My flight landed in Austin around 2:00 and my parents took me straight over to Harpers House where we hopped in the truck and drove toward the Hill Country town of Kerrville, to Rayners Ranch. We spent about an hour or so at the ranch and Harper, Rayner, Colin and myself hit the road to Lajitas. It was a long haul down I-10 but, no thanks to Colin, who passed out in the back of the Suburban, we made it a fun drive. As we were nearing Lajitas, we decided to make a side trip to Marfa to experience the Marfa Lights. The picture to the left is how the lights looked from a distance. Once zoomed in, they took on a much stranger shape. Click the pic to the left for a blown up and cropped version. If you look at the bottom of the light figure, you can see a very faint trail of light leading up and to the right, into the sky, all the way out of the frame. For a very large close up of the light, click HERE. You can clearly see the light trail in this picture.

After the "experience" in Marfa, we got back on the road and rolled into Lajitas around 3:00 am. We were pretty worn out so we hit the sack as soon as we could. The next day, while everyone else worked, Harper and I spent a few hours by the pool, doing absolutely nothing, and it was great! The only thing on the agenda, was Harpers Spa appointment....not a bad way to spend a day. That night we went out to a wonderful dinner at the Ocotillo Restaurant, had a few drinks, and enjoyed each others company.

Rayner took the next day off and he, Harper and I headed into Big Bend National Park to climb Emory Peak. This would be Harpers first summit and my first Texas Summit. It is a beautiful mountain, standing guard over the Chisos Mountains. The highest in this range, Emory stands at 7,825 feet.

After walking the moonlit trail back to the car, we headed into Terlingua, and filled up on some great food at the Starlight Theater....a renovated Theater that used to host starlit plays. Then headed over to the infamous cave of a bar, La Kiva. This is a special place that should be on your list of places to see if you are in the area.

The next morning, Harper, Colin and myself made the long trip back to Austin. The rest of my trip was spent in the company of family and good friends, and the camera was, most often, left at the house.

While Colorado is a wonderful place, and I am very blessed to be living the life that I'm living, this trip reconfirmed the fact that Texas will always be, and always feel like, my true home!