Saturday Oct 30, 2010
After I left Best Western yesterday, I stopped and got something to eat, and then headed back to the park to camp. I was backtracking a little, but to have a good , safe place to camp is worth it. I wasn’t sure how far it was, but hoped not too far. Turned out I had to go back about 1.5 miles which was ok. When I arrived, there were several RVs already there, so I was not alone. The evening was warmer than previous, is that because I’m moving east? By the time the tent was up it was almost dark, so I soon was in the sleeping and ready for a good night’s rest.
I slept almost all night, and up ready to go before sunrise. I waited around a while, and then headed out. First stop was the grocery store for supplies and ice, then to McDonald’s for breakfast. After breakfast headed out for the day. Before I had walked a mile, a young man came running with 4 bottles of water for my walk. His name was Saul, that’s him in the picture, Very kind of him to do that. I walked a little farther and noticed Lamesa has a drive-in theatre….$5 a car load. Currently showing Secretariat. Drive-in theatres need to become popular again……such fun.
As I walked farther from town, the cotton started again. I noticed a crop dusting plane, and then another one. They were busy this Saturday morning. The planes are built for function, not beauty. The pilots go into a dive, spray the crops from a low altitude, pull up at a steep angle, turn sharply, and head back again……fun to watch. You would not believe the amount of cotton out here. I’ve walked by it for at least 2-3 days now, and it doesn’t stop. Along the way I passed the Indian Canyon Ranch, established in 1882.
Around noon I came to a crossroads named Key, Texas. On one corner was a store, long out of business; another corner had a nice brick house; another corner had an old, dilapidated warehouse; and the final corner had an old, rundown house. As best I could tell that was Key. A guy in McDonald’s told me there wasn’t much there…..he was right! Anyhow, it was time for my rest, so I sat on the porch of the store and rested for a while.
There’s still an occasional oil well out here, sometimes sitting right in the middle of a cotton field. I even saw one drilling platform, so assumed it will be a new well. It you saw the dirt in which the cotton grows, you’d think it’s red sand, But it has more body than sand. I’m sure it would be good for peanuts because they need loose soil. Along the way I have seen hundreds, maybe even thousands of watermelons growing beside the road. All volunteers I assume from previous years’ planting. I must have cut open a dozen or more looking for a ripe one, but no luck.
About an hour outside of Key, the strangest thing happened. I was walking along this flat, straight, road, where you could see forever. In the distance I could still see flat and straight, but it was as if it had fallen into a hole. As I walked closer, the road started going downhill to this flat land several hundred feet lower. It’s as if I was walking down the rim of a bowl. And, and if by magic, the cotton and other crops stopped and the landscape turned back into the “scrubby” high desert look. Even saw some cacti. Did I just leave the western Texas high plains? If so, now what? It’s like the earth just sunk here. Check it out on Google……find Key and go about 3-4 miles east and see what happens (satellite view).
As I walked down into the bowl, I passed a giant ranch……Youngblood Ranch. Walked a little farther and crossed a creek, Tobacco creek, that had a good water flow…..that’s positive. I saw several more ranches, but mostly old, scrub land, and most of it fenced. Around 530 or so I started looking for a place to camp, and soon found a nice spot a little out of the way. Set up the tent and crawled inside for the night. It has been very warm today, maybe even near 90. So, still nice this evening.
After I left Best Western yesterday, I stopped and got something to eat, and then headed back to the park to camp. I was backtracking a little, but to have a good , safe place to camp is worth it. I wasn’t sure how far it was, but hoped not too far. Turned out I had to go back about 1.5 miles which was ok. When I arrived, there were several RVs already there, so I was not alone. The evening was warmer than previous, is that because I’m moving east? By the time the tent was up it was almost dark, so I soon was in the sleeping and ready for a good night’s rest.
I slept almost all night, and up ready to go before sunrise. I waited around a while, and then headed out. First stop was the grocery store for supplies and ice, then to McDonald’s for breakfast. After breakfast headed out for the day. Before I had walked a mile, a young man came running with 4 bottles of water for my walk. His name was Saul, that’s him in the picture, Very kind of him to do that. I walked a little farther and noticed Lamesa has a drive-in theatre….$5 a car load. Currently showing Secretariat. Drive-in theatres need to become popular again……such fun.
As I walked farther from town, the cotton started again. I noticed a crop dusting plane, and then another one. They were busy this Saturday morning. The planes are built for function, not beauty. The pilots go into a dive, spray the crops from a low altitude, pull up at a steep angle, turn sharply, and head back again……fun to watch. You would not believe the amount of cotton out here. I’ve walked by it for at least 2-3 days now, and it doesn’t stop. Along the way I passed the Indian Canyon Ranch, established in 1882.
Around noon I came to a crossroads named Key, Texas. On one corner was a store, long out of business; another corner had a nice brick house; another corner had an old, dilapidated warehouse; and the final corner had an old, rundown house. As best I could tell that was Key. A guy in McDonald’s told me there wasn’t much there…..he was right! Anyhow, it was time for my rest, so I sat on the porch of the store and rested for a while.
There’s still an occasional oil well out here, sometimes sitting right in the middle of a cotton field. I even saw one drilling platform, so assumed it will be a new well. It you saw the dirt in which the cotton grows, you’d think it’s red sand, But it has more body than sand. I’m sure it would be good for peanuts because they need loose soil. Along the way I have seen hundreds, maybe even thousands of watermelons growing beside the road. All volunteers I assume from previous years’ planting. I must have cut open a dozen or more looking for a ripe one, but no luck.
About an hour outside of Key, the strangest thing happened. I was walking along this flat, straight, road, where you could see forever. In the distance I could still see flat and straight, but it was as if it had fallen into a hole. As I walked closer, the road started going downhill to this flat land several hundred feet lower. It’s as if I was walking down the rim of a bowl. And, and if by magic, the cotton and other crops stopped and the landscape turned back into the “scrubby” high desert look. Even saw some cacti. Did I just leave the western Texas high plains? If so, now what? It’s like the earth just sunk here. Check it out on Google……find Key and go about 3-4 miles east and see what happens (satellite view).
As I walked down into the bowl, I passed a giant ranch……Youngblood Ranch. Walked a little farther and crossed a creek, Tobacco creek, that had a good water flow…..that’s positive. I saw several more ranches, but mostly old, scrub land, and most of it fenced. Around 530 or so I started looking for a place to camp, and soon found a nice spot a little out of the way. Set up the tent and crawled inside for the night. It has been very warm today, maybe even near 90. So, still nice this evening.
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