Don't Forget the Indian Paintbrushes

Although not as well know as the bluebonnet, many Texas roadsides also have fields of a reddish flower somewhat similar in appearance to bluebonnets, known as Indian paintbrushes.  They are also planted by the Texas Department of Transportation, and they provide a very pretty contrast to bluebonnets.  We found these Indian paintbrushes alongside a street on the edge of Huntsville while on a trip to Home Depot.

Bluebonnet Time in Texas

Every year from March to May the roadsides in many parts of Texas burst into carpets of blue flowers.  These are bluebonnets, the Texas state flower, and seeds are sown along Texas highways by the Texas Department of Transportation to keep the annual show going.  We have several large fields of bluebonnets alongside Highway 19 between Riverside and Huntsville.  It is not uncommon to see Texans stopping their cars alongside the highway and taking photos of family members lying in a field of bluebonnets. 

Martin's Gospel Jubilee

When I was a kid in East Texas, my parents liked to go to gospel "singings,"  which featured lively vocal music in the Southern gospel style.  Recently one of our RV club members stumbled upon a private campground on Lake Sam Rayburn that hosts an annual gospel "jubilee," which is three days of camping out, eating and listening to gospel music performances.  The surprising thing is that it is absolutely free!  And our club was invited to attend.  

The owner, a wealthy Houston man (he invented the A-frame air conditioning coil) who acts as host, emcee for the performances, and some time performer.  He is a talented songwriter and poet.  He also has a large collection of classic cars in a museum that opens only when he is there.  He is often around to provide a personal tour and gave us a reading of a touching poem that he wrote about his father's hat.  The car collection includes an RV-like bus that Franklin Roosevelt used in his run for Governor of New York in the late 1920's.

The meals were high cal all the way -- fried catfish, barbecue, bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, and so on.  In addition, they served homemade ice cream every day as shown in the nearby photo. Note that the ice cream maker was powered by a restored antique one cylinder John Deere "hit and miss" engine.  By the end of the weekend, we were hitting the antacids pretty heavily. 

The music featured everything from amateur open mike performances to professional groups.  The music was all gospel, and much of it was in the bluegrass style.  There also several very good traditional gospel quartets. One of the performers was my old grade school buddy, Kenneth Ryan.  He played bass in a local bluegrass gospel group.  Neither had any idea that the other would be there.

Guests included Donna Douglas, who played Ellie May on the "Beverly Hillbillies" and Tom Lester, who played Eb on the "Green Acres" series.

It was a very good weekend, and we will probably go again next year.

Lost in Texas

After our four wheeling run at Tree's Ranch, Cec and I played tourist for a day.  We drove over to Utopia, Texas for lunch and waymarked some historical markers (www.waymarking.com).  A group is photographing and measuring the coordinates of all Texas historical markers with GPSs.

After lunch we drove on to visit the Lost Maples State Natural Area.  Maples normally do not grow in hot climates, but they do grow in the canyons of the Sabinal River.  The cool spring fed river and the sheltered canyons provide an ideal microclimate for them.  The maples came to Texas with the glaciers in one of the ice ages and found a home.

We decided to hike the first section of one of the two trails in the area, but we just kept walking, crossing the very shallow river via stepping stones several times and climbing a very steep, rugged trail to a hill top where there were several very nice overlooks.  On the down side of the trail we ran across the lake shown in the photo above.  The attendant at our RV campground in Leakey later told me that he had camped there as a Boy Scout and that there was an artesian well that sprayed water up into the air.

Eventually, a tired pair made it back to the parking lot after a hike of almost 6 miles.  We slept soundly (and early) that night, but surprisingly we were not sore the next day.