imigration checkpoint. Passports out. They wear green bomber jackets & lounge around like armed bouncers which, in a way, they are.
11:25: Entering Comstock for gas.
11:43: Seminole Canyon State Historical Park for lunch
12:54: No, just having a look. Lunch is at the Picos River Bridge canyon viewpoint. As ever, stunning.
13:23: Off to Langtree
13:49: Judge Roy Beam museum at Langtree.
13:57: Cactus garden. Like a rose garden only more spikey.
14:31: Final leg to Marathon, or Snickers, as it is now known.
14:59: Sign for Sheffield.
15:31: It's getting windy & there's a storm to the South over Mexico. Let's hope the weather really is changable.
15:49: Possible sighting of Big Bend.
15:53: Blue skies ahead.
15:57: Zero radio stations on FM, one on AM.
17:11: Settled into Gage hotel. dinner at 7.45. Off for a beer.
17:54: In the bar.
18:53: Cowboy singing maudlin songs in the bar.
19:57: Starting dinner. Looking good.
21:54: Dinner FANTASTIC.! Steaks... Now back in the bar for a last drink before bed. 5.30 start tomorrow.
December 28th
5:58: Early start number two.
6:15: South on 385 to Big Bend.
6:49: Now entering Big Bend for the first time as the sun starts to think about edging over the hills.
7:40: Driving up the mountain in the dawn light.
7:54: Breakfast at the visitor centre as the sun rises over the rocks.
10:37: Top of the Lost Mine Trail. Big Wow.
11:19: Working our way down.
12:35: And to the bottom. Seems pointless trying to describe it right now but took loads of photos. Now back on the road to get permits for the park then on for lunch and a flatter walk. Triffic day.
14:01: Lunch on the Sotol Vista.
14:41: After lunch I've gone for a short walk off road ostensibly heading for an interesting lookng hill I'd like to climb. Lie everything here distances are deceptive and it's not do-able in 40 minutes across rough terrain. But the distance I have made has taken me over a ridge and I'm typing this sitting on an outcrop with a light breeze and blazing sunshine with not a sound, save a couple of flies and a cricket or two. Lovely.
16:19: Stopped for ice cream at a shack convienience store at Castalon and now on the road again to Santa Elena Canyon Overlook.
16:34: Which is quite, quite stunning. And now we get to walk through it.
16:56: Very big. Very very big.
17:44: Sunset over the mountain range. Full moon. Young kid sketching the canyon.
18:16: Sunset. Words fail me
18:42: Half an hour of dirt track later, we're passing through Study Butte on route to Alpine for dinner.
19:40: Border checkpoint.
19:52: Approching Alpine - quite a fair sized town (pop 3000) and being all lit up for Xmas in this flat landscape we sure knew we were approaching
20:03: Table was booked for 7.30 so we missed it - having a drink in the bar. Everyone seems shellshocked to be back in "civilisation" again.
20:38: Dinner is at Reata, being Spanish for rope & the name of the ranch in the film Giant. This place is a lot more Texan than the Gage - or at least the people here seem to be. Chicken Fried Steak seems to be the prefference.
21:10: Dinner is served.
21:51: Got pulled over by a cop! 80 in a 65. Lucy got away with it. Dad in trouble with Lucy cos he was leading.
22:50: Back at the Gage, showered & bedded. Another early start tomorrow but we managed to negotiate an extra hour. Up at 6.15 then!
December 29th
6:19: Earlh start number three.
7:04: South on 385 again to the park.
8:32: Stopped for gas, now entering the basin for breakfast. Sun slowly creeping down the peaks.
9:34: Starting South Rim / Emery Peak treck.
9:48: Noisy Blue Jay.
10:07: First stop. First steep bit done.
10:24: In the shadow of the rim. Cold & fresh. Trying hand at nature photography.
10:49: Starting 2nd steep bit. Switchbacks.
11:47: End of switchbacks!
12:01: Bluejays, hundreds of them!
12:03: 7000ft.
12:25: Starting Emory Peak. Altitude.
12:47: Nearly there but stopped for lunch before last steep bit.
13:52: Emory Peak. Pretty fucking scary. It's a big rock on a hill. Every way you look is down.
14:10: On way down. Might meet others on route. Paul & April are at south rim, others are heading from there to the peak.
14:47: Met up with the others at the Xroads. Now heading back into basiw
15:16: Switchbacks are quicker going down.
15:43: Back at first rest point.
15:43: Need a wee
15:53: Dad & April at top Xroads.
16:20: At base camp & had a wee. Everyone else left the top 10 minutes ago. Expecting Crowhurst yongers first then Chilbertos, then the seniors. The motel complex here is horrible compared to where we've just been. Can't wait to get back to the Gage.
17:16: Kids made it back.
17:51: Driving back in the SUV. Lucy & Jeff waiting for Dad & April who will follow. Sun is setting. Full moon again. Desert is red as we exit the basin. Perfect end. Perfect day.
18:14: Pink Floyd at 45mph through the desert.
18:36: Just left the park.
18:53: Near miss on a deer.
19:25: Back at the Gage and all is well.
23:39: Stunning dinner at the Gage - on a parr with Xmas possibly. Then Mariachi music in the bar as we gently crash out after a wonderfuland exhausting day. Once again, top banana.
December 30th
8:40: Not so early start!
9:42: Breakfast at the Gage.
11:18: Leaving Marathon. Racing a train.
12:10: Fort Stockton. Giant roadrunner.
14:14: Caverns of Sonora
15:22: Inside the caves.
16:11: And out into the cold.
16:34: Back on the road.
17:29: Comfort Inn at fort Stockton.
18:43: Come n Git it diner for dinner.
22:26: Sitting in a motel room watching cable TV & drinking beer. Another kind of America that has it's place.
December 31st
8:02: Motel breakfast.
8:38: On the road to Houston. I10 East.
9:52: Entering San Antonio city limits.
9:59: On 1604. Lucy nearly crashes, but not quite.
10:22: Back on I10 to Houston.
12:55: Within Houston city limits.
13:08: First sight of Houston sky line.
13:10: Off the Interstate.
13:20: Driving through Montrose.
13:36: And back to the apartment in record time. Full circle.
17:42: Sitting on the balcony smoking. Hard to believe this is the centre of Houston. There's the hum of the city but no sirens or shouting. It's peaceful but, because it's a cith, kinda unnerving at the same time. Dinner soon. Dad doesn't have shoe polish - it's included with the building - so I used furniture polish and it works just as well. Makes your feet smell of lemon to boot.
18:11: On way to meal.
18:44: Dining at Ibiza. Fill in gaps later.
20:04: Gold plated truffles. Kick fucking ass.
20:44: Back at the apartment, preparing for the party. Satisfied stomachs & tipsy heads.
January 1st
4:16: And so, to bed.
14:00: Happy 2002. Very bad hangover but worth it. I'm going to put this journal to bed for a while. It's served it's purpose.