Sunday, March 04, 2007

Texas & more of Texas...

If you've never been to Texas, it's a BIG state. Sort of discouraging when the first exits you see are numbered in the 800's which means (we finally figured this out last summer) that it's that many miles to where the road exits the state on the other side.

Coming in on I10 from south Louisiana, you pass the last of the rice patties, most of which are being used at this time of year to raise those millions of crawfish needed to feed all those hungry folks down here. It's FLAT. Near exit 808 there's a billboard for an Alligator Fest in Sept. (no town mentioned - guess they figure everyone knows where it is). Sloooooowly, the terrain changes from FLAT to a gradual rolling as you enter Texas Hill Country.

Signs change to BBQ... Pecans... Bulls for Sale...
You begin to see cactus, lots of cedars. Finally an actual curve in the road. (Remember the "connect the dots" games you did as a kid. That's how they lay out roads in FLAT country between towns.) You know you're in cow country when you see a store sign - "Cow Patty Patch" - where your "MOO LA" goes further. (Now why did they have to spell Patty the same way I spell my name?!)

Anyway, we finally made it to the heart of Texas (the almost geographic center of the state) where my mother lives (born in Ohio, spent most of her life in Arkansas, & now lives in Texas) and also my sister (born & raised in Arkansas but has lived most of her adult life in Texas) and her husband (a true dyed in the wool Texan, born here with his boots and cowboy hat already on I'm sure - Texas mothers are a hardy breed).

PS - I tried uploading the photos again from Friday to those blogs as it seemed a lot of folks had problems seeing them. Hope you can see them now.