Texas

Of all the states I’ve been to, I think Texas has the most varied landscapes.  If you drive from east to west, or from north to south, your scenery will change hour by hour. From the beaches of the Texas coast, to the desert of west Texas, with rolling hills, flat plains, and piney woods, all the “looks” Texas has each have their own beauty. Here are a few pictures of my favorite places in Texas. 

The Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge is on 2800 acres bordering the Rio Grande River in deep south Texas. At an ecological crossroad, Santa Ana is strategically located where subtropical climate, gulf coast, great plains and Chihuahuan desert meet, and is home to more than 400 species of birds and 300 species of butterflies. I loved going there to see what we could see when we lived in Pharr, Texas. 

Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park is located south of Mission, Texas. It is another great birding site in the area, where you can see Orioles, Green Jays, Chachalacas, Great Blue Herons, Roseate Spoonbills, and thousands of Hawks during their migration each spring. 

South Texas, especially the Rio Grand Valley of Texas, is known for fresh produce. From oranges, grapefruit, and other citrus to onions, pineapple, herbs, swiss chard, cabbage and lettuce, you can see them all growing in fields in south Texas. On this day, the field had been plowed and was ready to be planted with spring crops. It was a common thing to hear of people going “gleaning”, or picking up leftover vegetables from the fields after the main crop had been harvested. 

The drive between Corpus Christi and Harlengin, Texas was mostly rolling hills, dotted with farms. The farmers grew lots of corn and hay for livestock. 

This was one of my favorite sights in Texas. Cadillac Ranch is west of Amarillo on Route 66, and is a fun stop to see the cars planted in the dirt. 

Many years ago, Fabgrandpa and I were hot shot delivery drivers, delivering frozen food in a Dodge Ram pick-up truck, using insulated blankets and dry ice to keep the foods from thawing out. We also had a pop-up camper, that we took to the closest state park, and camped there while waiting for the dispatcher to call us. We went to work from the campground, and returned there after the delivery was done.

One day we had a particularly frustrating delivery. When the dispatcher called us to do another delivery on the same day, I was just plain fed up with the job, and told the guy that we quit. It was a spur of the moment thing, but it immediately meant that neither my husband nor I had a job!

When I told Fabgrandpa what I had done, he asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to go on a road trip to south Texas, and go shopping across the border in Mexico. I wanted to get pottery and tiled mirrors, and other pretty things, and bring them home to Georgia and sell them. And so it was that we loaded up the pop-up, hitched it to the back of our Dodge pick up truck, and headed to Mission, Texas.

It took us three days to get there. We went down to I-10, through southern Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. We turned south off of I-10 at Schulenburg, taking Alt 77 through Cuero to 72, which took us to Three Rivers. From there it was a straight shot all the way to McAllen. In McAllen, we followed US 83 to Mission, were we had a reservation at Bentsen-Rio Grand Valley State Park to camp for a week.

Back in 1997, when we took our spur of the moment road trip to Mission, you could still camp at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in an RV. The campground closed shortly after our stay there, and is only primitive walk in campsites now. While we were camping there, we saw, and heard, flocks of chachalacas. Those birds were very loud, and woke us up every morning. Green jays are also found there. There were also raccoons, armadillos, and more. It was a little un-nerving to hear these animals scurrying around our camper, and sometimes fighting under our bed at night.

We did go across the border to Mexico a couple of times to go shopping for pottery, chimineas, tinware, tiled mirrors, and Mexican blankets. We got some really good prices on the things we bought. Even with having to pay a customs fee, we were still able to make a profit on the things we bought. The funny thing is, when we got back home, I called the dispatcher and told him we were ready to come back to work, and he gave us delivery the very next day!

In 1996, my son was still living in San Antonio, Texas. He and his wife announced that they were pregnant, due in October, 1996. I decided to take a road trip to San Antonio from Atlanta so that I could take the bassinet that he slept in to use for his new baby.

Donna, a friend since childhood, went with me. We left Atlanta early in the morning, headed for Texas. It took us two days to get there. Once we got there, we visited with my son and his wife. They lived in an apartment off base. My son took us on a tour of Lackland Air Force Base, showing us where he worked and some of the planes that were there.

The next day, Donna and I went to Riverwalk, and went on the boat tour on the river. Yes, I wind up at Riverwalk every time I am in San Antonio. It is just a beautiful place, with lots of places to eat and spend time with friends and family.

The before we left to go home, we decided to take a side trip to Laredo, Texas, so that we could visit Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. I love going across the border to Mexico and exploring all the little shops. The trip from San Antonio was about 160 miles from my son’s apartment. Donna and I decided to spend the night in Laredo so we would have plenty of time to shop.

We bought about twenty of those Mexican blankets for $2 each (remember, this was in 1996). Donna bought a longhorn steer skull with horns so long that it barely fit in the back seat of the car. We named it Harry. While we were driving home to Georgia, with Harry on the top of all those blankets in the back seat, so many truck drivers honked their horns at us. It was a hoot! That road trip to San Antonio was one of the best trips I ever made.

My first visit to San Antonio, Texas, was back in 1994, when my son graduated from Air Force Boot Camp. I flew from Atlanta to San Antonio in November of that year. When I boarded the plane in Atlanta, it was winter. When we landed in Texas, it was almost 80 degrees at eleven o’clock at night.

Since my son could not leave the base before the graduation, his girl friend and I had a whole day and night to kill before we could see him. I decided to do drive to Luckenbach, the town made famous by Waylon and Willie.

Luckenbach is approximately 75 miles from San Antonio. The drive is quite pleasant, through the countryside of Texas. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes to get there. The town of Luckenbach consists of a ramshackle old dance hall, a post office/general store/saloon, and a stand of trees alongside a rutted dirt road. Not much there other than a great history, and a souvenir stand. It was fun to go, though, and know that I had been in the same place as Willie Nelson had once been.

We made our way back to San Antonio with enough time to visit The Alamo before heading back to our hotel for the night. The Alamo was very interesting to visit, and re-live the history of the place. The mission is still standing after 300 years!

The next day, we made our way to the parade grounds at Lackland AFB to watch the graduation ceremony. It was a very proud moment for me to see my son march by. After the ceremony, the Air Force treated the new graduates and their guests to a San Antonio Spurs basketball game at the Alamodome. The guys were required to ride the bus provided by the Air Force, and we followed in our rental car.

Finally, on our last day in San Antonio, my son was allowed to leave the base. We went downtown to Riverwalk, then to Landry’s Seafood for dinner.

I was sad to leave to go back home. I really enjoyed my visit to San Antonio. I have been back several times, and each time I discovered another place to explore.