Girl's Weekend

 "Adventure is worthwhile"

-Amelia Earhart

Living in Midland has is truly beneficial financially, but that's about it.  Ask anybody what there is to do around here and they'll run out a long list of places to go:  San Antonio, El Passo and Lubbock have offerings (5, 5 and 2 hours away), Carlsbad Caverns (2.5 hours away), Balmorhea State Park and Springs (2 hours away) and some scattered lakes (2 hours for the little ones, 5+ for anything serious).

 I'm no stranger to travel for recreation since my family and I used to travel regularly traveled 2-3 hours to go to the Stanley Basin, (video clip borrowed from You Tube),  but we also had a world

of weekend and afternoon recreation available to us  at our front doorstep by-way-of nature trails, the south hills, hot springs, caves, lakes and the Snake River Canyon.

Although making the best of Midland, sometimes it's nice to get out of dusty old Midland a bit, and a trip to Texas by my dad and Brenda was the opportunity we needed.  They were flying into San Antonio on their annual pilgrimage to Corpus Cristi to visit Greg and Gail Lossing.  John had to work, (big shocker there) so Karlie, Zoey and I decided to make a weekend of it and go together to not only have dinner but visit Sea World again and see what else tickled our fancy.

We started off dark and early Saturday morning through the back roads of West Texas, because that's the only way to cross from the I-20 down to the I-10.  Along the way I had seen a historical marker on our previous trip and I was not going to pass it up this time.  The pull-off was more of a drop off so I passed the exit and circled back on the wrong side of the road, onto a dirt road dodging cavernous ruts in my rough-and-tumble Toyota Camry.  We got as close as the road would allow to the Stiles Courthouse (built in 1911) and walked into the ruin.  A dilapidated fence surounded the structure so we felt it imperative we cross the missing barrier and explore.

Impressive stone steps and walls, a few burnt timbers (dumb arsonist in 1999 burnt the beauty which was a residence at the time), and rusted metal was strewn throughout.

 We climbed, posed and photographed ourselves throughout the building as we explored. 

The back side had a rounded stone roof structure with no supports.  No knowing it's purpose it left us to speculate if it was storage, an oven, or what.

Cold from the chilly morning air, we hurried back to the car and set off for Sea World.  It was a special event at Sea World, Wild Days.  Although I knew it was Wild Days, I had no idea how fun it would be for the little one.  We started off at the aquarium to view the sharks and spotted eagle ray feeding.  If you've never seen these animals, find them, they're hilarious and amazing as they glide through the water with their long cartoonish snouts.

We made our way next to the Wild Animal show, a bit early, and made a cockatoo mask, got Zoey's adventure discovery map stamped, enjoyed petting a young (4 year old) alligator, and feeding and petting a young wallaby.

The show had many other enjoyable animals, each of which Zoey declared she wanted to hold when it went on stage.  We wandered the park enjoying the animals, riding roller-coasters and rides, and stamping Zoey's adventure card at each of the educational booths.  Five stamps earned her a free whale-tail necklace which she cherished.  We finished our day at the dolphin tank, feeding and petting the sweet, almost smiley animals as they clicked and whistled at us.

We found our hotel with ease, cleaned up, and met my parents and our gregarious friends.  It was great to see everyone happy and healthy and having a good time.  Memoo, Grandma Brenda, gave Zoey a pretty little purse that she has yet to take off 3 days later.  After  some great burgers, lots of laughs, and warm hugs, it was time for them to hit the road and us to hit the sack.  

The next morning we started our day out with a walk through Olmos Basin Park, which made me sad to live in a town devoid of such beauty.

We next went to the San Antonio Botanical Garden and wandered through the numerous exhibits: the fountains...

 ...sensory garden, cactus, palm, fern, and such. 

We walked around the small lake, feeding the super friendly ducks and geese (I caught a goose, cuz why not...) and reading about the many local and foreign plants along the way.  They also had several replicas of historical Texan residences throughout which were fun to explore.

Little one poking her head out from behind Karlie.

Our feet tired from two days of walking and our weekend an adventurous success, we stopped by a local Korean market for a lunch snack and set off for home. 

We may have to travel far and wide to have fun while living in Midland, but we make the most of it when we do.  I'm so glad have my sister here to share these experiences with me, it wouldn't have been half as fun without her.