MANY MILES OF ROAD

Last weekend I left Dallas headed to the West Texas panhandle for a mini-vacation. It was 1,092 miles of pure relaxation and adventure. We stopped to take pictures of 17 county courthouses. I won't share them here as they are a topic all their own. These pictures will be scenery and other interesting highlights of the trek.

In addition to the 17 courthouses, I was able to add 6 more hat pins to the collection on my camera gear bag.

This first picture was a row of wind towers in a field of growing cotton. These electricity-generating towers are numerous in the flat plains of West Texas. They are very majestic in my opinion. They do little in the way of marring the scenery and turn so gracefully. Of course, each blade on the propeller can be as long as 60 feet, so even moving fast they still appear to move slowly!


By early evening we were at our overnight destination of Turkey, Texas. It is known for little more than the birthplace of Bob Wills and the annual Bob Wills Festival in his honor each April. Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys are a big thing in these parts. They defined western swing in the early days.


Surprisingly, the new rage seems to be restoring old gas stations. Before arriving in Turkey where this Phillips 66 is located, we'd already seen 2 H.C. Sinclair station restorations in other cities.

This is the entrance to the Turkey Hotel. We were the only guests the night we stayed. It is the headquarters for the surviving members of the Texas Playboys when they come to town for the annual festival. Each room has a different theme.... cowboy, sweet rabbits, railroad, Gone with the Wind, etc. George and Laura Bush supposedly have stayed in the Gone with the Wind suite.

To make this even more of an adventure, we went to the drive-in outside of Turkey. We were the oldest patrons. Gone are the days of pulling the speaker box into the car and hooking it on the window. Now you tune your car radio to a specific frequency to get the movie audio. Clever!!

After leaving Turkey the next morning, we entered Caprock Canyons State Park - home of the state bison herd which are direct descendants of the Goodnight herd. (Goodnight of Goodnight-Loving trail fame). His family ranched much of the area in the canyon on his J A Ranch.

More of the exquisite rock formations.

This formation is the "signature" rock of the Caprock Canyons Park. Caprock Canyons State Park is at the south end of the Palo Duro Canyon and Palo Duro Canyon State Park is at the north end. The canyon itself is over 120 miles long and is considered the second largest canyon in the United States - the Grand Canyon of Arizona of course being the largest.

As we were leaving the park we noticed 2 roadrunners by the entrance sign. One immediately ran into the brush, but this one posed for the camera. If you click on the picture it might enlarge so you can see the roadrunner more easily.

We drove along the rim of the canyon, which is called the Escarpment, from one end to the other. Coming around a bend we found this beautiful lake... Lake Mackenzie.

As we drove this vantage point was beyond description. I literally stopped the car in the middle of the highway to take a picture. (No worries.... sometimes we drove miles before passing or even seeing another vehicle.)

We made it to Palo Duro Canyon State Park and checked into the office. We spent the night in a stone cabin on the rim of the canyon. As we took our luggage from the car to the cabin this six-striped lizard greeted us on the portico outside the front door.

This was the view from the front portico.

Sunset lengthening the shadows across the canyon.

The next morning we went to Elkins Ranch for a chuckwagon breakfast. Jeeps drove us down to the cowboy camp and I couldn't resist the urge to keep shooting pictures. It felt like we were going straight down. You can barely make out the Jeep on the trail in front of us.

After we had our fill of cowboy grub ...literally.... biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, fruit, ham, coffee..... we were entertained by Ed Montana (he has a YouTube video) and Hodie "Longbow" Porterfield. We had a very diversified group. There were quite a few visitors from Europe. Some spoke little or no English. There was even a family who are parishioners at my church! Small world.

The view from the picnic table as we listened to the entertainment.

The entire time we were at the campsite they kept reminding us not to stray from underneath the awning because of all the unfriendly critters. As we were leaving to board the Jeeps to get back "up top" as they call it, all of the sudden 2 of the cowboys pulled their REAL pistols and each took a shot. Seems a western diamondback rattlesnake was trying to join the party. After shooting the snake... which was still wiggling... one of the cowboys picks up a shovel and cuts off the head, and then tosses the remains(?) carcass (?) in the trash. Some of the people thought it was part of the show, but we were assured it was not... that rattlers are taken very seriously in these parts and their danger would never be trivialized by adding them to a show. This picture below was the entrance to the Elkins Ranch for breakfast. It is a working ranch... meaning they still have cattle and the like on the property.

One last drive around the rim of the canyon before we headed back home. This gorgeous home is inside a gated community on one part of the escarpment. Oh to live in that house! The view must be breath-taking!

My favorite picture of the entire trip..... we had seen several dead snakes on the road as we drove to our destination, but this time I stopped to look. Yup... a dead rattler. I should have cut off the rattle for a keepsake, but I chickened out.

We saw a great deal of wildlife. We were driving along and found 3 bucks standing on the side of the road. We saw does, jackrabbits, bison, longhorns, roadrunners, snakes, hawks, dead boars on the side of the road, and more. All in all the trip was WONDERFUL and I'd do it all over again if given the opportunity. It was really sad to head back to Dallas. [Addendum: I forgot to mention the mother and young wild turkeys I nearly hit with the car as they crossed the road. I assumed they would fly away as I approached. they didn't.... ]

Until I get over enjoying these pictures enough to take some more.....

BACK TO REALITY

I have returned from my mini-vacation and promise to post pictures soon. The problem is that I took well over 700 pictures and need to narrow it down to a representative few - a very difficult task.

Until then......

IN SEARCH OF RAIN....

It's been hot! Yesterday there was a break in the weather pattern (if you can call "only" reaching 95 instead of 104 a break) and rain was in the forecast. So Saturday morning I decided to grab the camera, hop in the SUV, and head toward the most rain-promising locale on the radar screen. This meant traveling southwest of Dallas.

Taking photographs of county courthouses is my "thing"... well, actually, one of more than a few "things". Regardless, there are more than 250 counties in Texas and the courthouse styles are as varied as the number of counties! Some are modern day marvels. Others are sorely in need of revitalization. Most are of an architectural style and grandeur from a former era. They are quaint, charming, incredible photo ops, and rarely a disappointment. There are a few that fail to impress, but in general the scenery along the way as I travel to these courthouses makes the trip worthwhile and the day declared a success even when the courthouse is forgettable.

Yesterday was no exception when it came to courthouses. First we stopped in Bosque County (pronounced like bahs-key), then Hamilton County (which was the disappointment of the day because of the construction around the perimeter of the building), and finally Brown County. The fourth structure is the former Brown County Jail, built in 1902. WOW!! The inmates were literally being held captive in a [mini-] castle. I wonder if there was a dungeon or secret passageways!!

As we drove further west, a dirt road with some old buildings caught my eye. We turned around to investigate and found as near a ghost town as one can find surrounded by civilization. This was the town of Lamkin, Texas. The downtown strip boasted 3 - 4 buildings, all in shambles. The word "Merchandise" was faintly visible on one store front and another building barely identified itself as Stewart's Groceries. So sad. Then I start to wonder the how, why, who, etc. of what once was and why it is no more.

Stopped to experiment with pictures of cactus. We always called these prickly-pear cactus. No doubt there is a more formal name for this plant.

Close-up. Since my curiosity is insatiable at best, naturally I had to touch the green spines. They are SOFT!! It is the little brown tuft behind that is a bristle capable of sticking in one's flesh.

This was Gentry's Mill Cemetery. It remains the strangest cemetery I've ever seen. It was all rocks and stone. NO GRASS or LAWN of any sort. There were a couple trees that may or may not have been intentionally planted, but any vegetation (very little green capable of survival in rock dirt!) sprung up on its own. The temperature outside was very hot as we read the gravestones, but in the back of my mind as we wandered the arid terrain was a vigilant eye for spiders, scorpions, and snakes. Texas can be a harsh place at times.

Another of my favorite things to capture with the camera.... old, deserted, overgrown, unloved alley ways. Yet another of my quirks.

As we travel from each little city there is a great deal of open country. Most is ranch land: cattle, horses, sometimes a few crops. Some of the entrances to ranches can be quite ornate and some most probably costing more than my whole house. Other entrances are nothing more than a sign telling the name of the ranch or displaying the cattle brand. Yesterday we saw one that required a double-take, then a u-turn for a third and fourth look, followed by a photograph. I can't show the pic here because I don't wish to place inappropriate words on the blog site, but the name was "DEEP SH*T CATTLE COMPANY". No joke!!! That made our day.

The trek back toward Dallas included a repeat visit in Dublin, Texas to the oldest Dr. Pepper plant in existence. We were there a few months ago. Why did we have to intentionally go again? Because I collect hat pins (some people call them lapel pins) of the places to which we adventure [if they are available]. I stick these on my camera bag rather than a hat as a memento of our travels. On the 4th of July we were in a very large crowd and the pin I had on my bag from Dr. Pepper Dublin got lost somehow. I was disappointed and H "made me" go again to replace it. Thanks, H!!

The last stop on our journey was at Love's Truck Stop in Midlothian, Texas to get some beef jerky. We got home about 9 pm. It was a long, tiring, wonderful day!

As for the rain.... never found any!!

Until another post....

I DID IT!!!

I have successfully taken a few photos of the fish!!! Bear in mind I am still learning with both the camera (in full "M"anual mode) and the fish. I tried a few things and was able to duplicate success on several attempts. I will continue to experiment. [Clicking on the photos should get you a larger image.]

Until I share pics of the latest day-trip....

IS IT EVER TOO LATE?

Is it ever too late to start a new venture? Apparently not. For the majority of my 54+ years I've wanted to have an aquarium. Finally I can claim ownership to a miniature encapsulation of freshwater life. Below are pictures (although not very good ones) of the tank immediately after it was set up. I've still got to tweak my settings when taking photos of lighted underwater scenery.

Tonight a few fish were added. My cousin is doing the setup so he is instructing me on what to do and not do as he goes along. I CAN'T DISTURB THE NEW FISH FOR AT LEAST 24 HOURS!!! I want so badly to watch them swim. Supposedly any activity now can stress them even more than the move and it is better to not approach them, not feed them, not illuminate the water, etc. until they are settled.

The fish of choice are African cichlids - chosen for their wide variety of bright colors (and because I can't afford a gorgeous saltwater tank to exhibit brilliant reef fish). The fish added tonight are blue with black stripes. At the time they were placed in the tank they had gone pale due to the stress of being transported. I had no idea fish could fade their colors this way.

I will start experimenting with photos of fish just as soon as I can get close to them. The tank is only 20 gallons so there will never be huge quantities of fish inside. I will be happy with a few vibrant, striking specimens.

Until the next time....

UNRELENTING HEAT

Texas is known for its hot summers. This summer is proving no exception! We are on our umpteenth day of temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and promises abound that the cycle will continue. After all, traditionally the hottest daily temperatures don't even peak until the middle of August so we are already way ahead of the game.

To stay cool we 1) stay in the air conditioning 2) stay in a pool 3) go to lots of places where the air conditioning is being paid for by someone else (the mall, the movie theater).

The heat also tends to zap us... wears us out and makes us feel abnormally tired and lethargic despite the usual hours of sleep... or at least that is the way it affects me. As a result I've not done much of anything lately worth posting about.

I've cleaned closets and straightened shelves. I've experimented with a few new recipes, including the creamiest blackberry ice cream on the planet. Found a couple bargains on a used book website that I couldn't pass up. One is a book about day trips and backroad travels in Texas. Paid all of $1.99 for it. Another book is a collectible cookbook that I've been trying to win on eBay for well over a year. The typical winning bid is almost always in excess of $75, often going as high as $95. Yesterday I found a copy in very good conditon for well under $10!!!!

I've reconnected with a whole list of former high school classmates as a result of an invention called Facebook. I'm also anxiously awaiting July 26 when I leave town for a couple days. The last 'real' vacation I took was in 1996 (I think) and it too was only for a couple days. Regardless, this is long overdue and well deserved.

Until I find more energy for pictures and more....

IS IT REALLY JULY 9TH??

It's been quite some time since I posted. Life has gotten in the way. I've also been taking a Continuing Education class at the nearby community college for the past three weeks, so that is taking some of my spare time as well. I had good intentions of posting many glorious pictures from the 4th of July Fireworks Celebration, but that didn't quite turn out as I'd planned.

We went to Kaboom Town in Addison, Texas. Each year before the fireworks there are various other attractions such as this barn-storming daredevil. I shot a series of photos in continuous mode so you could see the formation of the loops as the plane did the acrobatics but they are too difficult to show here.

This photo is by accident. Toward dusk a plane was making loops as sparklers projected from the wingtips. Periodically a colored flare would be dropped. This is how it captured on the camera sensor. Amazing. I couldn't duplicate this if I tried!

Despite the small size here, if you can click to get a larger version you will see this is one of the "good" fireworks I captured.

Then things started going awry. Somehow the focal length got changed from 18mm (wide angle) to 55mm and thus the focus was no longer good. I was shooting everything in "M"anual and with a remote so there was no way to tell these were bum pics until I got them home. I was sooooo disappointed because I literally snapped hundreds of shots. However, they have an interest all their own. Some look like painted flowers; others look like sea anemones. Again, I probably couldn't duplicate this if I tried.

Until I get reorganized and have some "real" pictures to share...