Deep in the Heart of Texas

Decorating for Christmas

The 3 Amigos

 As Thanksgiving Day came around again I followed tradition of the past few years and left my family behind to travel. This was not a solo trip however as I was welcomed to Austin, TX with open arms by the incomparable Melissa Filkins. She and I became friends back in my ranch days and I hadn’t seen her since I swung through Texas on the Great American Trek in 2009. We were joined the next evening by Meris Esterly, another friend from the ranch, who had driven over from New Mexico. When I went out to visit Meris earlier this summer she had mentioned to me that she usually visits Melissa over Thanksgiving so I decided to join up for this year since it had been waaaaaay too long since I had seen Melissa. Melissa kindly put up with us descending on her home for a week and we set out to make the most of our time together. I was so thankful to be able to spend such quality time with two people I had sorely missed.

Having fun

Since Melissa had to work on and off, Meris and I spent the first few days taking in all the shopping opportunities that neither of us is normally privy to like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. I got my delicious Candy Cane Joe-Joe’s that Alicia had introduced me to last year in Spartanburg and got everyone else hooked on them too.

Texas sizes Round Rock Donut

Dining at Justine's

Much delicious food was consumed throughout the week as well: Round Rock Donuts, homemade mac and cheese, pizza (with potatoes as a topping!), and some delicious international cuisine (Mexican, Italian and French).
We were able to take in a couple movies as well (Frozen once and Catching Fire twice; both highly recommended). We spent a gorgeous evening taking in the sunset at Mt Bonnel which gives a birds eye view of Austin, Lake Austin, and the surrounding hills.

View from Mt. Bonnel

View from Mt. Bonnel

Of course we went cowboy boot shopping in Texas as well. I fell in love with this pair of boots and my love could not be diminished by the $500 price tag but my buying power sure could. Maybe someday…

The beautiful boots

Melissa also kindly took us shopping to Anthropologie and gifted us with these beautiful mugs.

So cute!

On the days that Melissa was working, Meris and I spent time jaunting off to various sites in the area which will be documented in subsequent posts so stick around!