Day 69 - To Albany and Beyond

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Boy did I ever sleep last night. It was cool, but not real cold. By 745 I was packed and ready to hit the road. Not sure how far I am from Albany, but it can’t be too many miles. I expect to be there before noon, get something to eat and a few supplies, and head on toward Breckenridge. As the sun was rising I set out.

I hadn’t walked much over a mile or so and a pickup truck pulled up. The driver introduced himself as Tony Hutchison, and his son as Tony, Jr. Tony is an electrician from Abilene, and just started his own business about a year ago. They had seen me walking and stopped to offer a ride or assistance if needed. I explained about the walk, and Tony Sr. just couldn’t get over someone walking that far. He told me what to expect in Albany, and where I could find something to eat. He said he wanted to help out, and handed me some money to buy something to eat. Tony Jr suggested an Extreme Chocolate Blizzard at Dairy Queen. I thanked them, and back to walking.

I spotted another dead pig beside the road, and a coyote crossed the road about 100yds ahead of me. He stopped and watched as I closed the distance, but before I got too close he headed into the field. I met another guy along the way….Ray Gill was opening a gate to go into a field, and I introduced myself. Ray is a surveyor, and was setting stakes for oil wells. He said he is very familiar with walking, he does lots of it in his job. By the way, Ray is 82 and still very active. Called me “young fellow”. He owns his own business, and only works part time now, and lets the younger guys do most of the outdoors stuff.

The road to Albany has two elevations drops…..I’m not sure how far each drops, but both are significant. The second one is about a mile or two from Albany, and allows a beautiful view of the town when approaching from the west. The first thing you notice is the steeple of the courthouse, which is located in the center square. As I walked down the hill toward the town, I could see something sparkling in the sun. Before long I figured it out…..metallic streamers of the high school team colors (red and silver) swinging in the wind from about every utility pole. Football is big in Texas, or did I say that already?

As I entered the town, I crossed over what appeared to be a river. Actually it is Little Hubbard Creek, and has been dammed to give the appearance of something larger. It gives a very attractive entrance into the town. Albany is another one of those nice, small, Texas towns. Most of the places to eat are on the east side, so I walked down the main street and looked around the town a few minutes. Very attractive and clean and a beautiful courthouse in the center of things. I finally reached a Mexican Grille, Los Cazadores, which had been recommended by some locals. I decided to try something different (for me), and ordered the breakfast burrito. When it came the waitress asked if I wanted salsa to go with it. I asked was it hot, and she said no. She then turned to 2 guys at the next table and asked them did they think it’s hot. Of course they said no. So I said yes, give me the salsa.

When I took the first bite, my lips started burning. The lower one has never completely from the tamales I had a while back. The salsa was definitely hotter than I could handle. But, lesson learned……don’t ask a Mexican waitress or two Texans if salsa is hot.

After finishing the meal, I headed to Dairy Queen for a blizzard to try to cool my mouth. I opted for the Turtle Pecan Cluster instead of the Extreme Chocolate. While waiting for the order, a guy comes in the door, and with a voice loud enough to attract the attention of everyone in the place, asks: “who owns that wagon (my cart) outside?” I said I did, and he replied: “well, did your wife run you off?” By this time everyone was all ears. Before I could answer he said: “I wouldn’t let a woman run me out of my house.” This was my introduction to Joe Dillingham.

Joe asked me to come sit with him, and talk a while. He is a retired farmer/rancher, and owns about 700 acres north of Albany. He is the only surviving child of seven, and now lives in town and leases the ranch. Joe comes to the Dairy Queen two times a day to eat, and appears to be well known to most of the locals in the town. He's the type of guy you can talk to forever.......very interesting. Joe's father died when Joe was young, and his mother and siblings ran the ranch. As Joe said, "we didn't always have all we wanted, but always had all we needed." I think many people over the age of 70 would probably say the same thing. I had to get on, so took a picture of Joe (above), and headed out.

I stopped at a convenience store for ice and peppermints for the horses......finally remembered. Then back on the road out of Albany. I hadn't gone much over a mile and spotted a horse. Walked to the fence to give him a mint, and he totally ignored me. Maybe horses don't like when you come to them? As I was leaving the horse, a guy approached on a riding lawnmower. I figured he didn't want me messing with the horse, but instead he had seen me as I passed him up the road, and was coming to bring me a few things. He introduced himself as Steve Sanders, and handed me a little money, and bottles of water and juice. Steve has been in Albany about 10 years. He told me, "I don't get many opportunities to help others, so wanted to help you." What can you say to that except thanks.

As I walked on toward Breckenridge, the landscape appears to be changing gradually. I'm seeing more water in ponds, creeks, etc. Also more trees and grass. I even saw two blue herons around the ponds. The weather is almost perfect......maybe 75-80, and clear blue skies. Good roads, rolling but nothing extreme. Around 6, I started looking for a place to camp, and soon found one. It was level, and the tent stakes went into the ground easily. It was almost dark and getting cooler as I slipped into the sleeping bag for the evening. A pack of coyotes across the road were singing their tune. At least for now, all is well on the road.