Texas Road Trip Fun by @JoanReeves

I hate to be trite, but there really is no place like home. At the end of this post, you'll find the musical soundtrack to our vacation, along with the YouTube link so you can listen to what we listened to as we drove.

After taking a Texas Road Trip vacation, and driving all the way from Houston to Colorado, I was delighted at the prospect of sleeping in my own bed last night.

From Texas to Colorado

Okay, we truly are road warriors. Most people in Texas are the same because Texas is a big state.

By the time we arrived home, our odometer showed 1,925.5 miles! Of course, that was pretty much 1,925 miles of fun for us, and we may have taken 1,925 photographs too!

Texas has some beautiful architecture, and it's shown in the county courthouses and old churches. Of course, it makes the trip longer every time I say, "Stop. I want a picture of that."

The Hill County Courthouse takes up a square block. Many of the Texas county courthouses do.

The monument in front of the courthouse memorializes those who fought the World War.

When it was erected, there had been only one World War.

Another favorite subject for my camera lens is the water tower. I've got dozens of pictures of water towers from the one painted like a watermelon in Luling, Texas, to the rusty old ones emblazoned with "Seniors...of whatever year."

I made notes about every town we went through because these small towns with their oddities will find their way into my books. Oddities like The Drunken Pig bar, the ranch names and brand symbol on the gateway cross bars, the huge wind farms throughout the sparsely populated areas of Texas, and Rest Areas that are also labeled tornado shelters.

Texas to New Mexico to Colorado

Our destination was my younger brother's home in Colorado. That's it on the left, peeking above the trees on his property.

His home is at an elevation of nearly 8,700 feet. From the road, there are, I think, 5 switchbacks to get up to the house.

In case you don't know, a switchback is usually a 180 degree bend in a road leading up the side of a mountain. At a couple of the switchbacks there were huge piles of boulders, with each one taller than a person.

You can stand on his front deck and look across the valley to the snow-covered rugged peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 14 miles away.

The Sangre de Cristo is the southern range of the Rocky Mountains. The peaks—most of them 13,000 to 14,000+ in elevation—all have names, and all the locals can point to each peak and tell you the name.

My brother called me a couple of weeks before we left and said he was standing on his deck and watching it snow in the mountains.

We spent the week with him, driving through the mountains and valleys, and I took pictures.

While he drove us to Bishop's Castle or to various other sites like Good Hope Gulch, my imagination was busy playing "what if."

What if a woman found herself kidnapped and hidden away in an isolated cabin in the mountains? What if she escaped? What would she encounter if she tried to make her way down a mountain? Would it even be possible?

Grand Finale

The grand finale of our trip was the High Mountain Hay Fever Bluegrass Festival.

Billed as "one of America's premier bluegrass events in the heart of Colorado's Wet Mountain Valley," it's held every year at the Bluff and Summit Park in Westcliffe, Colorado.

Oh my goodness. That was so much fun. If you're like me and love jsut about every genre of music, you should go to this Bluegrass Festival.

I discovered musical groups that were totally awesome such as Savage Hearts, a trio of women, and Jim Gaudet and the Railroad Boys, shown above. Wow. Original music...amazing instrumentation...awesome vocals. Seriously. Wow.

Soundtrack for Texas Driving

Of course as a music lover, I put together a soundtrack for our Texas Road Trip. I'm sharing it here with the YouTube link so you can take a listen.

Amarillo by Morning by George Strait

Luckenbach, Texas by Waylon Jennings

Waltz Across Texas by Willie Nelson

If You're Gonna Play in Texas by Alabama

God Blessed Texas by Little Texas

Galveston by Glen Campbell

Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind by George Strait

Texas When I Die by Tanya Tucker

All My Ex's Live in Texas by George Strait

Girls from Texas by Pat Green featuring Lyle Lovett

My Texas by Josh Abbott Band

Dance Time in Texas by George Strait

Miles and Miles of Texas by Asleep at the Wheel

I Can't See Texas from Here by George Strait

What I Like About Texas by Gary Nunn

Blame It On Texas by Mark Chestnutt

Red Neck Mother by Jerry Jeff Walker

This is Where the Cowboy Rides Away by George Strait

San Antonio Stroll by Tanya Tucker

Bob Wills Is Still the King by Waylon Jennings

Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys by Waylon and Willie

If It Wasn't for Texas by George Strait

You Never Even Called Me By My Name by David Allan Coe

Write This Down by George Strait

The Yellow Rose of Texas by Michael Martin Murphey

You'll Never Take Texas Out Of Me by Waylon Jennings

Codigo by George Strait

There's a Little Bit of Everything in Texas by Willie Nelson

That's My Story

That's my vacation story which seems to be mostly about Texas landmarks, photographs, family, imagination, and music.

Joan Reeves—Keeping Romance Alive…One Sexy Book at a Time—is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Contemporary Romance. All of her stories have the underlying premise that it's never too late to live happily ever after.

Joan lives her happily-ever-after with her hero, her husband. They divide their time between a book-cluttered home in Houston and a quiet house at the foot of the Texas Hill Country where they sit on the porch at night, look up at the star-studded sky, and listen to the coyotes howl.

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A GOOD NIGHT'S REST

by Judy Ann Davis

How do you fall asleep at night? I have friends who say they stare at the ceiling. I have others who say they run all the problems they must face the next day around and around in their heads in one whirling and vicious circle. Others rehash all the wrong things that occurred in the last twenty-four hours and get angry at themselves and others for the outcomes.

As a writer, I’m very fortunate. Fictional writing allows me to conquer nighttime anxiety and the stress which many others feel on a regular basis. Instead, when I fall into bed at the end of day, I set aside the unsettling daytime moments and dive into realigning, reviewing, and mentally writing pieces of my fictional stories still in progress. Sometimes I ponder what my next scene might be. Sometimes I contemplate how to get my hero or heroine from one place to another seamlessly with little effort and few words. And many times I take a stab at creating a new scene or some humorous dialogue to push my storylines forward.

Using this method allows me to divert any anger, pressures, and irritations that have happened throughout the day. It’s a complete attitude changer. It’s soothing. Often, I discover I have a hopeful spirit about the next day ahead. And to be honest, many times I find all this crazy mental creating just zaps me instantly into a sleep mode.

So tell me.  How do you fall asleep at night?  

To read more about my writing, visit or follow me on my blog: A Writer’s Revelations

I can also be found on Amazon, Facebook, Twitter

To obtain a copy of “Under Starry Skies,” my western, mystery and romance, visit Amazon

Blurb for UNDER STARRY SKIES

Hired as the town’s school teacher, Maria O’Donnell and her sister Abigail arrive in the Colorado Territory in 1875, only to find the uncle they were to stay with has been murdered.

Rancher Tye Ashmore is content with life until he meets quiet and beautiful Maria. He falls in love at first sight, but her reluctance to jeopardize her teaching position by accepting his marriage proposal only makes him more determined to make her part of his life.

When their lives are threatened by gunshots and a gunnysack of dangerous wildlife, Tye believes he is the target of an unknown enemy. Not until Maria receives written threats urging her to leave does she realize she might be the target instead of the handsome rancher.

With the help of Tye, Abigail, and a wily Indian called Two Bears, Maria works to uncover her uncle’s killer and put aside her fears. But will she discover happiness and true love under Colorado’s starry skies?

REVIEW OF THE SURPRISE BRIDES: JAMIE

By Mary Adair

Jamie, by Caroline Clemmons, is the first book in the Series, The Surprise Brides.

5 Stars

This story takes place in Colorado in 1880.

The Surprise Brides is a set of four books, each written by a different author telling the story of one of four brothers and his “surprise” bride.  This whole idea of my favorite authors coming together and collaborating on this multi-faceted story is exciting. From the prologue to the end of Jamie’s story there are tantalizing tidbits that spark the reader’s curiosity about this thrown-together family and builds anticipation for the next story.

Jamie is the oldest of the brothers and so to me his and Olivia’s story seemed to be the reasonable one to read first. Each book is a stand-alone story, but the way the stories naturally blend, you cannot read just one and stop.

Kind of like eating potato chips.

In the prologue we learn Fiona Fraser decided to take the problem of her poor, lonely, unmarried sons into her own hands and surprises each one with his very own mail order bride. You can imagine the ruckus when these unexpected wives-to-be arrive at the Fraser home and are presented to the four, self-reliant, independent Fraser men, none of which felt he needed a wife at this particular time in his life. Each of Fiona’s sons have good reason not to be happy with the situation his mother is forcing upon him.

Jamie has been married before and the only good thing to come out of that challenging union was his two beautiful but undisciplined children. Mama Fraser appears to be quite proud to announce that Olivia is a teacher in her introduction to her oldest son. Olivia will soon realize that between the scars Jamie suffers from his first experience with marriage and the unruly children her heart goes out to, that her work to make this marriage a happy and loving one will not be easy.

Olivia steps up to the challenge when her mother-in-law injures her leg and must take to her bed. As Olivia manages the household and makes progress with the children’s behavior, she falls in love with her new family and husband. She doesn’t realize her love and courage will be tested in a most severe way that could end in tragedy if she fails to protect all she holds dear.

Will Jamie recognize the blessing he received when Olivia entered his life? Will their marriage ever become the union they both long for? Will tragedy bring an end to their story?

All the questions are answered in this well-plotted and beautifully told story. I was captured from page one and my interest did not waver once throughout the story. This is a book for someone that enjoys stories of big families filled with big personalities lots of changes. I look forward to reading more of this family’s adventures.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015272I3W

The other three brothers' books are:

The Surprise Brides: Caleb by Callie Hutton http://amzn.to/1KvP4id.

The Surprise Brides: Gideon by Cynthia Woolf http://amzn.com/B015JLMQBU

The Surprise Brides: Ethan by Sylvia McDaniel http://amzn.com/B015PG1FOI

All four books are available in print and also from Nook, iTunes, and Kobo.

Mary Adair is the author of the award winning, bestselling Native American Passion series set in the Colonial Carolina and England. She and her husband live on the side of a mountain in Eastern Oklahoma with a menagerie of pets. 

WHEN REALITY MIXES WITH FICTION

By Brenda Daniels

My current work in progress is a historical set in Colorado in the late 1800's.  Yes, I know I was writing a contemporary mystery, but that one had to be set aside for a while. (Painted myself in a corner.)

I based the fictional town of Bear Paw on the real town of Lake City. I've vacationed there several times, so the place is at least familiar. It's a pretty little place in a valley with a beautiful lake. A lot of Texans own shops there, so the local population has a love-hate relationship with us. Bring money, but leave. I'm ok with that. Winters there are too cold for me anyway.

As I said, the town is small, but full of history. Zane Grey mentioned it in one of his western novels and their one dubious claim to fame is Alfred Packer. In the winter of 1873-74 he guided five men bound for the gold fields in Breckenridge, CO. They were warned not to go into the mountains, but decided to try anyway. 

After a couple of months, Mr. Packer showed up at an Indian agency quite healthy looking for someone who claimed to have survived on rabbits and vegetation in the wilderness. The truth was pretty gruesome. Somehow, the other men died and he ate them. His story changed a couple of times, so no one is certain of the truth except, he did admit to cannibalism.  He served 18 years in prison. So much for peaceful, country living.

I'm NOT writing anything about Alfred. I just thought the town history was interesting. Don't worry. You can go back to eating barbecue ribs.

My heroine is a young widow from New York City. Terrible things happen to her and she has to decide whether to remain in Bear Paw or to take her child and leave for the relative safety of a large city. 

Part of the plot includes the legend of a Spanish gold mine hidden in the mountains. Imagine my surprise finding that the legend really does exist. While verifying events in Colorado, I came across the legend of Spanish monks and conquistadors discovering a mine and enslaving Indians as workers. 

Sometimes reality really is stranger than fiction. History if full of little details that often get overlooked. Isn't it wonderful?

PARANORMAL IS MY NORMAL

By Kathy Ivan

Thanks so much for letting me spend the day with you.  I'm thrilled to be a part of Smart Girls Read Romance. 

Let me be honest.  I love the paranormal worlds in romance fiction.  Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, psychics and zombies, I love 'em.  When “The Walking Dead” is on, I'm glued to the screen.  Give me a paranormal romance and I'll devour it faster than you can blink.  It's definitely one of my favorite genres to read.  Throw in some steamy romance and I'm a goner. 

"The Walking Dead" TV Show

Never thought I'd write it, though!

Romantic suspense—that's what I write.  The mystery, developing the plot.  Having the heroine and the hero race against the bad guy, overcome all the obstacles thrown in their way, follow the clues, have lots of sexy times along the way, figure out the who/when/why/how, defeat the villain, profess their love and live happily ever after.   Whew, it can be a roller-coaster of a ride! 

Story after story, this was my premise, my formula.  The problem—something was always missing.  I didn't get the satisfaction, the extra oomph I'd get from reading all those paranormal romances with their otherworldly specialness.  So I decided to go for it and combine the two genres I loved, romantic suspense and paranormal romance. 

Voila!  DESPERATE CHOICES was born.  Theresa, my heroine, is a psychic living and working in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  Max, her ex-beau, is a private investigator who comes asking for her help.  His godson is missing.  And the story was off and running.  It unfolded with just enough of a paranormal element added into the suspense that it was believable and the readers loved it as much as I did. 

New Orleans French Quarter evening photo

DESPERATE CHOICES became my first published book (from Carina Press) and it won the 2012 OKRWA International Digital Award for long suspense. 

SECOND CHANCES is a paranormal romance, introducing you to the world of Destiny's Desire Lodge in the Colorado Mountains.  It's the first in a series, uniting soul mates destined to be together, separated—usually due to outside influences.  Sometimes the couples have already met and need to be reunited.  Other times, they need a little "extraordinary and magical" assistance.  They're brought together with a little help from Quinton Chase, the Fate-Keeper, who runs this special resort, Destiny's Desire.  The first novella is available now and book two is finished and will be out soon. 

For some people normal is normal and that's perfectly okay.  I've learned the hard way when it comes to me and my writing world, paranormal is my normal. 

DESPERATE CHOICES:  http://www.amazon.com/Desperate-Choices-ebook/dp/B0041KLBG2/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1374938095&sr=1-2&keywords=kathy+ivan

SECOND CHANCES:  http://www.amazon.com/Second-Chances-Destinys-Desire-ebook/dp/B00A4FNA0S 

About the Author

An avid reader of all types of romance, Kathy writes romantic suspense and paranormal romance.  She makes her home in the heart of North Texas doing her best to deal with the Texas heat.   She's a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and the Dallas Area Romance Authors (DARA). 

New Orleans Photo, Wikipedia commons