Jo wanted a road trip for the kids' fall break. We didn't exactly know where till we started driving yesterday morning. We slowly left Austin in a rental minivan and headed west for Frederiscksburg though the morning downpour and carried on west till 290 ran into I-10. As we drove through small towns Jo commented on the abundance of taxidermists and churches.
We stopped for lunch at Coopers soon after crossing the Llano river at Junction where I bought too much brisket and not enough peach cobbler. The skills of the many taxidermists were on view at Coopers. If they hadn't been killed and stuffed, there were enough animals and birds hanging on the walls to fill a zoo.
We continued west on I-10 till everyone fell asleep and I took an exit back to 290 and down a steep canyon to the wilderness of the trans Pecos region. A road sign read: "Warning Flash Floods Next 78 miles". Just that. No thoughts on what one might do. We passed a "School Bus Loading and Unloading" sign without a house or street in sight for at least ten miles in either direction. At the bustling metropolis of Sheffield, we turned south on to 349 and then to FM 2400 and drove through some of the remotest places I've seen. We stopped for gas and a snack at Sanderson, the county seat for Terrell county, less than 20 miles from the Mexican border. Terrell county, a chunk of land about 2400 square miles has a population of less than 900 people. Sparse but ruggedly beautiful. From there we picked up 90 and went west with amazing views of the Big Bend National Park to the south. We drove on through Marathon to Alpine, had dinner at the famous Reata, and continued on to Marfa to look for the elusive Marfa Lights.
We stopped for lunch at Coopers soon after crossing the Llano river at Junction where I bought too much brisket and not enough peach cobbler. The skills of the many taxidermists were on view at Coopers. If they hadn't been killed and stuffed, there were enough animals and birds hanging on the walls to fill a zoo.
We continued west on I-10 till everyone fell asleep and I took an exit back to 290 and down a steep canyon to the wilderness of the trans Pecos region. A road sign read: "Warning Flash Floods Next 78 miles". Just that. No thoughts on what one might do. We passed a "School Bus Loading and Unloading" sign without a house or street in sight for at least ten miles in either direction. At the bustling metropolis of Sheffield, we turned south on to 349 and then to FM 2400 and drove through some of the remotest places I've seen. We stopped for gas and a snack at Sanderson, the county seat for Terrell county, less than 20 miles from the Mexican border. Terrell county, a chunk of land about 2400 square miles has a population of less than 900 people. Sparse but ruggedly beautiful. From there we picked up 90 and went west with amazing views of the Big Bend National Park to the south. We drove on through Marathon to Alpine, had dinner at the famous Reata, and continued on to Marfa to look for the elusive Marfa Lights.
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