Week 81: Trekkin' Through Texas
Greetings from Big Bend National Park!
Hello, hello, and welcome back to another update in our grand adVANture! It’s hard to believe it’s been 81 weeks since we sold our house in Austin, Texas to travel full time. And now we’re traveling in a new van we’ve named Henry!
Art News
Before I dive into this week’s adVANtures, I thought I’d let you know that I have a post up over on the Art Toolkit blog all about painting evergreens!
I painted these tags when I was back home in Ohio at my MIL’s (hi Mom!), and it’s such a joy to have them out in the world now.
By the way, you can use code LISAFAN10 for 10% off your purchase of an ArtToolkit, palette, or mixing pans — they make great gifts — or pick one up for yourself! When you make a purchase using the code I’ll receive a small commission at no charge to you. I truly appreciate your support!
Friday: On the Road Again
When we left off in our last post we’d just registered the new van in Livingston, Texas after a 38 hour drive against the clock from Reno, Nevada…and now we had to make a 12 hour trip to Big Bend National Parks so that we could keep our reservation that we made way back in the spring! Texas is BIG, y’all!
Follow along on our trek through Texas!
River Ranch County Park, Liberty Hill, Texas
As we were sitting in camp at Lake Livingston State Park planning our route I just happened to get a text from my dear friend Janani asking when we were coming to Austin — and I said how about tomorrow? So the plan was ON!
We left the park and drove straight through to River Ranch County Park, and Janani drove up from Austin and brought another dear friend, Lakshmi.
It was so good to see them both! You’d never guess that it had been a year and a half since we’d seen each other — we picked up right where we left off.
Lakshmi spoiled us with so much delicious homemade good food, including lemon rice, roti, and mung bean dal. Janani brought chana masala and cupcakes. Everyone sang “happy birthday” to me and we all talked and laughed and got caught up and had the best time.
Janani also brought me some starts off of the friendship plant that I’d given her before leaving Austin — I’m hoping that it roots in a little vase I velcroed to a wall near the kitchen sink here in the van. They both brought me some lentils and spices too — I have such good friends!
All too soon it was time to say farewell — until we get together again!
Saturday: Texas Farmers Market at Bell
The next morning we met up with some more good friends from Austin at the Texas Farmers Market at Bell.
First May and DJ came — it was so good to see them! May told me not to buy any veggies at the market until I saw her — and that’s because she gave us so much yummy produce that she grew from seed in her Lettuce Grow tower! There was swiss chard, several lettuces, and lunchbox peppers. They were all so amazingly fresh — the best I’ve ever had!
A little while later our friends Steve and Eve came and joined the fun. We had the best time getting caught up and showing everyone the van! There was so much laughing!
It was hard to say goodbye — I tried not to cry but didn’t succeed.
After everyone left J and I walked the market and got sourdough bread, tamales from Tamale Addiction — including one with nopalitos and some frozen ones we plan to eat on New Year’s — and last but not least, Buddha’s Brew kombucha. I missed the going to this market!
Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge
After leaving the market we headed to Doeskin Ranch, a unit of Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge for a 5.5 mile hike. This was one of our favorite places to hike “near” Austin and we used to come here often.
I made friends with many of the trees and cacti over the years and it was so good to say hi and see how they were doing! The last time we were here they’d just done a prescribed burn and the grasses were looking so darn good — look at all of that coppery little bluestem glowing in the sun:
One last picture from the parking lot:
I’m so glad we got to stop here!
Christmas Lights
Our next stop was Burnet, Texas to see the Christmas lights — but it was opening night and a total zoo! We couldn’t find a place to park so headed on to Marble Falls to pick up some groceries at H-E-B. For those who don’t know, H-E-B is a Texas grocery store chain with over 400 locations, mostly in Central/East Texas. When we lived in Austin we had an H-E-B a mile from the house and I used to walk there if I didn’t need to carry much back.
The chain even has its own meme — “Going to H-E-B…need anything?”
Too funny!
Marble Falls
The last time we we visited the Marble Falls light display was about 3 years ago when Jason took me for a birthday extravaganza while we were camping at Inks Lake State Park — we got there late and it we had the whole place to ourselves. This year we came during prime time and there were so many people! Can’t decide which way I liked better.
Here were some of our favorite lights:
Merry Texasmas Y’all — had to like this one!
The cardinal — because we really missed seeing cardinals during our travels. People take them for granted at home in Ohio, but they really are amazing birds!
The saguaro — we had to laugh because there ain’t no saguaros around these here parts!
Then it was on to…
Pedernales Electric Co-op & Johnson City
Pedernales Electric Co-op decorates all the live oak trees with lights every year, turning into a magical fairyland. Imagine being under the canopy of lights, with the smell of popcorn, hot cocoa, and apple cider in the air:
It’s one of the places I feel close to my Grandma since I called her here from Ohio several times.
A quick walk from the co-op led to Johnson City’s light display — Jason always laughs because there is blatant copyright infringement around every corner. But it’s all in good fun!
Fredericksburg
Our last stop to look at lights was Fredericksburg — we have so many good memories here from over the years! Once we even came around midnight on our way home from Big Bend National Park — and it was snowing!
One of our favorite things is looking at the Weihnachtspyramide, or Christmas Pyramid, a traditional German decoration which slowly spins so you can see all of the different wooden figures:
We also love seeing the Marktplatz all decorated for Christmas:
There’s an ice skating rink to the left and a pavillion to the right. We always reminisce about the time the Native Plant Society of Texas had their annual symposium here and there was “a plethora of sausages” on the menu — being vegan we could only eat salad and rolls, ha! Another time we stopped here on our way to somewhere else and Jason was stirring a jar of natural peanut butter — he had a hard time because it was super cold!
What an awesome Saturday!
Sunday: Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
Sunday dawned cool and windy — what a difference from the 78 degrees and sunshine of the day before! We had spent the night at Oxford Ranch Campground, arriving around midnight and collapsing, ha!
We had a 6:30-8:30 am timed entry pass for Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, and we made it there around 8:15 — whew!
We wished we had time to do the loop trail, but settled for hiking to the top of the rock — it never fails to disappoint!
We came here so many times for my birthday, often backpacking. It’s another one of my favorite places near Austin. Read more about E-Rock here on the Nature Conservancy’s site.
I love seeing all of the ferns (yes, there are ferns growing out of cracks in the granite!), lichens, cacti, and this time we got to see a pocket gopher, too!
There’s a quote on the kiosk that always gets me a little teary:
My heart feels lighter, my mind feels calmer and my senses feel tuned whenever I see that giant pink rock on the horizon. No matter how I choose to spend my time amount the enchanted rocks of the park I always leave feeling better than when I arrived.
— Matt Twyman, Enchanted Rock visitor and climber
So true.
Iraan - Fort Stockton
We spent the night at the picnic area in Iraan — it was fun staying here in Henry (the new van) and comparing our time here with Walter (the old van). There’s so much more graffitti now! And more windmills, too.
After stopping in Fort Stockton to see Paisano Pete — the largest roadrunner in Texas — and do laundry, plus a brief stop at the French Company Grocer, we made it to Big Bend National Park!
Monday-Sunday: Big Bend National Park
As I was driving into the park we saw a sundog over the Chisos Mountains — so cool!
Our time here has been so special — just what we needed to recover from all the stress of the past month and a half. We were both so exhausted.
Henry handled the road to camp like a champ!
We’ve been getting to know the new van, thinking about all the times we camped here in a tent and our in old van, and feeling so lucky and grateful for this life we get to lead.
Here’s a video so you can see a 360 degree view of our campsite — one of my favorites in the park:
The stars at night are so amazing and we can even see the Milky Way. We have one more week in the park and I’m going to savor every minute!
One last thing before I go — if you’re interested in getting an AEONrv of your own, you can use our referral link for $5,000 off if you place a deposit by December 31st, and we’ll get a $2,000 referral bonus. Please feel free to pass it on.
See you next week, and Happy Winter Solstice! — Lisa, Jason, and Henry-the-Van
Have a wonderful Christmas Lisa and Jason, and Henry. Love following your adVANtures
Love this happy post, Lisa. Happy to see you got visitors May, her hubby and friends. Your amazing picturesque photos say it all. Merry Christmas to you snd J. Wish you many more joyous moments in your journey in 2026 and beyond ! Sending love and hugs!