Austin

Oklahoma-->Austin, TX

Monday, May 21st, 2012

Austin has made me full of meat. I'm not complaining about this, just noting it. On Saturday my friend, her boyfriend, and I got brunch and walked along Congress Street which is a strip of quirky shops, though nothing too weird for me. In the afternoon we went to Hamilton Pool which is about 1/4 mile hike down to a limestone overhanging cliff. A spring drips over the ledge about 50 ft above, forming a large pool of cool but murky water. The area was packed with people, and upon our arrival a water snake skirted along the waters' surface. This made me tentative to swim out to the middle as I had wanted to, though I did it anyway.

We walked beneath the curved cave to the other side of the pool and I sat on a boulder underneath a waterfall raining down from the Spring above. The temperature from the fall was surprisingly warm and I felt as though I had been transported to an exotic island.

That evening we went out to eat as we did at each meal in fact, to a huge Tex/Mex restaurant where you're Margantini is served with the shaker, making it more like 2 or 3 of these drinks. Needless to say I was tipsy that night.

The thing about Texas is that the state itself is so big and sprawling that it allows for its buildings and estates to take up as much room as they like to. Thus the saying that everything is bigger there.

On Sunday we got brunch again and my friend asked me if something was wrong. Unfortunately I didn't quite know how answer her. Traveling can be stressful. I constantly feel that I need to watch my own back to make sure that I'm safe.

In the evening we went to a BBQ joint outside of Austin in a small western style town. As we turned onto a wide street bordered by flat faced buildings with awnings over the walkways, I could instantly imagine a dirt road, hitching posts, and horses instead of cars along the block. I had never been to a modern functioning western town before.

On my last night before leaving Austin we went to watch 1 million bats emerge from under a bridge in the city as they do each evening. Hundreds of spectators joined us, and as the sun set and dusk fell around us, a slow and steady stream of bats came out from the bridge beneath us for a night of feeding. my friend noted that other times she had seen the event it was much more exciting, but I'd never seen that many bats in one place before, so it was interesting enough for me.

I awoke early Monday morning and departed Austin for a 12 hour drive to Santa Fe. The landscape changed gradually at times, other times rapidly, but there were distinct breaks in the in the types of land. First was the hill country of Texas, at the beginning just large ranches on either side of the road, with clusters of small live oaks obscuring my view of the landscape. Further along the hills became more sparsely covered, allowing me to see far and wide the hills upon hills all around me. Then the land became flatter. It grew hot and arid, only small shrubs spread across the land infinitely in every direction. At one point the traffic was stopped for road work and I was suddenly faced with desert, hoping to keep on moving. This was not the kind of land one wants to remain stopped for very long.

New Mexico was much like the desert of West Texas at first, but later became rolling prairie with freight trains running alongside my car. I've never seen an entire train before, I am so unused to such expansive landscapes. The sky was packed with thunderstorms, but I could see where the rain fell and beyond the sky became blue once again.

I had been feeling anxious during my journey up until yesterday. Suddenly, somewhere beyond Carlsbad, something inside me said, "Jenna, no matter what happen, it's going to be okay." With this self assurance, I also decided that even if everything isn't okay, I feel okay with that also. The tension has been released and I can finally relax.

As I approached Santa Fe, the landscape became hilly and dappled with juniper pines. I found a campground about 10 miles east of the city and I set up camp. Afterwards I drove into town to get some ice cream for my birthday. I was glad to be alone. Instead of hoping and expecting people to wish me a happy birthday, I was able to enjoy it in my own way. As I drove to town, a brilliant orange sun set over the rolling hills and under an immense cloud strewn sky. It said happy birthday, Jenna.