Took a Road Trip
I've been watching the weather report for a week, looking at maps and planning for today. Brooke was at a conference all day and Amanda went to spend the night at a friend's house straight from school, so I had time for a nice day-long road trip. I left out at 9am and returned home at 5:30pm covering about 340 miles. Here's a few highlights from my trip:
I was going to say I like "old" courthouses, but the Johnson County Courthouse in Cleburne is being restored, so I guess that makes it "not old". But I like old-looking courthouses, so I took a couple courthouse pictures today.
Everywhere I rode today, I saw signs that "Burning Ban", but this one farmer seemed to think today was an OK day to clear this field. I'm pretty sure it was not a wild fire...the farmer was watching it burn, there were no fire trucks and the outside perimeter had been plowed so the fire would stop when the grass was gone. I saw the smoke a long ways away and had to stop for a picture once I saw what was going on.
You know how you always see those signs that say "Historical Marker"? Well, when I stopped to take pictures of the field burning, I saw the "Historical Marker" sign pointing to this area, so I went to check it out. This is what's left of a school that was started in 1879.
I guess this would be the Bosque County Courthouse. It was in Meridian, TX (I think...I stopped so many times I'm confused now).
I know...a picture of sheep is not very exciting. I tried to help these guys get back in the field with the other sheep, but I ended up scaring them and just had to watch them run off down the shoulder of the highway. Fortunately, they seemed to know better than to get in the road.
This is where I ended up for lunch. I think part of the "road trip experience" is eating at local, home cooked restaurants. When I stopped in Hamilton for gas, I asked a guy filling up his truck where would be a good local place to eat lunch. He recommended a Mexican place, so I headed there. As I was parking my motorcycle, an older gentleman came up and started talking motorcycles with me. He happened to live in Ft. Worth and he told me about the club he rides with there (he actually invited me to come visit the club). He recommended this place for lunch, so I moved on down the street and gave it a try. I was happy to see hamburgers and pie on the menu, but when they just about blackened my hamburger, gave me a tiny piece of pie, charged me an extra dollar to use my debit card, overcharged for the food and had an unfriendly waitress bring it to the table...well, I sorta wish I had stuck with the Mexican joint. Oh well, it was still fun.
I didn't have a chance to see what was so "historic" about Lampasas. This was the furthest south I went today...about 150 miles from home. From here, I headed back home swinging along the western border of Ft. Hood military base.
As you may have guessed, I passed through Topsey, TX. I've never been there before, but when I saw this little barn/storefront/thing, I thought it would make a neat looking black and white picture. So here it is...complete with the black and white.
I think this courthouse was in Gatesville...I'm not sure which county it's in.
This is the clipboard I rigged so I could see my route for the day.
I did not see President Bush or even his ranch. All I got was a picture of this sign!
Last picture for the day. This was painted on the side of a building in Valley Mills (obviously).
I was going to say I like "old" courthouses, but the Johnson County Courthouse in Cleburne is being restored, so I guess that makes it "not old". But I like old-looking courthouses, so I took a couple courthouse pictures today.
Everywhere I rode today, I saw signs that "Burning Ban", but this one farmer seemed to think today was an OK day to clear this field. I'm pretty sure it was not a wild fire...the farmer was watching it burn, there were no fire trucks and the outside perimeter had been plowed so the fire would stop when the grass was gone. I saw the smoke a long ways away and had to stop for a picture once I saw what was going on.
You know how you always see those signs that say "Historical Marker"? Well, when I stopped to take pictures of the field burning, I saw the "Historical Marker" sign pointing to this area, so I went to check it out. This is what's left of a school that was started in 1879.
I guess this would be the Bosque County Courthouse. It was in Meridian, TX (I think...I stopped so many times I'm confused now).
I know...a picture of sheep is not very exciting. I tried to help these guys get back in the field with the other sheep, but I ended up scaring them and just had to watch them run off down the shoulder of the highway. Fortunately, they seemed to know better than to get in the road.
This is where I ended up for lunch. I think part of the "road trip experience" is eating at local, home cooked restaurants. When I stopped in Hamilton for gas, I asked a guy filling up his truck where would be a good local place to eat lunch. He recommended a Mexican place, so I headed there. As I was parking my motorcycle, an older gentleman came up and started talking motorcycles with me. He happened to live in Ft. Worth and he told me about the club he rides with there (he actually invited me to come visit the club). He recommended this place for lunch, so I moved on down the street and gave it a try. I was happy to see hamburgers and pie on the menu, but when they just about blackened my hamburger, gave me a tiny piece of pie, charged me an extra dollar to use my debit card, overcharged for the food and had an unfriendly waitress bring it to the table...well, I sorta wish I had stuck with the Mexican joint. Oh well, it was still fun.
I didn't have a chance to see what was so "historic" about Lampasas. This was the furthest south I went today...about 150 miles from home. From here, I headed back home swinging along the western border of Ft. Hood military base.
As you may have guessed, I passed through Topsey, TX. I've never been there before, but when I saw this little barn/storefront/thing, I thought it would make a neat looking black and white picture. So here it is...complete with the black and white.
I think this courthouse was in Gatesville...I'm not sure which county it's in.
This is the clipboard I rigged so I could see my route for the day.
I did not see President Bush or even his ranch. All I got was a picture of this sign!
Last picture for the day. This was painted on the side of a building in Valley Mills (obviously).
2 comments:
Looks like a cool trip. I hope that motorcycle "club" wasn't the Bambino's :) - Brian
nah, it was the Mongols. -mack
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