The Weekly Slice
Notes from the Desert
Hello friends!
We’re officially home after a seven-week adventure, and it feels so good to be back in West Texas.
If you missed the journey, Andy and I spent the last five weeks walking the Camino de Santiago across Spain. We started in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and walked nearly 500 miles all the way to Santiago de Compostela. It was, without question, the most incredible trip of my life.
What made the Camino so special wasn’t just the distance, but how immersive the experience was. We weren’t just walking through Spain; we were living it. We stayed in small villages, met people from all over the world, experienced the local culture, and learned lessons that I know I’ll carry with me forever. It was also the most physically and mentally challenging thing I’ve ever done. I’m still processing everything we experienced, and I can’t wait to share more with you.
I’ll be releasing a full YouTube series over the coming weeks that follows the entire journey from start to finish, and I’m so excited for you to experience it alongside us.
After Spain, we weren’t quite finished traveling! We flew to Alaska and spent a week aboard the Star Princess, exploring glaciers, wildlife, and some of the most beautiful scenery we’ve ever seen. I’ll be sharing those adventures soon, too.
Getting home was an adventure of its own.
We arrived just as heavy rains rolled through West Texas, causing flooding that left us stranded about a mile from our house. Thankfully, my dad came to the rescue with my Jeep and got us home safely. I absolutely love when it rains out here and how it transforms the desert, but it also creates quite a bit of chaos!
As wonderful as traveling is, there truly is no place like home.
We’ve spent the last week getting everything ready to reopen Long Draw Pizza on August 1. While we were away, we had several projects completed at the restaurant, so it’s been a busy week getting everything back in order and ready for another season.
It’s also been an emotional week for us. Our sweet little dog became very sick and spent four days in the animal hospital in Alpine. She’s home now and continues to recover, but we’ve been making daily trips back and forth and keeping her in our prayers. She’s our little baby, and seeing her sick has been incredibly hard.
This weekend, we finally slowed down for a bit and escaped to our condo in Lajitas. We squeezed in nine holes of golf before the desert heat reminded us who’s in charge! If you’d like to come along, I just posted a new YouTube video from the weekend:
🎥 Watch here:
One thing became very clear to me during these seven weeks away.
Now that I’ve finished graduate school, I have the time and energy to pour into something I’ve dreamed about for a long time: building my YouTube channel into something special.
Over the next several months, you’ll see a lot more long-form videos, weekly adventures, behind-the-scenes looks at life in Big Bend, our businesses, travel, hiking, and everything in between. If you’ve enjoyed following along on social media, I think you’re really going to love what’s coming next.
If you haven’t subscribed yet, I’d be so grateful if you would join me over there:
▶️ Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@MundyOutWest
Your support truly means the world to me, and I’m so thankful you’ve followed along on this journey. Whether you’ve been here from the beginning or just recently found my little corner of the internet, thank you for being part of it.
I’m excited for what’s ahead, and I can’t wait to share more adventures with you soon.
See you next week,
Mallory