Morning of Day 12 - Hey, who is this?

This morning we leave Alpine, TX for Big Bend National Park, Lejitas TX, then FM170 which parallels the Rio Grande River, then north on US 87 ending up in Ft.Davis, an original US Cavalry fort, and spending the evening, maybe two, at Indian Lodge State Park. Will have more later but first some photos of the Pecos.




We left Alpine TX and headed south to Big Bend National Park. It is a very interesting landscape, tall mountains (5 to 7000 feet) but since they are mostly rock and sand and plants that only grow in dry landscapes they look much different then what we are used to in the Appalachians. The roads are curvy and change elevations dramatically, especially the stretch along the Rio Grande. Although I am a big fan of Route 28 in Western North Carolina and Tennessee (The Tail of the Dragon), I challenge any of my Z3/4 friends to drive this and not admit it is equal, or I dare say, more challenging, then the tail.



Gasing up in Terlingua, as in putting gasoline in my car, just outside of Big Bend park a fellow drove up in his 30 year old van with an equally old dog in it. We started chatting and he said he has lived in the Ghost Town Village, near Terlingua for 20 years and loves it. He can sit on his front porch on any morning, noon or night, pop open a Lone Star Beer and enjoy the day. No one bothers you, no one judges you, you live and let live. What a wonderful life style. He was admiring my car and I said it would be terrible for it to brake down around here, and try to get it fixed. The old cowboy said that's how most people settle down here, they are driving through, their car brakes down and they have to wait for parts. It takes years to get them.

We drove into the tiny town of Lajitas (I hope you blog readers are using your Atlas to track us) and had a great lunch. The chef, Michael Romini, actually graduated from Johnson and Wales in Charlotte. Small world.




We drove west along the river to Presidio. Peg actually has a friend whose sister lived here with her Border Patrol husband and had a son born here. OMG. They finally moved back to civilization, but I wonder if her husband will ever want to retire there. Another OMG. This is a shot along the river and another one showing how narrow the Rio Grande can be.














We drove north to Ft. Davis State Park and stayed in the "Indian Lodge" there. It is a multi-room adobe state owned inn with nice amenities only bested by the beautiful views. We were in a total white zone, no telephone, no wireless, no Gin.







This morning, Sunday, we drove north out of Texas into New Mexico. We detoured to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park and toured those wonderful, eerie, and mystical grottoes. A must for anyone traveling through those parts. And to think, above them, are the same dry, hot and cactus topped mountains we saw in south Texas. I really wish I understood the geology of south TX, and the Carlsbad Caverns. This stuff didn't happen overnight, and there are questions I don't have answers too. Kara, where are you????

We have settled today, Sunday May 16th, in Roswell NM. We now have 2,544 miles on my little Red Z3, for a total of 103200, so it's just getting broken in.

Roswell is the home of the UFO Institute (Unidentified Flying Objects), as in flying saucers!!!!!

Tomorrow we leave for two, or maybe three days in Santa Fe. Will keep you posted on our journey. "Life is Good"

Spring TX to Austin TX 5/12/10

Here it is, ten days from home of which five were with Peg's brother Bob and his dearly beloved, sweet little thing Ellen, at their home in The Woodlands, TX. Great food, much wine and evening cocktails served by Ellen, who's cocktail experience dates back 20 years in the best little bars in Texas. 8>) They have a beautiful home in The Woodlands with pool, hot tub, and nice pond. After teary farewells, we headed west on FM roads (for none Texans that means Farm to Market)towards Austin.



The City Cafe in Elgin TX was our stop for a unique lunch of chicken fried steak burgers with white gravy. The cafe is in interesting 110 year old building which housed everything from barber shops, saloons and restaurants. There is a rumor during prohibition when gentlemen played cards and drank liquor upstairs, a fight broke out which ended up in a killun. They defend it as a rumor though.



We arrived Austin about an hour later and have a nice room in a Residence Inn on 4th street, which is just two blocks from 6th street, the center of the Austin nightlife and country music. We had plenty of time to visit the state capitol building which is a beautiful domed structure made from different stones and marble from Texas quarries. A VIP tour had been arranged for us which took us all through the building, including the senate chambers. Texans are very proud of their tradition and history, from the battle at the Alamo, though Texas independence and then as part of the United States. Statues, paintings and monuments abound of their heroes such as Sam Houston, Stephen Austin, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and others. The grounds, buildings and surrounding areas make Austin a very pretty city.

That evening we went to visit the Congress Street Bridge to watch the zillions of bats that fly from under the bridge at dusk. This is what Austin people do..... It is another local tradition and the bridge was covered with spectators. Didn't see any bats though, must have taken a night off or the strong breezes blew all their food away.

Thursday morning we headed west through the famous Texas Hill Country first stopping at the LBJ Ranch and National Park near Johnson City.


We could see old LBJ's penchant for white Lincoln Convertibles, there were four of them in the display. The grounds were beautiful with lots of animals, fields and live oak trees.

We had lunch in Fredricktown which is full of art galleries, German restaurants and cowboy stores. On the advice of a ranger at the LBJ National Park site, we were told to head east after lunch and take TX road 1376 south. Remember that road number, it takes you to world famous Luckenbach, Texas. We had a blast here. We turned west off 1376 for 1/4 mile and came on the post office, saloon and a line of privies. A neat little general store with a small bar in the back where local folks pick up a guitar and sing old western songs. Same guitar, different players. Very friendly place, one patron bought me a Lone Star beer when he found out I had just retired.

The guy in the red shirt, cowboy hat and big mustache, after a couple of beers, jumped up saying he had to go now, and beat his wife. Then with a twinkle in his eye, said "home."



We arrived at Tom and Gail Tucker's home in San Antonio just before 5 pm. Tom and I go back almost twenty years ago when I came to Midstate Mills and needed someone to handle the futures for our company. The firm he worked for, and later became principle owner was John P. Stewart Co. We established a good rapport and became fast friends too. Tom and Gail took as out to a very nice bistro for a great meal with great company. We returned to their home for a little more conversation before we said good night and rested for tomorrow's trip to Alpine TX.

At the end of day 10 we have added 2000 miles to the Z, and we still have about 50 days to go.

Remember, you can double click the photos to enlarge them.

Day 2-7 Hixson TN -Spring TX

We arrived Hixson TN late Tuesday afternoon at our friend Anne's home. We were able to spend a relaxing afternoon and evening with her, her daughter and new grandson, Mack. From Hixson we traveled mostly interstates through northwestern Georgia, then down to Alabama ending in Pearl, MS that evening. Of the many brochures the nice lady at the Alabama Welcome Center gave us, one was a list of the 100 Best Places to Eat in Alabama, listed by city or town. We decided to lunch at "Evangeline's" in Tuscaloosa,AL. http://www.evangelinesrestaurant.com/. The hostess, Mary Catherine, recommended their famous crab cakes which were out of this world.

Leaving Tuscaloosa, we decided to shoot for Pearl, MS to spend the night. We checked into our hotel and asked where we could find a store to buy a bottle of wine, only to find out that Pearl, MS is a dry city. He did help us find a neat local eatery in Jackson though. Julep's is famous for their Fried Green Tomatoes Napoleon which are layered with crab meat, goat cheese and lemon butter and their succulent fried chicken. Julep’s Award-Winning Fried Chicken - Chicken breast -or- half of a whole chicken fried and tossed in a honey rosemary glaze served with red-skin mashed potatoes and blackened green beans is a top ten choice by USA Today.The green beans had a nice little "kick" to them too. www.juleprestaurant.com. Our waitress, Meredith from Midland TX, was working there while going to ballet school in Jackson.

Left Pearl, MS (714 miles from home) going west to the other side of Jackson to pick up the famous Natchez Trace. It stretches from the Tennessee Valley to the Mississippi River at Natchez, MS. We started near Jackson and rode it to Natchez. We followed the trace that was used by prehistoric hunters, native American Indians, French and Spanish trappers, missionaries and soldiers. It is currently a beautiful two-lane parkway meandering through forests, bayous, marshland, and prairie, pretty much following the original trail. Like the Blue Ridge Parkway, there are no commercial establishments or signs. The only signs you see are for historic or scenic places. We did stop at the Mount Locust Inn and Plantation administered by the National Park Service (www.nps.gov/natr/). This circa 1780 inn was used by travelers up and down the trace for years.In the mid 1820's the steamboat and other roads pretty much brought an end to the Natchez Trace. It later became a corn and cotton plantation using over 50 slaves, of which many are buried in a slave cemetery not far from the main house. Natchez is a very nice and peaceful little city sitting right on the Mississippi River.

We arrived in Natchez in the early afternoon, early enough to have lunch at the Castle Restaurant and Bar behind the famous and beautiful Dunleith House, one of several ante-bellum homes in Natchez. Talking with several local folk who were born and raised in Natchez, they told us they left for a little while, only to return, citing the mysterious calling of the big river and needing to be near it. I would guess this feeling is the same as folks that love the ocean and always find some inner peace along its shores.

We crossed the "old" river into Vidalia, Louisiana and visited their welcome center for some travel ideas. I was explaining to the lady at the welcome center that we wanted to take secondary roads and not interstates to our final destination of that day, which would be Lafayette, LA. Cajun Country. A gentlemen walked up to the counter and began to give us some nice roads to travel to our destination. The retired state trooper was a great help, gave us good roads and told me where to follow the speed limits exactly, especially since I was driving an "arrest me red" sports car, as the trooper referred to it.

We drove south from Vidalia on SR15 which pretty much followed the river. You don't get to see the river because of the levees built up between the road and the river. This is prime, old river bottom farmland and we saw plenty of fields with soybeans,some corn and other crops in it. Near the south end of this route we crossed several dams, locks and hydroelectric stations that are part of the Old River Control Project of the U S Army Corps of Engineers. At one time, the Mississippi attempted to divert its waters through the Old River to go down the Atchafalaya River to the Gulf. Had it succeeded, and not been stopped by man, the growth of New Orleans and south would not have happened.

Beyond SR 15 we traveled other small back roads and byways ending in Lafayette, LA early that evening. There are many, many restaurants featuring the local Cajun cuisine consisting of crawfish, oysters, shrimp and catfish with some zesty sauces included. And don't forget the Gumbo. We took the advice of our state trooper friend and decided on Mulates Cajun Food in Breaux Bridge, LA. www.mulates.com. This place was great and I would recommend anyone traveling this area to try it out. They had a local Cajun band, dancing and great food served to us by a Cajun waitress, Emily Weir, who fixed me up a special gumbo!

The next morning we were off to the mecca of the Great American Condiment maker, McIlhenny's Tabasco Sauce on Avery Island in New Iberia, LA. The plant tour was wonderful, as was the store, and particularly the 200 acre jungle gardens surrounding the plant.

These folks make over 600,000 bottles of Tabasco Sauce a day and it's sold in 160 countries with labels in 26 languages.

From there we drove west on LA 14, going past many catfish farms and through many small towns. We lunched in Gueydon, La. Then drove on west through Orange and Beaumont, TX. Took TX 105 northwesterly to end the day at Peg's brother's in Spring. The extreme wining and dining has caused me to fall back on my updates. Tomorrow, Wednesday the 12th, we head for the state capitol at Austin.