c h o o k o o l o o n k s

Found heart at Lost Parrot Cabins.

I have a theory about family vacations, and it is this:  it is not a vacation when you go visit family.

Do not get me wrong: it's not that I don't like visiting family -- quite the contrary, we've had some lovely holidays visiting moms, dads, aunts, uncles, cousins and the like when we go to England or Trinidad.  Traveling to see long-lost kinfolk can be lots of fun; however, it's rarely restful.  There's always someone that you have to visit or something that you have to do, and there's never enough time to do it all.  And I've found that for me, it becomes essential at least one time during a 12-month period for Alex, Marcus and I to disappear on our own for some concentrated family time, with very limited outside influences.

Enter Lost Parrot Cabins.  I have no idea how I found this place, but I'm so glad I did:  it's this little grouping of the most amazing little cabins, down a dirt road, outside of Austin, in the middle of nowhere.  As a strict rule I am not a camper, although Marcus is -- these cabins, therefore are the absolute best marriage between rustic and luxurious that could possibly ever be.  I mean, look at this:

This is the cabin we stayed in this past weekend -- how can you not love that?

(Funnily enough, as I was processing this image, it suddenly dawned on me that this cabin looks amazingly like so many of the houses that dot the hills in Trinidad, albeit a bit more colourful.  It's no wonder I feel at home here.)

The cabins are equipped with full kitchens, have DVD players and little electric fireplaces, and even come with free WiFi.  They're nestled in the tree-covered hills around Austin, so sitting out on your hammock-bedecked balcony feels like you're living in a treehouse.  There are little trails going all over the property, and there's even a band on Saturday nights.   Truly a getaway, and this was the fourth time we've stayed here as a result.

But the best part?

Total photo porn.  The place is completely decorated and dripping with Mexican Day-of-the-Dead tschotchkes and Central American kitsch, with bright crazy colours everywhere.  Alex and I couldn't get enough.

Cat, the owner, told me that this "girl" is named "Katrina." You can't tell, but she's holding an umbrella.  Awesome.

There were parrots all over the place.  Lost parrots.  Get it?

Around the hot tub was the most extensive collection of rubber duckies I have ever seen. Cat gave Alex an Alice-In-Wonderland one, and a Barack Obama one.  She hasn't put them down since.

Okay, maybe sharing all these crazy colours isn't doing a great job to prove to you that the setting is calm, but trust me, it so is.  Besides, there were lots of lovely peaceful, quiet moments, too, like:

One of the blooms on the peach tree.  I see a lot of peach canning in Cat's future.

Seriously, it was a wonderfully quiet, restorative time.  And on this Love Thursday, as the weather starts to improve all over, may you carve out some wonderfully quiet, restorative times for the people you love as well.

Song:  This land is your land, as performed by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings