Wrapped Up at Caprock Canyons
Dress and Sweater: Wal-mart // Shoes: Sam Edelman // Headband: Aerie // Jewelry: Park Lane
The week between Christmas and NYE is one of the weirdest weeks of the year. Days seem to blur together and there’s an overarching tone of “let’s put it off till next year” happening in business. I took this as an opportunity to travel to some of the places I’ve had on my bucket list for a while. I drove from College Station to Abilene on Sunday stopping to catch the sunset before grabbing dinner and retiring for the evening. You can check out that post and I’m wearing one show-stopping dress in this post. After leaving Abilene I made my way up through Caprock Canyons and then onto Amarillo, Texas for a few days. This whole area of the Texas Panhandle is like nothing I’ve seen before. I don’t recall ever making it through Amarillo in the past but it’s definitely a world of its own. Surrounded by so much nature! Great place for spending time on Lake Meredith, or hiking one of the toughest trails in Texas on Palo Duro Canyon. Either way, if you are an outdoors person this place is for you!
One of my tricks for maintaining sanity as I travel is to plan sights along the way to get out and move around. Days of driving can take a toll on the body so planning a hike or even a leisurely stroll helps stretch the legs and keep my body on track while I am on the go. I oftentimes plan a half-hour walk in the middle of a 5-6 hour drive. On Sunday, Caprock Canyon State Park was the stopping point. About three hours from Abilene and an hour and a half from Amarillo it was ideal to get a little walk with the dog in before making my way to my next destination this week.
When I’m traveling I like to wear comfy layers. I found this adorable green dress (that comes in several colors) and wrap sweater from Wal-mart. The windowpane print on the sweater gives it the right amount of cozy. I paired it with an adorable plaid headband and leopard ballet flats. Leopard can be neutral so don’t be afraid to mix and match it with other prints. This particular pair is so comfortable they don’t require breaking in! It happens to pair well with pinstripes and polka dots. I like wearing shoes that are easy to slip on and off when I’m driving. I also like to wear items that have lots of room to move around in. This tiered dress was perfect for that!
Caprock Canyons was absolutely breathtaking. Layers of reds and orange Earth form the canyons. You can see years have passed and each layer tells its own story. The area was much less crowded than some of the other places I’ve traveled to. I also loved just being able to take a scenic drive around the place. There are a few steep grades so watch out, but all in all, it was just so pretty and really relaxing. You may remember me talking about driving anxiety this time last year when I made my first cross country trip in years all alone. I still have moments of getting lightheaded when I drive, but it’s nothing like it used to be. I know I’ll make it through, and I just have to breathe and take a break sometimes. I promise you can do things you thought you couldn’t if you work a little at a time at them. Here I am now driving over mountains and canyons when I thought I couldn’t make it to the grocery store without a panic attack. As I drove through the canyons I thought about this upcoming year, priorities, and how I will shape my life. Taking time to do things like this in solitude makes a huge difference in the direction you will go. I am so thankful for this opportunity to reflect and recharge.
