Tag: Texas

Big Bend Adventure, Updated

We’re filling in our travel plans as we get closer to actually doing a drive across the State. So, naturally, this is the year gas prices are skyrocketing.

We were just going to drive straight down to Terlingua (587 miles, 8 hours, 51 minutes per Google Maps), but then we watched some of the videos of the existing bubble places (we’re staying in the new section that opens in July, so we don’t even have the official address yet), and they are dark at night. Very dark. This is, of course, one of the selling points, but if you don’t know where you’re going, it may be difficult to find under the stars.

I have experience with finding a place to stay in the dark. I spent over an hour on a business trip in Massachusetts, driving circles around my hotel because there were no street lights and my GPS wouldn’t sync.

Now, Massachusetts probably doesn’t have coyotes, rattlesnakes, and the other denizens of Big Bend Country, but Terlingua does, so I’d rather not arrive there in the dark, with no GPS, no streetlights and only a vague idea of where we were going.

So, I added an extra day of vacation, and we decided to drive half-way or so the first day, and then we can make it into Terlingua in the daylight. Half-way is pretty much Midland, but I decided to keep going a bit further, and that’s how I found Monahans. It has a Hampton Inn, which is where we stay on a lot of our trips, because they are very predictable, and have breakfast.

The new overnight gave us a 399-mile, six-hour drive on the first day, and left us with 188 miles and about three hours for the second day. Now, we’re not arriving at night, unless we really sleep in.

We decided that on day two, on the way to Terlingua from Monahans, we will stop and visit Marfa. It is a testament to the size of Texas that if you are going to be within a couple hours of a place, it’s “close enough to visit.” We always wanted to visit Marfa and this was a good time, even if it is slightly out of the way, and even if we can’t easily get there at night for the Marfa Lights.

I was thinking about taking a day in Terlingua to just go to Marfa, but it’s just over 100 miles (and almost two hours of driving), which means a lot of driving, so it is faster to visit on the way down. If we leave Monahans relatively early, we can be in Marfa by lunchtime, grab some food, wander around a bit, and still make it to Terlingua before dark – which was the whole purpose of stopping in Monahans in the first place.

Now, we have a 399-mile, six hour drive to Monahans on the first day. The second day is now two hours and 133 miles to Marfa, hang out in Marfa, and then finish with 109 miles and a bit under two hours to get to Terlingua.

Of course, after I booked in Monahans, we realized we could stop and visit family in Midland on our way. So, now we’re working on that.

It’s a big State, but there are friends and relatives everywhere.

We’ve booked a Jeep tour in Big Bend National Park one day, and we’re still planning what to do the other days.

We’re just waiting for instructions on how to get into our bubble, and where in the complex it actually is located. That’s an email a couple of weeks or so before we leave.

Big Bend Country

This is the longest drive across Texas I think we’ve planned. From Dallas to Terlingua, and then into Big Bend National Park (and Big Bend Ranch State Park, if we have time.) We are going so we can sleep in a bubble.

It’s almost 590 miles according to the step-by-step driving instructions from the Google Map. If we went in the other direction, we’d be halfway to the kids in Ohio. The difference is that this drive is all within one State. (El Paso is even further away, and in a different time zone.)

I have been trying to get Virginia to go to Big Bend for years, but she never had much interest. I finally realized I was using the wrong approach.

“Hey, do you want to visit a ghost town in the middle of nowhere?”
No.

“Hey, do you want to see Big Bend? It’s only ten hours from here, and you can’t really fly there.”
No.

“Hey, do you want to drive half-way to Ohio, in the other direction?”
No.

“Hey, do you want to sleep in an inflatable bubble?”
Tell me more. What is this bubble of which you speak?

It has taken me longer to see all the regions of Texas than it has to visit most of the other States. This is a bit sad, but it shows the size of the State.

I grew up in Dallas, and am still here. I went to college in San Antonio. I worked in Houston for a couple of years. I’ve sailed on a cruise ship from Galveston. I had a college girlfriend from the Valley, and we visited her family. My son was married in the Valley. My family used to go to D’Hanis to visit my grandmother and we went to Port Aransas.

I spent a weekend in Midland years ago, helping a college classmate find an apartment. (I heard when his wife from St Louis landed and saw all the glory of West Texas, she cried. They may not have been tears of joy.)

Midland was about as far west in Texas as I have been. Once we get past Midland, it’s new territory for me. Plus, I flew to Midland, so I didn’t really see the landscape.

The Spousal Unit has been as far west as Weatherford, I think – we went to the Peach Festival one year. She may have been farther west to rescue a dog. (She reminded me we did spend an hour or so in Lubbock one year when Southwest needed to divert for storms in Dallas.)

She’s been through East Texas, because it’s on the way to New Jersey and Ohio. She’s been to South Padre and the Valley (for my son’s wedding). She’s been to Galveston and Houston (for cruises and to see the Rolling Stones). She’s been to San Antonio, Castroville, Hondo and D’Hanis. We visited the Hill Country one year for Spring Break.

After this trip, we still have the Panhandle to visit. I think I’ve covered the other regions of the State.

The Cedarville Line

It’s a long way to Ohio

Southbound on the Cedarville Line,
My Texas home is on my mind.
I’ve only got four States to go,
It’s a long, long way from Ohio.

Indianapolis goes flying by,
Someone behind me starts to cry.
I’m not the only one alone,
But at least (at last) I’m heading home.

The Land of Lincoln’s just a blur,
I turn around to look at her.
Her crying stopped a few miles back,
Now, it’s just the clicking of the track.

St Louis and the engines needed fuel.
The dining car refilled the gruel.
I grabbed another cup of joe,
Just a few more hours left to go.

Oklahoma, we just blew right past.
Next is Texas, home at last.
Cross the border to the Lone Star State.
Hurry now, let’s not be late.

Made it home on the Cedarville Line.
In fact, we made it right on time.
Texas underfoot at last.
Northbound before the summer’s passed.

Diaspora

Thousands of raw acres
of prime South Texas land.
Mesquite, minimal water,
Fossils, fences and sand.

It’s a place to raise cattle,
With horsepower and sweat.
You can become wealthy,
It’s just not how to bet.

From the thousands of acres
Generations sliced off their share.
One ranch became ranches,
But nobody seemed to care.

The pastures were a man’s world,
There were no girls allowed.
There were many disappointments,
Some best not said out loud.

When I first visited the ranch,
It stretched as far as I could see.
Someone said, “That’s nothin’, son”.
“This used to reach to Uvalde.”

One by one, they moved to town,
It’s where they all belonged.
This could have been the King Ranch,
If they could have got along.

Ashes to Ashes

I have the idea for a chorus, and then it turned into a bunch of related choruses, but I have no idea what the verses would be. I was thinking if I wrote it down, it might help. So far, it hasn’t.

Steve Earle has a song called “Ashes to Ashes” on his “Jerusalem” album, I heard another song that uses the phrase on KNON yesterday (Thank you, Texas Renegade Radio!), and it is a great phrase for a country song, as are many Biblical phrases.

I’m beginning to think you just call this “Ashes to Ashes” and just use all the choruses as they are, and declared them verses. I suppose they should be in alphabetical order, but that may be trying to hard.

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
Before I could drive,
I had to be bussed.

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
Yeast, water and flour
Make your daily crust.

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
I dropped the coffee,
And how Daddy cussed.

Ashes to ashes, 
Dust to dust.
It’s fire for the wicked,
And joy for the just.

(Editor’s note: that is the only one someone might actually use. I really like it.)

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
Out of all of my sins,
I’ve suffered most for my lust.

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
If you want good wine,
You have to age the must.

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust.
Hasn’t rained in forever,
So what caused all this rust?

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
The last thing to break
Is another man’s trust.

<last chorus, only makes sense live, why do I hear Jim or Jason sing this?>

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust.
There’s a woman down front
With a mighty fine bust.

Seco Creek

It’s almost always dusty,
Until the day you nearly drown.
And you’re going to lose your fences
When the Seco Creek comes down.

A dry creek bed is empty,
A failure at its task.
But when its name means “Dry”,
Water may be too much to ask.

Yet, the Seco Creek was running
On the night great-grandpa died.
Mourners rode through Sabinal
To come say their good-byes.

It’s almost always dusty,
Until the day you nearly drown.
And you’re going to lose your fences
When the Seco Creek comes down.

When the rains had finally finished
And the water levels sank
A car still needed horses,
Just to get across the bank.

There are fossils in the Seco,
Another ages’ souvenirs.
So there’s always been dry water,
It’s been flooding here for years.

It’s almost always dusty,
Until the day you nearly drown.
And you’re going to lose your fences
When the Seco Creek comes down.