NELSON'S NOTES #90
Fun N Sun, San Benito, Texas, June 30, 2012
GOING DOWN, June 19
DOWN, June 22
AND DOWN, June 28
In San Benito and Harlingen we are enjoying gas prices under $3 a gallon (while they last). They haven’t been this low since February 2011.
TEXAS TRIP, JUNE 10 – 17
On our week-long trip through Texas, the highest price was $3.499 a gallon and the lowest 3.229
.
These Crepe Myrtle trees were bursting with blooms at a rest area just south of Dallas.
The reason for our trip was to go to Palo Duro Canyon, way up north in the Texas Panhandle. On the way, we met our friends Sid and Virginia Hendershott in Denton and rode the rest of the way in their Ford Expedition.
(Sort of) on the way to the Canyon (near Amarillo) we stopped in Lubbock to visit Fun N Sun friends, Ebba and Dalton Anderson.
(L) Virginia and (R) Ebba at the Anderson’s home where they have lived for 50 years
.
(L) Dalton, Sid, and Bruce. Dalton surprised us with a mustache and a Van Dyke beard.
Panhandle Plains Historical Museum
The next day was packed full from early morning until late evening. We spent the morning at the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in Canyon Texas, on the campus of West Texas A&M University. Realistic dioramas and exhibits depicted the rise and fall of the Plains Indians and the many changes, including the discovery of oil, which transpired during and after the migration of settlers.
Jeep Tour
After lunch, we headed to the Elkins Ranch to take a three-hour, $45, per person, Jeep tour to the bottom on Palo Duro Canyon. Known as the Grand Canyon of Texas, it is the second largest canyon in the U.S. -- 120 miles long and averaging 6.2 miles in width and 820 feet in depth. Our “Jeep” was a Chevy Suburban with no doors or windows (except a windshield).
We sat on seats covered with imitation cow hides and looked out on cow horns mounted on the front of the vehicle.
When I asked if we had to fasten our seat belts, Kathy, our driver/guide, said, “You’re not going to fall out -- we only go about five miles an hour.” My belt was hard to find, leading me to believe that previous passengers had not used it. When I saw that the “roads” were no more than cattle trails and that they traversed steep, slanted inclines, I dug out my seatbelt and put it on. As Kathy skillfully negotiated the ruts and uneven terrain, our vehicle protested with loud squeaks and groans. But Kathy kept talking, telling us about local history, most notably the slaughtering of buffalo by the white man that were revered and judiciously hunted by Indians, and the historical roles played by Indian chief Quanah Parker and Texas Ranger and cattleman, “Charlie” Goodnight.
Bruce made a video of some parts of the jeep tour. Bruce was sitting in the back seat and, as you can tell, could barely hear the driver for all the engine and exhaust noise. It sometimes sounded to him as if the jeep was going to crack apart where the roll-bars were attached to the frame.
Texas
Texas, an outdoor drama in its 47th year, takes place in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. The play began at dusk after we had eaten a barbecue dinner near the stage and taken a backstage tour. The elaborate production dramatized the history we had been learning about all day. With the outdoors as a stage and with sets that rolled out on two round-tables from inside of rock-like structures on either side of the main stage, the mostly college-age dancers and actors (some on horses) made history come alive.
THE FIRST TRADER JOE’S IN TEXAS
Trader Joe’s, a specialty food chain formerly named Pronto Market when it opened in California in 1958, finally opened a store in Texas (Fort Worth). In October a second store will open in San Antonio. When we were in Denton where the Hendershotts live, we drove to Fort Worth for the grand opening. We ended up in one of nine long checkout lines stretching the entire length of the store. People were good natured even though they had to wait over an hour to check out.
A woman who was ahead of us in line took our picture with her iphone and emailed it to us on the spot.
HOME ON THE “RANCH”
The next day, on our way back home, Bruce and I spent a
delightful afternoon visiting my good friend Martha Ann Yows and her
daughters Sue and Sara on the Yows Ranch in Gatesville, Texas.
This sign tells all who enter the beautifully maintained Yows Ranch that it is a “Texas Historical Ranch and is certified by the Family Land Heritage Program for being maintained in continuous agricultural operation by the same family for 100 years.” Martha Ann leases acreage to two farmers for their cattle.
Martha Ann, a fifth-generation Texan turned 90 last March and is active and healthy. I met her in 2003 when she spent winters at Fun N Sun and joined the Writers Group. For the past few years she has been living all year in her spacious fifth wheel trailer on the Yows Ranch. Martha Ann’s son, Tom, and daughters Sue and Sara live nearby.
The black sign next to her says, “Home Is Where Your
Story Begins.” Martha Ann writes a story a week, usually about growing up on
her parents’ farm in Gatesville during the Depression. Sue says her mother
has written enough stories to fill two books. Each week Martha Ann gives her
story to friends, most of whom are less fortunate than she is health-wise.
I am with Martha Ann, Sue, and Sara in their Tabernacle. Martha Ann had the Tabernacle built about two years ago. It is behind her trailer and is the scene of many family picnics and get-togethers even in the winter (it has heat).
FUN N SUN
The stucco fences at the park entrance have been repainted to a bright yellow with blue letters
TREE TRIMMING TIME AGAIN
It takes the crew weeks to trim all the palm trees at Fun N Sun. This year’s crew did the job last year also; they are fast and neat. Palm trees grow quickly (like everything else down here) and that means when the seasonal residents start returning in the fall, the trees will look the same as when they left in the spring.
Marianna Nelson
