Trip on 8/15/2015

I left the house about 7:30 and headed west out of town on Hwy 90.  My first stop was the little town of Bracketville.  This was near the place where John Wayne filmed the movie, “The Alamo”.  For many years the set was open to the public but it is no longer open.  I didn’t have any problems finding the Court House.

My next stop was Del Rio.  Talk about a strange town.  I followed the signs to the Business District.  You drive down one street and it would be modern buildings and nice streets.  You go one block to the left and the building would be run down and the streets full of pot holes.  I drove around quite a bit looking for the Court House and finally found it on one of the pot hole streets.  This was my 144th Court House so I only have 108 more to go.

 

My next stop was the Seminole Canyon State Park http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/seminole-canyon

I was the only one there except for the Park Ranger but I found out the tour was over for the day.  During the hot months, they only give one tour a day and it starts at 10:00.  I got there about 11:30.  I do think I want to go back and take the tour.

I continued west to the little town of Langtry and to see The Law West of the Pecos.

I was there when I was about 11 or 12 and the place has really changed except for the two old buildings.  They have a very nice cactus garden and it is a nice place to take a break.

I stopped on the way back and went up to the picnic area above the Pecos River.  I remembered being there when I was 11 or 12 and looking at the bridge and thinking it has to be the longest, tallest bridge in the entire world.  It is still pretty tall and long.

While I was taking these pictures, I saw these two men in a boat going up the river.  It was so quiet, I could hear every word they were saying.  One of them was worried about running out of gas.  I have no idea where they were going but I am guessing they were fishing someplace.

I headed for home on Hwy 90 east but decided that I had already seen that Highway so I took a few Ranch roads and Farm to Market roads.  I started this side trip with a half tank of gas.  Driving around in that part of the country, you had better know where the gas stations are located.  After driving for couple hours and not finding a town much less a gas station, I decided I had better head back to a major highway.  I drove back to Hwy 90 but still couldn’t find a gas station.  Towns on that highway are a long ways apart.  I finally found on in Uvalde and put in 23.8 gallons in my25 gallon tank so I guess I could have gone for another 20 miles (Maybe).

It was a nice trip and I enjoyed the time.

Wreaths Across America - 2014

Today was the laying of the wreaths for Wreaths Across America. A program that aims to place a Christmas wreath on the graves at all of the National and State Veterans cemeteries in the world.

They got my truck loaded with about 60 wreaths.  I had to leave the truck there and walk about 1/2 mile to the assembly area for the ceremony.

The ceremony was a very moving experience and there were quite a few people that came out to help lay the wreaths.

After getting back to my truck, I met with a team from Marshall High School ROTC at one of the sections in the cemetery. 

They unloaded the truck and placed the wreaths on the graves.

There was one lady with a child that placed wreaths on the graves of their love ones. 

It was quite a day and one that everyone should experience.  WWW.WreathsacrossAmerica.com will give you a cemetery close to you where you can go next December.  It will also tell you how to order wreaths and how to specify the grave by name.

Mission San Jose–Close up

There are so many interesting places at Mission San Jose besides just the Chapel. Sometime I like to go and look for the small details that make up the Mission.  Here are a few that I took December 6, 2014.

 

Mission Espada December 2014

I stopped by Mission Espada this morning to see how they were progressing on the restoration project.  It is still under way but looking good so far.  Judge for yourselves.

 

Thanksgiving 2014

Fall in south Texas 2014

We do have tree leaves changing colors in south Texas.

Visit to two Forts

Yesterday I took a little day trip to visit some Counties I had not got pictures of the Court Houses and also to visit two different Forts.

The first Fort was the Presidio de San Saba located outside the town of Menard, TX.  It was one of the Forts built by the Spanish to protect the Missions.  This Presidio has been known for many years and has undergone several restorations.  Interesting is that the Mission was not located until 1993.  The Mission was destroyed by Indians raids and the only thing they have found was some of the foundation.  There is nothing there other than a plaque so I didn’t brother going.

While I was at the information center (such as it was) I met a man who had his bicycle with him and it was loaded down with stuff.  I asked where he was from and he told me San Diego, CA.  He was riding his bike cross country.  He has a Brother in Austin and plans on spending a week with him and then on to FL where he hopes to catch a boat to Europe and then travel across Europe and then who knows.  I wished him the best of luck and the pedaled off heading east.

The next Fort I visited was Fort McKavett.  It was a Fort built to defend the settlers from Indian raids and it was interesting walking the grounds and inside the buildings.  There were only two other tourists there so I had the whole place to myself.  I really got a feel for the history of the Fort.