Tue, Jun 14, 2011

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Wherever you go, go with all your heart. – Confucius

We did this on our journey and we are returning with very full hearts. – Donna Downey

This has been, by far the longest road trip Charles and I have ever taken.  When we left home we were planning on at least three weeks, hoping for a month at the most but everything worked out so we have been gone for seven weeks and three days.  That is just unbelievable.  Except for about ten days of a very tentataive back (three days of which I was completely unable to move because of my finicky back) every day was incredible. 

Charles and I love to ride the back roads and we love to see this wonderful country and we love to soak in the landscapes.  We are very grateful for the opportunity to take this journey and also to share it with family, friends, and a few of you I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting but who have heard about our journey and have opted in for the ride. 

So many of you have enriched our journey with your kind comments on my journaling and photos and also sharing your experiences and thoughts with us about some of your travels and experiences on the road.

We drove home today via more back roads along the bayous of Louisiana and then on the levees of the Mississippi river.  The Mississippi is still up and we saw a lot of wildlife from the levees including alligators, egrets, herons, turtles and more.  We crossed the Mississippi at Natchez and landed solidly back in Mississippi. 

We are back at home and will sleep in our comfortable bed tonight after quite a long and meandering journey.  We will probably dream about the next great road trip only to wake and find ourselves in a strange place called home!

We are very well tonight and hope that y’all are too!  Hope to see you on the road.

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger

P.S. Charles and I seldom have a disagreement on our road trips.  When we do I feel it is important for me not to agree with him… that would make both of us wrong. – Donna Downey



Mon, Jun 13, 2011

Monday, June 13, 2011

As we return home from a road trip there are always unusual things we saw I wish I had taken a photo of.  Odd signs or places is one of them.  Is it just me or would it bother you to hike in Cannibal Canyon? – Donna Downey

We woke up this morning ready to leave Tyler, make the short drive to Interstate 20 and then the long drive home.  We had a quick breakfast in the motel, grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out the door to the Jeep.  We pulled out of the driveway and I entered the route to the interstate in the navigation unit.  Then we made the mistake of putting the windows down and we started talking about various towns nearby and then somehow we ended up with a totally different route… one that would take us to Port Arthur via the tallest bridge in Texas;  a ferry ride and then along the Creole Nature Trail drive on the coast of Louisiana before ending the day in Lafayette, LA.

The drive along the Louisiana coast we took today is the area that was devastated by Hurricane Rita in 2006.  There were still numerous signs of the damage and long sections of remote beach that was still littered with debris, many empty concrete slabs, some still surrounded by huge live oak trees but also many homes that had been rebuilt. And the scenery along the miles and miles of wildlife refuge and marshes was beautiful again. 

It is just impossible for us to take a direct route anywhere especially if it involves traveling on an Interstate.   The early morning was comfortable and we got away with riding windows down again until lunch.  A real treat was when we made the turn along the coast of Texas and into Louisiana the temperature had dropped from 100 to 90 and there was a nice ocean breeze as well.  So it was windows down for the rest of the afternoon until we turned north toward Lafayette and the temperatures began to climb immediately. 

We have a very nice room in a Holiday Inn Conference Center just a jump away from Interstate 10 but very secluded with lots of trees all around the property.  A little oasis tucked away from the traffic and noise.    

After some delicious sausage and chicken gumbo for supper my entire crew has crashed and left me to detail the day.  I think I will join them now… their snoring is distracting!

It was another good day on the road and we are well tonight.  We hope that y’all are too.

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger



Sun, Jun 12, 2011

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Today my dear mother celebrates her 92^nd birthday.  Happy Birthday Mom! A daughter could not ask for more in a mother than you have given me. I love you! – Donna Downey

Of course the day had to begin with a call to my mom to wish her a happy birthday.  Luckily we had a good cell phone signal so we were able to talk for a long time as Charles drove along the back roads.  My mother is such an incredible person and I know how blessed I am to have her still at the young age of 92.  I grew up at a time when many mothers stayed at home to raise their children and my mom made those years priceless.  We lived in a wonderful neighborhood near Highland Park full of kids and except for our time at school or at church we were always playing outside.  It was a wonderful place to grow up… a very “Leave It To Beaver” life.  Thanks for those wonderful days mom. 

Today we continued our meanderings thru Texas in the general direction of home.  We spent the morning enjoying a drive thru the beautiful ranches around the Stephenville area before heading up to the small town of Strawn, Texas to eat at Mary’s Café.  Mary is famous for her chicken fried steak, the friendly service and welcoming atmosphere in this very casual café. Neither Charles nor I have ever been real fans of chicken fried steak but have tried it on occasion when it was recommended by a waitress.  It was always a disappointment. Then we had the chicken fried steak at Mary’s and now we are spoiled!  All of their food is cooked from scratch and their seafood, Mexican and hamburgers also get great reviews but we get by so seldom we always opt for the chicken fried steak.  It’s just like a good home cooked meal which we have been craving! 

After a delicious lunch we continued wandering the smaller roads while also trying to end the day closer to home.  After lunch it was, unfortunately, “windows up” time again as the temperature climbed to 100.  Still, we enjoyed cruising around looking for roads we have not taken and were able to find quite a few before the day ended. 

We opted for a quick and small supper at a Sonic before getting a room in Tyler, Texas.  Charles and I love Texas for many reasons but one is because of the endless acres of some of the most beautiful ranch land to be found anywhere.  For us it truly is like heaven so I thought I would share this poem.  I have had a copy of it forever but could not find an author and I have altered it to apply more to the Texas countryside.  Anyone that loves the outdoors though will appreciate the sentiments expressed. 

                                    I bought ten thousand sunsets,

                                    And an ancient Mesquite tree,

                                    And a thousand fields of bluebonnets,

                                    When my ranch was deeded me.

                                    Ten thousand perfect mornings,

                                    With a meadowlark to sing,

                                    And a grassy meadow, with a live oak shade,

                                    And the music of a spring.

                                    The owner thought he sold me land

                                    How poor a trader he!

                                    But it all was fair, for it was there

                                    For all the world to see.

                                    A meadow filled with wildflowers,

                                    And a wild rose rambling free,

                                    And a squirrel’s den and a nested wren,

                                    And it all belongs to me.

                                    I paid the man his money,

                                    Though he did not understand

                                    He had put a price on paradise,

                                    When he thought he sold me land.

 We are well tonight and hope that ya’ll are too.

 Peace, Hope & Love,

 Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger



Sat, Jun 11, 2011

Saturday, June 11, 2011

We love the hill country of Texas.  It is a farmer/rancher’s heaven.  It can be hot, dusty, and dry with little humidity.  Please place the emphasis on the lack of humidity. – Donna Downey

The benefits of lower humidity cannot be overemphasized when you are dealing with hot temperatures.  The primary benefit is that a nice dry breeze is just that… nice and dry.  If you are an early riser around here it is possible to be outside and be quite comfortable even when the temperatures are approaching the high nineties, especially if you can find that dry breeze and some shade. 

We found just such a spot north of Llano after eating breakfast at the motel.  None of the places where we can take the pups swimming in the Llano river have any shade so we settled for a spot without the water option.  We sat and enjoyed the breeze while they played until we were all sitting and enjoying the breeze.   It was a relaxing morning.

We decided to have another BBQ lunch in Mason at Coopers.  We had made a pretty good loop and were headed toward Mason from Brady which is about 30 miles north of Mason when we encountered a volunteer fire department truck followed closely by a large water tanker.  As we left town we could see a sizeable fire in the distance.  We figured it could easily have been started by someone throwing a cigarette out on the side of the highway or even by just someone pulling off in the tall dry grass.  As we got closer it indeed had started on the side of the highway but had quickly moved thru the dense cedars over several ridges.  The wind was moving to the northwest and the fire quickly moved along with it. 

We made it to Mason and enjoyed another lunch of brisket and jalapeno sausage and then headed out to the Mason arena to watch a little bit of a Youth roping.  We found a good parking place right next to the arena where we could watch from our Jeep.  The temperatures had climbed very close to 100 and it seemed so odd to see people riding in long sleeve shirts and warming their horses up with neither the rider or the horse sweating.  Again, one of the benefits of that low humidity and dry breeze.

From there we headed back up the highway toward Brady and points north.  As we approached the area of the fire it appeared the vast resources of men and equipment had been able to get the worst part of the fire under control but they were still busy putting out hot spots and using a motor grader to cut fire lanes across the smoldering hillsides.  As we approached one of the firefighters vehicles (a silver Jeep just like our Jeep), I noticed the left front tire was on fire.  We drove further down the line of vehicles until we found a firefighter and informed him about the Jeep.  We backed up the hill to the vehicle and made sure he didn’t need any assistance.  We were lucky (as was the owner of the Jeep) we saw the tire burning because it was parked at the front of the line and there was no one nearby to notice.  I few more minutes and I’m sure the fire would have moved to the engine and then it would have been bye bye Jeep.  At least now, the owner will only have to buy a new tire.

We had tentatively decided on staying in Stephenville, Texas tonight and had a very nice drive up Highway 377 to get there. 

As we passed thru the small town of Dublin, Texas we were treated to a very neat old truck.  Dublin is the home of Dr. Pepper and they were celebrating the 120^th birthday of the soft drink.  As part of the celebration they had a neat old Ford delivery truck loaded with wooden cases of Dr. Pepper.   So the three shots I took of this truck were the only photos for the day.  I seem to have taken the day off so to speak.  The celebration in Dublin had lasted for about four days and had a bunch of events but was just winding down as we drove thru town.  They had obviously enjoyed celebrating this local business and all it had done and was continuing to do for this Texas town.

We arrived in Stephenville, got a room and as I got ready to tackle the huge number of photos I took today (3), Charles headed out to fill up the Jeep and pick up a few ribs from Hard Eight BBQ. 

We are well tonight.  We hope that y’all are too.

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger



Fri, Jun 10, 2011

Friday, June 10, 2011

Today the high was 101 degrees, after being in 111 degrees two days ago it almost seemed cool… ok, it was still hot but you could breathe without burning your lungs. – Donna Downey

I needed to do some work this morning and we didn’t have a plan for the day so we had breakfast at the motel and then headed back to the room.  After a lot of deliberating we finally came up with a tentative route that would bring us back to Llano for the night. 

We took Ranch Road 1481 toward Kingsland and Cedar Park.  Don’t let the Ranch Road description fool you… this used to be a small road used by ranchers to come to town… now it is a mostly four lane fairly busy route.  By the time we got to Cedar Park it was time for lunch so we forced ourselves to pick a new restaurant.  We tend to go back to the same places once we find a good one.  J J’s BBQ & Catering was busy and they also had the one thing we had to have… shade trees in the parking lot.  It was already almost 100 but with the usual Texas breeze, the pups were quite comfortable with the windows down.  It was an excellent choice and one we will add to our list of favorites. 

After lunch we sought out a true ranch or farm to market road and ended up on a variety of very small roads in search of interesting communities.  The first was the Mahomet community first settled in the 1850s with little remaining but a beautiful old cemetery and to our surprise the Mahomet Christian Church (the same denomination where Charles and I worship in Meridian).  It moved to this location in 1899 and the historical sign says services are still held there. 

The second neat community we found was the Shady Grove Settlement not too many miles down the road. Again it was also settled in the 1850s along the Middle Fork of the Gabriel River.  Still there was a beautiful old church the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and an old Union Arbor built by several different denominations for camp meetings and revivals.  There was also a beautiful grove of live oak trees which I am sure provided much needed shade for many gatherings.   No longer in use, the church has become a community center and is the site of homecoming events.

The drought has had a devastating effect on the wildflowers normally seen all through the hill country.  There were virtually no bluebonnets this year or much of anything else that wasn’t in someone’s yard to receive the benefit of a sprinkler.  So we were surprised when we rounded a curve a few miles outside Burnet and saw a small field full of wildflowers.  There was no house in sight and they obviously had no source of water other than rain but they looked beautiful dancing in the warm breezes. 

When I got back to the room I had to identify them and I found out a lot of interesting facts about the Bluebell Gentian.  They were once abundant in Texas but because of their beauty passersby picked them and now it is difficult to find any growing in the wild.  Bluebell Gentians  are also where Bluebell Ice Cream got their name because they once grew in abundance near the Bluebell Creamery in Brenham, Texas. 

Emily Dickinson even wrote a poem about the Gentian:

            God made a little Gentian

 It tried to be a Rose and failed

And all the Summer laughed

But just before the snows

There rose a Purple Creature

That ravished all the Hill

And Summer hid her Forehead

And Mockery was still

We are back at the room debating if we want to get out in the heat again… but we are well tonight and hope that y’all are too!

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger