La Grange Texas

Since we were driving within an extra 15 minutes of the town, we decided to check out La Grange. The subject of perhaps the most infamous ZZ Top song ever, and the location of the original Chicken Ranch brothel that inspired Dolly Parton’s movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, La Grange was founded in 1854 and is a typical old Texas town. Sadly, the Chicken Ranch is long gone, and there is no roadside bling to let you know where it was, and no larger than life statues of ZZ Top. But we enjoyed our visit anyway, and now I can honestly say I have been there!

Talk to you soon!

More Katy

The Woman enjoyed her time with Kendy and Mike, as did I. We hit a bunch of local gems, including the Museum of Natural Science in Sugar Land Texas, another upscale suburb of Houston. Housed in the old Central State Prison Farm building constructed in 1939, the museum is an interesting mix of dinosaur remains and other prehistoric fossils combined with mineralogical and hands on exhibits.

We also visited San Filipe, a booming town in the early 1800’s. Sam Austin was an activist in San Filipe, and actually spent two years imprisoned in Mexico City for having the audacity of establishing a local government in San Filipe. 

In 1836 as Sam Houston and his Texas troops fell back after the defeat at the Alamo, he came through San Filipe, not wanting to accidentally provide Mexican General Santa Anna any supplies or materials, he ordered the town of San Filipe burned, and it was. We visited the J.J. Josey General Store there, the longest continuously operating general in the state. Built in 1847 after the end of the Mexican American War, it was continuously operated as a general store until 1942.

We also visited a Texas landmark, Buckeyes. A truck stop on steroids, Texans love Buckeyes. We drove through the stop, and found gas pump number 260 – can you believe 260 gas pumps! Our daughter Karen, a Texan at heart, told us to be sure to get one of their kolaches, which we failed to do. But we did gawk at the Guinness World Record holding longest car wash in the world. Great fun!

Talk to you soon!

Katy Texas

Our only reason for being in Katy Texas was so the Woman could give thanks with her good friends, Kendy and Mike. Kendy was the first friend the Woman made in Las Vegas back in August of 1995 when we moved there, so she holds a very special place in the Woman’s heart. Not far from Kendy and Mike’s house is Katy Lake RV Park, and we get to have this view out Colectiva’s windshield all day, every day.

The Pooch really likes his strolls around the small lake in the middle of the RV park. We actually enjoy them as well, not in part as a result of the abundant birds that seem to enjoy the lake as well. Every day we take in Cormorants, Egrets and a host of other aquatic and non-aquatic birds. It’s a real treat!

Talk to you soon!

Beaumont Texas

We visited our first National Preserve. In fact, it turns out that Big Thicket National Preserve about 20 miles North of Beaumont, was the first National Preserve established in the US. Often described as one of the most biodiverse areas in the World outside of the tropics, Big Thicket has been designated as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

We learned that the way the Big Thicket looks today is not that different than it looked 10s of thousands of years ago. During the ice age, most species anywhere North of Arkansas could not adapt to the sheet of ice. Moving South as they could, many of these species ended up in the Big Thicket, which was never covered by ice. Accordingly, many species that would never be found anywhere else in the World in the same area could be, and still can be, found in the Thicket.

Since the ice age, and into the early 1800’s, the Thicket covered nearly 4 million square acres. The Thicket is characterized by forest sized trees of all sort (various pine, various oak, beach magnolia, etc.) and very thick ground cover that made it almost impenetrable by man. We hiked many trails carved out as logging access in the mid-1800’s when White Europeans did their best to harvest the wealth out of the Thicket. By the time some conservation minded clear thinkers got involved to try to preserve this wonder, nearly 97% of it had been plundered. Thankfully, the 3% that remains is pretty impressive.

While the wildflowers are missing in November, we did manage to find an immense grove of Water Pitcher Plants. We’d never seen these guys before and they were very interesting. They emit a sweet scent that attracts insects into their tube-like flower. When the insects get caught in their hair like cilia they fall into a pool of digestive fluid at the bottom. While I had seen carnivorous plants before, I had never seen them growing wild in such huge quantities. Cool!

There are tons of museums in the Beaumont area to the point that we couldn’t possibly take in them all. If we ever get back to the area, we plan to take in the Clifton Steamboat Museum. Although closed the day we could have seen it, the grounds looked Intriguing.

Kona the pooch liked this museum the best. Again, being closed the day we had available we weren’t able to take in the Fire Museum of Texas. But we did get a chance to stop by and see the largest fire hydrant in the World!

We did manage to get a tour of the McFaddin-Ward House. Built in 1905 for William McFaddin, the Beaux-Arts Colonial Revival house (I should say mansion) is nearly 13,000 square feet. Nearly everything about the mansion speaks to the very wealthy ranching family that lived there. In 1919 their daughter Mamie married Carrol Ward, and the newlywed couple moved into the mansion along with the McFaddin family, and spent their entire married life there.

Having lived in the home nearly their entire life, Mamie created a foundation in 1982 to preserve the home. Because of that, nearly all the furniture and furnishings in the home are the originals that the family had used as they lived out their lives here. Not only was the mansion nearly 13,000 square feet, but the carriage house where the family's servants lived was over 8,000. We enjoyed this slice of the past, and would take in this home again if given the chance.

Talk to you soon!

Waco Texas

We headed to Waco for one purpose, to see the National Monument. In 2015, Barack Obama designated the Waco Mammoth site a national monument, and put it under the management of the National Park System. The site is well worth a visit if you ever get anywhere near Waco.

Until the discover of these remains, scientists believed that Mammoths were loners, creatures that lived isolated. They believed that because remains were generally found alone. Here in Waco, they discovered remains of what were clearly a herd of Columbian Mammoth, moms and calves – essentially not unlike the Polar Bear denning site we had witnessed near Churchill Manitoba. At this point, scientists believe that the Columbian Mammoths, much larger than Wooly Mammoths, are the largest land mammals ever to roam North America.

Scientists believe the reason for so many remains here is that the area has been a marshy wetland for thousands of years. Mammoths were likely drawn here by water, but were likely more easily trapped in mud due to their weight and perished. If not for the conditions, a large-scale death event would not likely have occurred here as well.

We also learned that Dr. Pepper soda was originally invented in Wade Morrison’s historic Corner Drug Store in town. Charles Alderton, a druggist, created it by mixing an undisclosed combination of the usual soda fountain flavors in the 1880’s. For a long time, the only way to enjoy a Dr. Pepper was to show up at this Morrison’s Corner Drug Store in Waco.

In the early 1900’s, several investors got together and created the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company to produce and distribute the soda. They apparently picked the site as it sat on a natural artesian spring which provided the early waters for the drink. Today, the Dr. Pepper museum occupies the original bottling plant, and is an interesting collection of all things Pepper, as well as artifacts related to many other non-cola iconic brands, many of which died over the years.

We also found the Waco Suspension Bridge. Built in 1870, it was the longest suspension bridge West of the Mississippi at the time. It was originally a toll bridge as it was the only way to cross the Brazos River without fording it, and folk were happy to pay the freight.

It turns out that the famous Chisholm Trail that brought all the Texas bred steers to the railheads in Kansas in order to get them to East Coast markets actually crossed the Waco Suspension Bridge when it opened. So, now we have walked the entire French Camino de Santiago, a bunch of the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. We can add the Chisholm Trail to that distinguished list.

Talk to you soon!

McKinney Texas

McKinney is essential a Northern suburb of Dallas, but has a rich history and a historic downtown to prove it. Right now, McKinney claims to be the fastest growing community in Texas, and from all the construction we’ve witnessed, we could not challenge that claim.

We walked historic downtown McKinney, surrounding the 1846 Colin County Courthouse. We learned that when the state was established, they tried to organize the creation of counties to be logical. We learned that they attempted to make counties about 1,000 miles square. The tried not to use natural boundaries like rivers, rather the borders were N/S or E/W. The county seat was required to be within 3 miles of the geographic center of the county. There was no town that would meet the rule here, so a town was established. Colin McKinney was a notable Texan worthy of remembrance, so the county was named Colin County, and the seat was named McKinney.

We strolled all the massive Victorian homes that surrounded the central downtown area. The roads were so narrow that most had to be one-way streets. Parking was tough, but the town worked hard to have lots available with plenty of 3-hour free parking available.

We had a wonderful BBQ lunch at Hutchins, supposedly the best BBQ in North Texas for decades. It was set up like Rudy’s, basically just buying meats by the pound, and all kinds of sides available. The only downside was that they had no Shiner Bock to go with the BBQ.

We visited Chester Square, where a local nonprofit has collected some vintage structures that otherwise would have been lost. We strolled through the oldest home in McKinney, built in 1850. We also saw the birthplace of the mother of Lyndon Baines Johnson, although it was a bit sad to see the status of the property currently.

Our personal favorite was this small sign outside a barber shop in downtown McKinney. We think it speaks for itself.

Talk to you soon!

Continuing South

We continue pushing our way South, heading for less cold. While we appreciate our approach toward warmth, we’re not sure that everything about entering the South of the United States warrants our good impressions.

As we stopped near Broken Bow Oklahoma, I missed the turn into our RV park by a bit. So, I looked for a spot wide enough to turn around a 39-foot rig pulling a car. I found the spot, but it was not particularly level – lots of potholes that I had to challenge while still decelerating from highway speeds. Sadly, once you set a 39-foot motorhome swaying, it only gets worse, not better. We have long ago learned that Corel dishes resist breakage, but when they break, they explode! The mess in Colectiva after my failed venture took a great deal of time to clean up, and we are still finding shards of glass here and there.

Talk to you soon!