11.10.07
Road Trip!
Greetings from Texas! It’s been quite a couple of weeks down here with flat tires, a broken washing machine, meeting writing deadlines and preparing for a concert with my choir. Thankfully, it’s all over now so to celebrate, Monday morning I got in the car and pointed it out of town. I had a vague notion of heading south but no firm plans. The map showed me that Inwood Road is one of the ways to get across the Trinity River so that’s where I started. North Dallas and South Dallas are one of those twains that rarely meet, so once I got south of the river it was mostly new territory for me. Everybody in North Dallas thinks of everything south of the river as scary ghetto land but everything I saw looked very nice with some big, fancy houses and churches about every ten feet.
Eventually my road ended and I turned east into Red Oak and then south to Waxahachie where there’s a very photogenic courthouse. After photographing the main square, I asked the gentleman at the historical museum for directions to the oldest cemetery and went to find my great great grandfather’s grave. It was a beautiful day although with temperatures in the 80s I had a hard time believing it was November.
I started south from Waxahachie but soon got sidetracked to the east by a sign for Italy. Really, who can resist a trip to Italy? And then there was a sign for Ennis that made me think about kolaches so I wound up circling back almost to the north. 
Passing through Avalon, I stopped for some photos of the Eagles’ football stadium perched on the horizon. I believe they play six-man in this unincorporated area but it looks like the whole town turns out to support them. After lunch in Ennis I took 14 south through Corsicana (invaded by corporate soullessness, I’m afraid), flicked through Mexia where my grandmother was born and was on my way to Hearne when the perfect sunlight on the colorful historic buildings of Calvert waylaid me. I did make a quick stop in Hearne but the light was going by then and I wanted to find a hotel by dark so I continued on to Bryan/College Station.
I took a piece of my own travel advice at this point. I had chec
ked into a motel with a reasonable rate not far from campus when I realized that the half-dark, empty lobby and the almost completely empty motel were making me feel nervous. I had already paid for the night but I decided that I didn’t feel safe enough to stay. Fortunately, the young woman at the desk was symphathetic and readily refunded my money but I would have left even if it meant they charged me. I believe strongly that you should trust your instincts in a situation like this. Better safe than sorry is a good rule here. I moved on to the supremely corporate Holiday Inn Express down the road where I’m happy to report they have instituted an improvement in the bedding. Instead of blankets and bedspreads, they’ve started using washable duvet covers and cotton throws. SOOOooo much more sanitary and comfortable. They also had a much better than average breakfast spread with real bacon and something that resembled cheese omelettes, fresh fruit and a wide array of beverage choices.
Tuesday morning I woke up to rain and cooler temperatures. The windshield wipers on the car were frie
d so I had to replace them before leaving College Station. The good thing about being in the middle of corporate America was that I was able to look at the Old Navy, the Target and the Outback Steakhouse and say, “hmmm, the Firestone Auto Repair should be located right about there,” which it was. I did a quick drive through Texas A&M University and then headed southwest out of town on my way to the Hill Country. The drive along the old Camino Real took me past–but not through–one of my favorite town names, Dime Box. I had an nice little plate of Mexican food from Anita’s in Bastrop’s historical district for lunch. It’s good to see that they’ve managed to keep real businesses in so many of their old buildings and avoid the museum or, even worse, derelict feel.
I skirted the south edge of Austin and headed into the Hill Country in the afternoon. Between the 
leaden skies and the amount of wine country development, I found this the least attractive part of the trip. I got to Fredericksburg about three, checked into an unchained motel called Sunday House Inn which was fine although not fancy. It was located right in town so I didn’t have to bother with the car (yeah!) Fredericksburg itself was OK. A little too slick for my taste and too much junk for sale except for one antique store with wonderful wrought iron gates. More entertaining for people who really like to shop, I think. Or WWII history buffs with the Nimitz museum. There were quite a few shops and restaurants closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, if you’re planning a midweek trip.
Wednesday, I needed to be back in Dallas by mid-afternoon so I took off fairly early. As soon as I left town headed north on 16, I found the Hill Country I had been hoping for. It was still cloudy but the l
andscape was beautiful with low hills, scrub trees and graceful tall red grasses. This is still ranch country with lots of cattle and goats visible from the highway. I took a little detour to see Enchanted Rock State Natural Area (better for rock climbers or on a sunny day, I think) and then stopped in Llano. I much preferred this town to Fredericksburg. The courthouse is beautiful, the antique shops sell stuff on the funky side instead of the fancy side, and the bar was advertising a TGI hunting season brewha hooha. Next Hill Country trip, I’ll stay here instead.
North from Llano, the land leveled out some but it was still pretty. I had to pull over and take a picture of these emus. 
I drove through San Saba, Cherokee and Comanche and then turned northeast to head back to the metroplex. I had hoped for a stop in Stephenville but it was getting late so I settled for a couple of photos in Granbury and then plunged into the traffic snarls outside Ft. Worth. A few miles of knuckle clenching on the interstates (I hate interstates–especially city loops) and I was home by four o’clock. Short but fun!
Lots more pictures here if you’re interested.
Bye ya’ll,
Terrell
