Rocking around Rudesheim am Rhein, Germany

Eagle Tower, a fortification

A bit further down the river from Heidelberg was our next stop. This is the gateway to the prettiest stretch of the Rhine River and the center of the winemaking area; the streets of the town are literally lined with taverns! There are also oodles of half-timbered houses along cobblestone streets. We opted to wander on our own rather than taking an organized tour. The weather was a bit warmer making strolling along window shopping a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

Breisach, Germany Is Cuckoo

We jumped on the Viking Longboat, Lofn, in Basel and set sail down the

Saint Stephan's Cathedral, Breisach

Rhine River. As expected, the water was smooth and the scenery was lovely. And also, as has been with our cruises for the last few years, the weather went from wonderful to stinkin’ inside of 20 minutes. Since we couldn’t change the weather, we chose to have a great time, anyway. This year, for a change, I remembered to pack a warm scarf and some gloves; it was one of my better ideas. Our first stop was Breisach, Germany for some Black Forest cake and a look at how they build cuckoo clocks.

Checking in in Childress County

Railroad into Childress

In the southeast corner of the Texas Panhandle is Childress County. This was the site of our last visit before hitting the highway home. It, like many of the other counties, has a history of land use by Native Americans, visitation by European explorers, and early colonization by ranchers. In fact at one time almost the entire county was occupied by four large ranches. Cattle from these were driven along the Palo Duro - Dodge City trail to Dodge City, Kansas.

Dinging about in Donley County

Antique car

Donley is another small county in the Panhandle of Texas. As of 2019 there are only about 3,000 residents and that number is down around 11% from previous years. While this was once cattle country, it’s now mixed use of ranching and farming. In good years there are enough crops for folks to make a living; but when there is drought, lots of irrigation is needed just to break even.

Ambling along to Armstrong County

Bank building

I thought that Amarillo was the seat of Armstrong County, but I was wrong. It’s actually the seat of Potter County and is near the geographic center of the Texas Panhandle. Its name may come from the yellow wildflowers that are plentiful in the area since amarillo is yellow in Spanish. Someday we’ll actually visit that county courthouse and I’ll write about Potter County – but not today. Here’s a nice picture of a bank we passed; I think the architecture is Classical Revival but it may be Federal.

Dallam County, the Last of the XIT

Until this trip all I knew about the XIT Ranch was that at one time it had

XIT Ranch Museum

been the largest spread in Texas. I didn’t know that two men got all of the land by supplying the stone for and building of the state capitol, nor did I know that there were so many little towns that originated as business centers for the ranch. There’s lots more to learn, and not just about ranching in Texas.

Tiny Towns in New Mexico

Playing in New Mexico means a trip to see beading buddies. This year

L to R: Dave and Cynthia,Teri and John

the theme was the Roaring 20s and we had a great time partying in our retro duds. We also tried out a hotel and ate at a couple of dandy restaurants. All in all, it was another good time with good friends. We’re ready to do it again! In our travels, we ran into another county seat, and a few tiny towns as well as getting some kicks.

Parking in Parmer County

As a kid I thought calling something the ‘panhandle’ of a state was funny.

One of the older houses in Farwell

Of course, Oklahoma looked a bit like a pot with a handle, but Florida didn’t fit that image, and neither did Texas. Adults had odd ways of naming things, and this was one of their idiosyncrasies. Dave and I have driven through the Texas Panhandle lots of times, but we’ve never stopped in Parmer County and in particular Farwell. We can’t say that now.

Shoeing Mules in Bailey County

My grandmother talked about traveling to Muleshoe, Texas on a wagon

Muleshoe City Limit

when she was a child. She may have visited it, again, when she was at West Texas Normal College in Canyon, Texas. In any case, I was enamored with the name of this town and wondered what mule lost its shoe there. As we headed to New Mexico, I was surprised when that tiny town popped up on our GPS. Of course we had to make a stop.

Having Cereal in Garza County

Faith Lutheran Church built in 1915
by Presbyterians

About the time we reached Garza County I quit paying much attention to where we were and was looking forward to where we were going. One of the things on my mind was lunch; however I was also contemplating dinner since I wanted it to be a good meal rather than something we just grabbed on the way to the hotel. This meant that lunch would be something light. So what do two supposed adults choose for a road trip lunch?

Kicking It in Kent County

Bluebonnets

Kent County is one of the smallest in Texas with a population of 763; and that number is dropping. This 903 square mile (2,339 km²) county is located in northwest Texas amidst the open prairie and mesquite woodland. It’s one of six prohibition or entirely dry counties in the state.

Strutting in Stonewall County

Small roads took us through some little tiny towns and one caught my

Cactus sculpture

interest: Aspermont. It reminded me of aspirin, aspirgum, asparagus, asti spumante, and a host of other sound alike words. I certainly hadn’t heard of the town and didn’t expect to actually go through it. However, as the road curved we drove into this mini-metropolis. Surprisingly it is the seat of Stonewall County. This county has less than 1,400 people and is dwindling; Aspermont had 855 people as of 2017.

Hanging out in Haskell County

Slightly larger than Throckmorton County is Haskell County with about

Historical Marker about Peters'
Colony

5,700 people and declining. You may not reach the end of the internet there, but you do reach the western boundary of what was Peters Colony. It seems that we can’t get out of Peters Colony if we’re in Texas roaming around. The eastern boundary cuts through Grayson, Collin, Dallas and Ellis Counties. That means that the Peters Colony land grant was about 200 miles wide.

Thriving in Throckmorton County

Farm tractor

Just west of Young County is Throckmorton; the entire county has just over 1,500 souls and that number is dropping. Much of its landscape and history are extremely similar to that of Young County. It’s one of only six entirely ‘dry’ counties in Texas. And for you who don’t know what being ‘dry’ means, the definition varies. In some places you can get alcohol by the glass in a ‘club’ but not by the bottle anywhere. However, in this county you can’t buy alcohol at all in any situation.

Yonder in Young County

As of the 2019 estimate, Young County has about 18,000 people which is

Cowboy and cactus near courthouse

three percent less than it had during the previous census. And if you take the path we did, it’s about 100 miles from Keller. As you head west the countryside becomes more arid, letting you know that you’re about to hit the rolling plains. This is cattle country, but that doesn’t mean that ranchers can raise lots of stock on small amounts of land. Some of the largest ranches in Texas were located on these plains. Rather than being out on the ranch, the ranch headquarters were located in towns, making it easier to do business and giving wide spots in the road a more positive economic basis from which to grow.

Jumping through Jack County

We decided to take a road trip to New Mexico and in doing so we traveled

Near Joplin, Texas

through some of the smallest county seats in Texas. The next few blogs will chronicle those towns. Dave and I left Keller rather early in the morning to avoid the work traffic and quicker than I anticipated got away from the normal sights and sounds of the Metroplex. If you hop over to Google Maps you can follow us along to such places a Joplin, Bryson, Rule, Old Glory, Southland, and a host of other tiny towns that may not appear on any map.

Weir, Jonah, Trails, and Old Houses

Generally, before we go off on some adventure, I do some research about

Very old live oak tree

the area and decide what I want to see, alternatives in case we can’t find what we’re looking for, and of course places to eat, stay, shop, and so forth. Occasionally we’ll run across something to see that is not within my usual interests. I dearly love old movies in the genres of scifi, horror/monsters, crime, and comedy. The blood baths, touted as horror movies, that pass for entertainment find me less than curious. On this trip we were on a quest to find a 19^th to 20^th century pattern house (they were ordered from Sears, shipped out on the railroad, and put together on your own land) that had, incidentally, been used in one of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre movies. We didn’t find the house we were looking for, but we did find some tiny towns, and historical markers that piqued our interest, and just by chance, a movie set.

Flowing to Florence

Old homestead

Eons ago I had an 8^th grade student whose mother’s name was Florence. She was a lovely lady and each time I drive south on I-35 I think of her and her daughter when I see the exit to the town of that name. I hope they are doing quite well. Of course I am always curious about small towns, so we decided to stop and take a look.

Bruceville and Eddy – Together Forever

Creative nativity

Running down interstate highway 35, if you pay attention, you’ll see signs for the communities of Bruceville and Eddy. I’ve never thought much about them, but since we had some time and we were getting hungry, we decided to find a restaurant then take a look around these little towns. It was a nice respite from traveling down the ‘super slab’.

Poking around Packsaddle

Fleda V. Starr Smith was born in 1891 in the community of Packsaddle,

Fleda V. Starr Smith in 1921

Texas. That piece of information started our road trip from Keller to Llano and back. Actually it put into motion a whole host of escapades that have led to a lot of interesting information, but not a lot of clarification of one of the family mysteries – just what did the initial V in Grandmother’s name stand for? Grandmother told stories about growing up in the Llano area, none of which I now remember, but I didn’t realize just where that was and I don’t suppose I ever asked what her middle name was. I did find that she was no relation to Belle Starr, but there lies another tale and perhaps another road trip. Recent Texas maps weren’t particularly helpful in locating Packsaddle; thankfully Google Maps has come along and although the little town isn’t on the map, Packsaddle Mountain is.