Sat, Apr 30, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011 at 12:03AM Saturday, April 30, 2011
A day on the road is always a good day (and thus induces happy sleep). – Donna Downey
The drought in Texas is bad! The areas of Texas we came thru Friday looked ok but you could tell it was dry. Llano, however and points in every direction are scorched. What a difference a year can make. Last April they had a record crop of wild flowers after very good winter rains. There were so many bluebonnets you couldn’t walk away from the road for walking thru a blanket of flowers. It was truly heavenly. This year it looks more like hell than heaven. They have not had any measurable rain around Llano since last September and the only thing blooming anywhere was the prickly pear cactus. Add to that some record heat today with temperatures reaching 105 and it was time to move on.
As I said earlier, we don’t like interstates on our road trips. The other thing we don’t like is heat. On one spring trip we were driving down the coast of Oregon and enjoying sixty degree temperatures. Soon after crossing into northern California the temperature started to rise and in a short time it was in the upper nineties. First we shed our jackets then swapped out the long sleeve shirts for t-shirts and then we drove about five more miles and pulled over… looked at each other and said almost simultaneously… let’s go back north and get back into those cool temps! Just one of the advantages of having no plan and no reservations… we can change our mind any time and as long as we are happy then everything is fine. So today, after lunch, we had one of those let’s look for a better place to be moments!
We had a good morning, however, before it warmed up. We chose a route that would take us by two of our favorite spots… the Llano river and the James river. Although the water level in both rivers was very low, it was still perfect for Dodger and Paris to enjoy a cooling swim and it enabled us to take a nice walk down a dry portion of the Llano river. Even in the middle of a drought a river is still a beautiful respite… probably even more so the cool clear water is in such contrast to everything around it. By lunch time the pups were glad to have a chance to catch a snooze while we ate mesquite smoked brisket and pork tenderloin at Cooper’s BBQ in Mason, TX. After lunch as we headed out to take a second playtime at the James river the temperature had climbed from 85 to 101. After the pups’ swim the temperature reached 105 and even though it was comfortable with the nice dry breeze… we knew it was time to move on.
So we “hit the trail” and plotted a route that would carry us across a good portion of west Texas. Just west of Junction, TX we saw several helicopters carrying water to a nearby wildfire. A few more miles down the road as we crossed over a large mesa… we saw the huge fire they were fighting. Even though we were many miles from the fire it remained in our sight for most of the afternoon. As we neared our destination for the night, Alpine, TX, there was a huge fire that had burned thousands of acres and had actually burned into the edge of the city. I’m sure this was a very scary time for the local folks and one of great relief when it was finally extinguished.
After a good night’s sleep I was able to be a more interesting passenger today. At one point, however Charles pointed out that I had taken a couple of quick naps. I protested saying I did not think I had been sleeping… he did the smart husband thing and agreed. Then he just waited until I dozed off again and took my picture. I included that lovely shot just to show what a good sport I am… right!
It was a good day and an interesting day. Along the way we saw a deer, turkeys, a variety of birds, fox squirrels, a javelina… and a few zebras as well. We saw a wildfire in action and what remains when a wildfire has swept the landscape as far as the eye can see. During lunch we saw more coverage on the tornadoes in our part of the country and we know we are blessed to have been spared and to be on our road trip. Still, we keep those affected by these disasters in our prayers.
Tomorrow we will head toward cooler temperatures and greener pastures. After a picnic in the room tonight of leftover brisket and goodies from our cooler we are ready for some more of that road induced “happy sleep”. And I’m still not totally convinced that Charles didn’t just catch me blinking in that picture… ya think?
We are well tonight and hope that you all are too.
Peace, Hope & Love,
Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger
Reader Comments (1)
Love the playground photos of Paris & Dodger! And, uh, Sister, I think that was more than a blink that Charles captured...... Uh oh!