26 Busted!

     As I published the last post Ruthie said I think we went to that Diner before Crockett and of course she was correct.  So on paper here, we will do a little U-turn and catch up.

     Just to make the trip interesting as if it wasn't already I had Googled the TV show Diners Dives and Drive Ins and sure enough they had a map of the locations.  I had been watching it and seen we were going to be close to the Hullabaloo diner.  It is just outside of College Station TX.  It is in the middle of no-where and almost a complex, the 1940's style diner came over 1800 miles from Albany New York.  They added a wrap around deck a rustic building that houses a pizza place and a separate bar.  With the A & M campus near by it is probably kept busy. 

  There weren't many in the diner so we were surprised at the long wait for our meal.  There were a couple of things that stood out for us.  One was the home made marshmallows in our hot chocolate.  Huge, it was like a desert!   ( maybe someday we will be riding in warm weather and not need hot drinks.)

and the unusual chickens that flew back and forth from the neighbors yard.

  
The road we were on took us past Kyle field, which the A & M people like to refer to as the home of the 12th man referring to the fans.  Of course with the latest Heisman trophy winner being from Texas it was all we heard about.
          The Christmas decorations in the lawns with no snow was still bothering me.  Even worse were the deflated decorations lying on the ground.  It looked to me like a Christmas nightmare.  They just look sad laying out there,  come on folks blow them back up or stow them.  It could be traumatic for a child.   I know I'm not far from therapy myself.

    And now for all you discerning shoppers, you have probably been to Bed Bath and Beyond.  Here is it's Texas cousin.  And we learned that if that Texas flag has the red stripe up, it is a distress symbol.
     There now I'm caught up and back on Ruthie's good side. 

Dec 30   At five AM the temperature is twenty six degrees with a promised high of 53 today.   We left Crockett TX it was an overcast day, by the time we arrived in Franklin TX we were hungry again,  This childhood habit of eating is such a bother.  Sometimes we try and get off the main road we arrived on and look and see where the locals go to eat.  Today it was the Lone star Burger Bar and coffee house.  It used to be a meat market and they kept some of the old advertising on the wall to rent a meat locker.  This was a great catch, it was filled with friendly locals anxious to talk to these strange newcomers with electric cords hanging from their jacket.  The ones near the front had seen us circle the block.  Their was a table in the rear playing domino's, The game was 42, I looked it up and  it is called Texas 42, evidently it was invented in Texas two fella's that wanted to play a trick taking game where cards were frowned upon.   The Sunday special was hamburger steak, garlic mashed potatoes, fried okra, cabbage, and peach cobbler.  They had three size plates, since we shared a plate we thought we should choose the large.  We could have gotten along with the medium. Wonderful meal. 

    By the way you know you are in Texas when you see a saddle in the bed of a pickup, at least half the patrons have western boots (some with spur's on) and the number one clue that you are in Texas!  Your morning waffle is the shape of Texas.  The rest of the day was just a pleasant ride.  Enjoying the scenery as we went.  We stayed in Bastrop that evening.  Our plan was to arrive at our niece's in San Antonio on New years Eve day. 

     New Year's Eve we were preparing to leave Bastrop,  unfortunately we had a light drizzle.  I had pulled the trike up by the office under the overhang for protection.  We didn't mind riding in the rain but would prefer not to get our luggage ( canvas bags.) wet.  We were taking turns carrying things from our room and guarding the trike.  A rather tall athletic man approached us and inquired about our trike and where we were from.  When he heard Minnesota he asked if we knew George Brophy  and then if we had heard of Rod Carew ,  It turns out that as a young man Gale had been recruited by George to play for the Minnesota twins,  he told us a little of his

 baseball experiences with Billy Martin and others, however he was sent down to a farm team and while there he threw his arm out.  Becasues they didn’t have the same corrective surgeries in those days. ( 1969) as they do now. His career was over.  He returned to Colorado and went into agribusiness.  With a feeding lot herd of 50,000 head of cattle and a passions for western and Native American collections.  It looks like he had turned an adversity into a successful career.  A credit to persistence and determination.  It makes you wonder if you have the fortitude to do the same?  Remember it's the places you visit and the people you meet.  Thanks Gale!

Even on a bale of hay!

  




     We drove thru a few interesting towns on the way to San Antonio and slowed down long enough to get a few pictures in Lockhart Texas.

     Here is the answer I promised you from the last post. "It takes Sixty thousand cows to produce one days supply of  Blue Bell ice cream."

    

And of course there are always interesting tree's.