Texas National Forests

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small towns and big trees lined the farm roads as we made our way through the national forests of east texas. most of our travels lead us west where the landscape goes from desert to red rocks and back again, beautiful scenery for sure, but all in different shades of brown. the green of the towering pines and the occasional yellow or orange spot of autumn foliage were a welcome change for the weekend.

we spent the day exploring davy crockett, sabine, and angelina forests before making a quick jaunt across the toledo reservoir into louisiana. even though taylor was feeling a bit under the weather, our plan was to find a spot to camp in one of the forests. but after six hours in the car we decided that sleeping in a tent in the chilly fall air would be a little too much. 

so we turned right around and headed home. twelve hours of driving for a few hours of exploring may seem like a little much to some, but we enjoyed every second of it.

Checkout

red tee test

Storefront

Caprock Canyons, Texas

after a much needed hiatus from traveling and camping, the allure of the road came calling this past weekend. a month away from what has come to define us, in our own eyes and the eyes of others, gave us a new perspective on the future direction of our travels.

the drive, the park, the trails and the sights of this past weekend were all familiar to us, we've made this exact trip twice before, but the feeling within us was new and exciting. we are learning that the beauty of all our travels this past year comes not from the places we've been, but instead from the fact that we were able to experience them together. 

Reflections

we’re back! jeremy and i have taken a brief, but much needed break from exploring. there have been lots of ups and downs lately but we have been reminded of how together we always come out on top, even better than before. we have stepped outside of our comfort zone and included ourselves in new communities and have met some great new folks around town. this is super important to us as we seem to only stick around this amazing city to work and sleep. any chance we get, we are on the road.

this past weekend marked my twenty fifth birthday. it was a long weekend for us which would usually mean driving until our eyes begin to shut and sleeping in our car. as much as i love to call walmart parking lots our home sometimes, spending my birthday enjoying the “little things” couldn’t have been more perfect. we stopped at a few of my favorite coffee shops, enjoyed the autumn sunshine, had a cozy backyard campfire and ate lobster rolls for dinner (my favorite!).

last year, i made a list of twenty four goals i wanted to accomplish before i turned twenty five. i did achieve many of those goals, but some were left unfinished and some even completely forgotten about. i am usually one to beat myself up for incomplete goals, but this year i have decided to make that goal number one; to not be so hard on myself. at first i was pretty bummed that, for example, my goal of creating a small series of drawings was left undone; but then i got to thinking about how much i have learned, especially more recently, about myself, about my husband and about our marriage. 



Southern Louisiana

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bayous, cajun country, gators, catfish, fan boats, and giant mosquitos, we made our first venture into louisiana this past weekend.  

we made a last minute decision friday night to make the drive east to the creole state, and hit the road early saturday morning. with no plan and no destination in mind we just drove.

the back roads of louisiana took us along the gulf coast, through the bayous and swamp lands of the sabine and lacassine national wildlife refuges and through the fields full of sugar cane. driving along a levee road well after sundown, the atchafalaya river on one side and cypress trees on the other, we couldn't help but feel the eeriness in our bones. 

 and less then twenty four hours after crossing the state line from texas we were already headed back home. we have always thought of louisiana as a shadowy and supernatural land, and spending only a day in the bayou will keep it shrouded in mystery for now.