tease; Texas

I'm sure Mother Nature is just teasing us. Our temperatures the past week have climbed into the mid-to-high 30s - above zero! It feels great, but wreaks havoc with the roads, thawing during the day and freezing at night. And it's just mid-February. There's still plenty of time for some seriously cold temperatures. However, I'm enjoying it while I can and still dreaming of Break-up and summer. And my furnace loves it!

The warmer air has given me a solid case of spring fever. I've started cleaning out closets and the spare room. As soon as it's a little warmer I will load the car and drop off lots of clothes and items I no longer use. It will be good to reclaim some of that space.

I was told last week I will be attending a conference in Texas this spring. It's at the Marriott Hill Country Resort just north of San Antonio. It's not something I'm especially excited about, as I simply don't like the hassles involved with traveling by air any more. I have not found any flights that are particularly to my liking - all of them involve at least two plane changes in airports I'm either unfamiliar with or that I simply hate (O'Hare, for example, is one of my least favorite places). The resort is about 20 minutes from San Antonio, I'm told, and there is no public transportation either from the airport or from town. Taxis are $30-45, depending on where I want to go. And I will not be authorized a rental car. However, there is no choice in the matter, so I will make the best of it.

The website says there is a bird sanctuary adjacent to the grounds and I may check that out. Also, if I'm really lucky, the spring flowers will be blooming. Another plus - I can put my socks away for a whole week! I can wear my sandals and be sockless! I also have a couple of friends attending and at least one of them will have a car and has offered me rides into town. I hope to visit the Alamo at the very least. If there's time I'd like to take one of the boats along the Riverwalk.

Although I'm not terribly excited right now, I hope that by the time my departure gets here I will be more eager. I've been to El Paso once, but we really didn't see much. We went specifically to visit a mall and a shoestore where I bought my very favorite sandals. Aside from the inside of the Houston airport, I've really not seen any other part of Texas, so this will be a new experience. I'm just hoping the conference allows us enough time to see more than the resort area. I don't golf and the water features at the Marriott don't interest me. I am interested, however, in trying to get some shots of wildflowers and birds.

I bought a little book about San Antonio & Austin and have been looking it over. DK produces a series called Eyewitness Travel - Top 10. Each covers a city or area and includes information on top places to visit, neatly categorized by places to visit, history, culture, museums, children's activities, cuisine, lodging and more. It also contains information on getting around the area by public transportation, with hints on how to do it easily and on a budget. I have several of these books and have used them extensively when I visited new cities or, in the case of Washington, DC, which I've visited several times, when I wanted easy information at my fingertips. The books are small enough to fit into my purse and very helpful. (Oops, sorry, didn't mean to sound like an advertisement - but I really like these guides.) So I've been reading this guide and have a few things in mind.

San Antonio also has the shoe store that sells my favorite shoes. SAS shoes are made in Texas and only sold in a number of stores. The one store in Fairbanks that carried them closed, so I can no longer find them. SAS does not have a catalog and they do not sell online. I hope to purchase several pairs to last me until my next visit to Texas or somewhere else where they are sold. That's really the only shopping I'm looking at.

Although I don't like the travel part, I always enjoy seeing new places and new things. Could be a good time.