Alpine

Well, Casey and I are headed back south again after spending two nights at the Antelope Lodge in Alpine.  The low last night and the night before was around 15F, and we thought it best to hole up somewhere with real heating (not to mention hot shower and indoor privy!).  So we have been on a micro vacation, you could say, and treated ourselves to pizza (ok, Pizza Hut, but close enough) and multiple showers.

Also while we were in Alpine we picked up most of the materials for our roof.  It's so exciting to be so close to that last major step in construction! A very nice lady from Minnesota was rooming next door to us and gave us a couple bags of sand she had been toting around since the North Star State. I guess they aren't as crucial down here in the Big Bend! A very generous gift and yet another friendly face found in Alpine.

Last time we were in Alpine was New Years Day to take Arick to the bus stop, and we bumped into another New Yorker in the grocery store parking lot.  Technically Arick bumped into him while keeping Sprocket company in the truck, and Elias noticed the NY plates on old smokey. The more we talked, the more coincidences just kept piling up! Elias is a teacher at the Bard High School Early College in New York City, and Arick and I both call Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson our alma mater! The brave young adventurer was taking photographs of trains and helping veterans get bus tickets, while sleeping in his rental car!  He had the car-sleep system pretty well organized, though, and was happy to show us the many layers he wore while dozing in his sleeping bag.  We chatted about the grammar mistakes on signs in town and the virtues of various Volvo models, and he even took some pictures to show his students.  I'm not sure who was more surprised and thrilled, Elias or us!  We have met so many interesting people in this region, native and non, that I'm beginning to really believe what people say about this area being a "power center." Are all these amazing folks convening here by coincidence, or is there something special about this place? I'm definitely leaning toward the latter conclusion.

That's all for now!  Sorry there aren't any pictures in this post, but we'll probably add some later.  Thanks for reading.

pax et amor,
Sara