It was a bright, sunny and hot morning as we set out for our 500 mile trip from Amarillo to San Antonio. It was going to be a long day of traveling. Amarillo is in the panhandle of Texas where the wind blows and you can discover sand in places that you never knew existed. Whenever I think of Amarillo, I always think of the song "Amarillo by Morning" sung by George Strait. Terry Stafford wrote the song after playing with his band at a rodeo in San Antonio, Texas and then drove back to his home in Amarillo. Here I was doing the reverse, traveling to San Antonio.
Kenny and I said "good-bye" to our friends and got on Interstate 27, heading south to Lubbock. Lubbock is known as the birthplace of rock n'roll legend Buddy Holly. It is also home for Texas Tech University.
After we left Lubbock, we traveled the back roads instead of the interstate.
Driving through the plains, one can see the high flat plateaus with no trees. Due to the flat area and strong, steady winds, there are numerous wind turbines throughout the area. There are about 650 wind turbine in the panhandle. You also notice all the oil rigs pumping. The oil and gas industry makes up about 20% of the Texas Panhandle's economy.
After several hour of traveling southeast on the back roads, we began to see the terrain change from flat and sandy to rollings hills and rocky. There are many geographic regions in Texas. The regions are panhandle plains, prairies and lakes, piney woods, gulf coast, south texas plains, big bend country and the Texas Hill Country.
The Texas Hill Country is going to be our final destination. This region has tall rugged hills of limestone or granite. The vegetation includes yucca and prickly pear cactus. The predominant trees in the region are ashe juniper and Texas live oak. In the springtime, this area is beautiful with all the red, blue and yellow wildflowers.
Cruising down the county roads, one notices the small towns, the large courthouses, cemeteries and the horses, cattle and sheep grazing on the open ranges. In most towns, there are the town squares with the courthouses and the small stores. In your mind, you can picture what it looked like in the late 1800s. Families coming to town in their wagons to do their monthly shopping. Cowboys on horseback going to the saloons. Stagecoaches bringing people from other towns.
Road trips help you to discover how other people live. You don't have to travel far. Pick a day to travel to a town that could be 100 miles from you. Don't take the interstate. Travel the back roads and put together your own book of the area around you and discover the history.
1 comment:
Road trips are such fun
Post a Comment