it is now hot

Yes it is here....H O T. I think that it snowed in Maine the other day....hmmm, I wonder if there will still be a need for snow boots and fluffy jackets in the great north. For now I am sweating profusely, sitting on top of my sleeping bag. I probably won't get anywhere near the inside of my bag tonight, just lay on top. We are now in Lafayette, Louisiana. We have spent the past two nights visiting with friends in Austin and Bryan, Texas. We stayed with James's friend Geoff from his high school days. He lives with several other people in a house in East (?) Austin. Geoff is a starving musician living amongst a room full of musical instruments, which are clearly his passion and focus in life, at least right now. We had a good time hanging out there, and I know James was really excited to spend some quality time with him, he has only seen him for an hour or two here and there in the past 5 years.

We headed out the next morning for Bryan, TX, which is just about 2 hours from Austin, where Texas A&M is located in the next town over, College Station. Austin is the home of the University of Texas Longhorns, these facts are ones a person could never travel through the state of Texas without learning. If there is one thing I have learned spending 5 days traveling through Texas, it is that people there are extremely proud of where they live and have great loyalty to their state. I also learned that the slogan "don't mess with Texas" was originally a campaign to keep the side of the highways clean and prevent people from littering. This slogan has been taken to the extreme at this point now, with t-shirts and bumper stickers advertising this phrase. Everything has the star on it (part of the Texas flag)- overpass supports, bridges, license plates, buildings, etc. I have definitely never been to a place with inhabitants so outwardly proud to live there- it was actually quite refreshing to see so many smiles!

Anyway, we traveled on to Bryan after our second oil change of the trip and a coffee fill in Austin to see our friends Lesley and Jeremy who we haven't seen since their wedding in Louisiana 4 years ago! I originally met Lesley in Prescott. I was connected to her through a mutual friend who told me she would be a great person to house and dog sit for me when I lived in my little cabin in the woods, before I met James. It worked out perfectly for both of us, as I needed someone to care for my things during trip east, and she needed a temporary place to stay! We have been friends ever since.... So the last time we saw them Parula was 4 months old and it was their wedding day, and what a beautiful wedding it was! They had the entire wedding weekend at Lesley's dad's farm, the place where she grew up, in Northern Louisiana. I won't go into detail, but it is definitely a beautiful experience that will always stay in my mind. Now we were able to see them as our travel route took us close the where they live! They are living in a house they bought last year on a nice quite street with close proximity to the school. It was great to catch up with old friends, and have them meet Parula as a 4 year old, and Sorrel who they have not met before. Lesley was the first friend I had come over to see Parula after she was born. I remember her saying "I've never held a baby that is so little", and my response was "neither have I !".

 The kids had a blast playing in their backyard, and we took them to a nearby playground as well. The dogs all seemed to have a good time too. Lesley and Jeremy also have a dog named Cloud Dancing who looks a lot like the dog I used to have who they both took care of, named Cirrus. Cloud Dancing and River exchanged some funny sounding growls at each other, but were able to co-exist peacefully. It was so good to see friends, and in the end I was also glad I pulled out the map and asked my southern-oriented friends advice on the road ahead. Jeremy told me there is an alligator farm near here somewhere (Lafayette), so I'm hoping we can check it out in the morning. Tomorrow we will drive to the panhandle of Florida to visit my cousin Jeremy and his family..... He has already started talking me into moving to that area, so we will have to see for ourselves what it is like. They too have fled the great northern winters, as former residents of Minnesota, so have empathy for the place we are in now.

I can't believe we are almost back to the Atlantic Ocean (yet still some thousands of miles from home). I guess getting through Texas was the biggest push, and from here Maine feels much closer all of a sudden. We shall see what happens next!