Saturday, August 1, 2009

Roadtrip Ramblings






Texas has over 150,000 of surface roads (well, that is according to Wiki), and we always seem to take the ones that have been less traveled. We like it that way. We are so lucky to live in a state that encompasses it all. Go East, we have the great Piney Woods. Go South, we have the great Gulf Coast. Go North, we have the prairies and lakes. Go West, we have the wide open spaces and the gateway to the last frontier. I really love each direction and never grow tired of hitting the road for a day or two.

This particular trip led us to Buffalo Gap, one of the last places that the mighty buffalo roamed. I had to go there on museum business but as always, I try and make it a nice getaway for a day or two from the farm routine. My cowboy artist, always up for an adventure, eagerly mapped out the most scenic route.

The night before our trip, wild weather once again struck the farm. The storm began rumbling right before midnight and by 3:00 a.m. I was wide awake and fumbling for flashlights. By 5:00 a.m. myself, my guy & our four dogs were riding it out in the closet while the cats had to stick it out in the other room (they get their own closet).

Two hail storms and one, possibly two tornadoes later, we emerged unscathed only to find that our property had not fared as well. The reason for no power was because two electric poles were now almost horizontal to the ground. The light pole that is located by our water source was now wrapped around the pump station like a tongue tied cherry stem,this solved the no running water mystery. Several of our old oak trees were sheared off at the top and their trunks and branches lay all over our cross fencing. One old shade tree in our front yard split completely in two and it was dangerously close to taking out our security fence around the farm house.

The heirloom garden was completely devastated and my beautiful okra and tomato plants which had given us such a bounty, were now laying forlornly on their sides all battered and beaten by the hail.

The barn and art studio lost more of their roofs (we had not replaced them yet from the last bout of wild weather) but at least all the barnyard animals were safe and all accounted for.

We came very close to canceling the trip but the thought of an all expense paid for beautiful bed & breakfast WITH electricity and running water was just too good to pass up for the night. We thought long and hard about it but in the end, we made our decision. My knight in blue jeans got out his chainsaw and began chopping furiously as I scrambled to pack and get the animals secured for a 24 hour period.

Without a backward glance (almost, I did have to check and re-check all our pets and livestock) we took off down the road, as we knew that a good nights sleep awaited us at the other end...so what if it was half way across Texas and we would have to be back by the next evening and tackle all the storm damage that awaited us.

One thing I have learned living here on the farm....NEVER pass up a chance to change up the routine and the work will ALWAYS be here waiting for us when we get back.

The other thing I have learned is to always take the road less traveled...you never know what you might see, and , you have a better chance of seeing it if you are on a two lane road instead of a super highway!

Tomorrow we leave for Austin, and yes, we will be taking the long way....

happy hour @ FMF

happy hour @ FMF
party till the cows come home