Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Vacation Time--Texas Style



Wouldn't you know, just as soon as I tell you all I plan to blog twice a week, I not only miss that goal entirely, but I then don't even blog for days on end.  My excuse is that I took a rather sudden and somewhat unexpected trip to Texas, visiting both Austin and San Antonio.  When I travel I like to turn off the Internet and just go back to the "old days":  no phone, no blogging, Twitter, or Facebook... 

So thank goodness for the wonderful Javid Suleymanli who was kind enough to keep the ball rolling by posting an interview with me yesterday on his own blog.  I felt incredibly honored that Javid would take the time to ask me his very thoughtful and interesting questions, and I encourage you to get on over to his blog not just to read about me, but to read his other great posts as well. 

On the subject of my vacation, I had a great time, especially in San Antonio. 


I loved visiting the Alamo in particular as it's one of the few things I remember learning in grade school (I was a terrible student--"daydreams too much" on every report card...).  But "Remember the Alamo!" has stuck with me ever since, so it was quite a moving experience to walk through the grounds of such an important part of American history.

We had planned to only be in San Antonio for the day, but we enjoyed the city so much we decided to stay overnight.  We lucked out because it was also fiesta time.  Our hotel was right on the River Walk giving us a fantastic view of the Texas Cavaliers' annual barge parade.  


As twilight descended over the city, we could see from our windows the little boats, all decorated and ferrying rock bands back and forth and up and down the river.  Absolutely incredible!


Later that evening we went downstairs and were able to witness the excitement close up. As you can see from all these photos, I don't think I'll be making my living any time soon as a photographer, but this last blurry shot does give you some idea of what it was like.


The next morning we were among the first people on one of the regular tourist barges and got to travel the length of the River Walk ourselves.  Again this was a trip I had always wanted to make, mainly because when I cut up travel magazines for collage and writing prompts, I'm always coming across happy scenes of tourists taking in the exact same sights.  The pictures were accurate to say the least--the River Walk was one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited. 

So thank you San Antonio, and thank you Javid Suleymanli!  It's been a great break and with any luck I'll be refreshed and eager to start that "two times a week" blogging thing ASAP.

Tip of the Day:  Where have you always wanted to go on vacation?  Start a "vision board" collage.  Include not only pictures, but stories, poems, and journal entries imagining yourself (or your characters) there.

1 comment:

Javid Suleymanli said...

Thank you dear Valerie Storey gor your kindness. I appreciate you. Thanks again :)