My wife and I had a very pleasant four-day trip around West Texas, visiting friends, learning things (that will inform future books), and generally relaxing from a hectic few recent weeks. Some highlights:
- Stopping in Munday, TX to sample the It'll Do Grill, a name that couldn't help but catch our attention as we searched online for a lunch spot. The eatery lived up to the promise of its name, with a limited selection of dishes, but well cooked and in large quantities. We had to smile at the choice of a name for the place.
- We visited friends in San Angelo, TX, and took the family out to supper. Next morning we visited the International Waterlily Collection in that city, which was very interesting; it's internationally well-known, and has developed the only hybrid day/night waterlily ever created. When thinking about alien plants and how they might develop, the waterlily offers an interesting alternative to "standard" flowers, which is why I wanted to see the place. The young (6-year-old) daughter of the family was racing happily to and fro, a real bundle of energy. I asked her where she got it from, and she looked puzzled. "I don't know. I didn't have breakfast. I only ate leftover chocolate cake and leftover key lime cheesecake..." (from the previous night). Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! We were all giggling at her reply. To paraphrase the old song, "Sugar High Honey Bunch"!
- The Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, TX has several new exhibits. One I particularly enjoyed is an in-depth look at the Second Battle of Adobe Walls in 1874, the fight that precipitated the Red River War which ended the regional dominance of the Plains Indian tribes, the Kiowa and Comanche, and opened western Texas and Oklahoma, and southern Kansas and Colorado, to settlement and cattle ranching. It's one of the seminal events of the era, yet few people today know about it. Another is a greatly expanded exhibition of Western art, including paintings and sculptures worth a great deal of money, and requiring a security guard to be present at all times. We've visited the Museum several times before, and it's always worth stopping by to see what new things they've put out on display.
- Estelline, TX is notorious for its speed-trapping activities (I swear they run the town on the profits generated by that). Needless to say, everyone who knows about it (including all the locals) slow down well before they reach the town limits, to avoid being caught. You can imagine our amusement when a California car, a lowered, souped-up Toyota Corolla by the look of it, went zipping past us at 90-100 mph as we all slowed down. You could see heads turning as all of us drivers looked at each other and grinned evilly! Lesson learned: when you see all the locals slowing down, it might not be a bad idea to follow their example until you find out why . . .
We're safely home again. Back to the salt mines!
Peter
Covington, TX between Cleburne and Hillsboro used to be one of those speed traps. The problem was that the local constabulary made the locals mad by giving tickets for 1 or 2 mph over the limit. After enough complaints the officers doing that were reprimanded and it stopped.
ReplyDeleteJust read through the wiki you linked on the battle, hadn’t heard of that one particularly. The part about the shot by Billy Dixon, later measured to 1538 yards, (Quigly would have missed without plot armor). “Because he was shaking his ass at us.” Hhahaahahah, Still laughing. Not sure if the formatting will come through the comment section.
ReplyDeletePart of the quote below: People were always fascinated with the story of the 2nd Battle of Adobe Walls and would ask Billy about it. He told them that because they had almost unlimited ammunition they used to sit at their campfire and shoot at an outcropping of rock. If the shooter hit the rock face, it would make a white puff that could be seen in the camp. It became a betting game. When the Indian warriors were standing on the ridge, they were standing just above the rock outcropping. So he had practiced a similar shot many times before. One day the men were badgering Billy and asking him why he ever took the shot when he finally responded to the question, "Billy, Why did you shot that Indian?" To which he responded, "Because he was shaking his ass at us." Apparently, the Indians were taunting the buffalo hunters and it made Billy mad. He then lifted his rifle, repeating a long practiced shot and aimed slightly higher. Personal interview notes of J. B. Buchanan by Kyle Henderson, PHD. of the Hansford County Historical Society, 1996.
Speed traps - Cunningham, Kansas I got a good chuckle when returning to the Wichita area from Phoenix one trip. They are turning US54 into an interstate with the designation of US400. They have already built a bypass around that town.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the wiki rabbit hole.
ReplyDeleteGlad y'all had a good trip! And I'm 'due' to hit Panhandle Plains again soon!
ReplyDeleteMonroe, FL and Golden Meadows, LA are also notorious speed traps where a large part of the city budget comes from unsuspecting motorists.
ReplyDeleteI was caught by the one in Monroe, but was warned beforehand about Golden Meadows.
The town of Starke, FL used to be a major speed trap. The city even advertised it with billboards and special 'Slow Down to XX' signs and painted on the road.
ReplyDeleteFunny, people still sped. And complained and complained. "I got stopped 4 times for speeding when returning to UF." Obviously didn't learn. At all.
Bunnell, FL, also a major speed trap at one time. You'd come off of one state road in the middle of town (advertised as 45mph) and start on another and not know it was 35mph until you get pulled over around a curve where the bastids were sitting and waiting. Unlike Starke, they didn't warn people. Which is why I call them bastids.
I enjoy museums and art. I have never visited a waterlily collection but if I had, I don't know that I'd toss it down on the blogosphere. All the same, it sounds as though you're feeling better and had a fun trip without citation.
ReplyDeleteMr Peter and old NFO-
ReplyDeleteI am jealous of you.
I am from greater Houston, and do so miss unplanned, bike rides across Texas. Following the lane lines and avoiding tar snakes. Giving a try to a joint that looked abandoned 50 years, to enjoy amazing food and locals. Sharing stories. Following various historical trails (SH36 comes to mind) and stopping to read the roadside markers ( an isolated farm where the mom, son and daughter were abused and slaughtered by Comanche). Chili cook-offs, riding a trail ride into Houston preceding the rodeo. Schlotzsky’s, Big Red, Dr. Pepper in a bottle, Mexican cokes. Whataburger…
I’ve been in SE Asia going on 10 years. Never been back. Only going if cuffed.
Stories from the likes of you ( and LSP even Mr LL) sure do my heart Goos,
G-d bless ya’ll
Juan
When talking about speed traps for a city's budget, the king of traps is the STATE of NJ.
ReplyDeleteBack in '05, the NJ State Police stopped writing tickets for about a half year as their response to charges that they were "profiling" drivers that they stopped. Most all the cities and towns came close to filing for bankruptcy. Turns out that a large portion of their operating capitol came from sharing revenue from tickets written in their area. At that time NJ had the highest density of police radar units in the nation.
Oh, as an interesting side effect of the lack of tickets, the accident and fatality numbers dropped noticeably. They returned to "normal" when ticket writing resumed. This effect has been noted in every instance of cops going on "strike" for an appreciable time for as long as traffic data has been collected.
So, when you hear the old wives tale about how patrolling cops writing tickets makes the road safer, you can laugh in the commenter's face.