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Texas
| Trips
From Owls to
Eiffel Tower
Texas Road Trip Story -
Barclay and Holly Gibson
by Holly Gibson |
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Weatherford
Sunrise
Photo courtesy Holly Gibson, April 2015
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| Growing
up in New Mexico, practically in the shadow of Texas,
I have always had an appreciation for the state and its history. During
college and after, my
father and I took day trips into Texas to take pictures and explore.
After I got a job and had to act like an adult, he continued on his
excursions and soon began cataloguing old churches, jails, and ghost
towns, not to mention the granite Centennial markers that dot
the landscape from one end of the state to the other. In 2005 I moved
to Oregon and a few years ago, my parents moved here as well. That
wasn’t the end of the Texas trips though. Dad is able to go more frequently
than I am since he is in that blissful state known as retirement (which
I define as being busy with the things you want to do), but for the
past few years he and I have met up in the Dallas
area and then driven hither and yon taking pictures along the way.
This time, we visited family in the Dallas/Ft.
Worth area and then headed to Weatherford
for the night. |
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Usually my
dad is an excellent navigator, but we couldn’t seem to get out
of Dallas that night.
We made numerous u-turns, missed several exits, and took many we
shouldn’t have. I’m sure it was the fault of the GPS, and after
about two hours of “recalculating," we rolled into the outskirts
of town. My dad was positive we saw three different In-N-Outs, but
I still think we saw the same one three times.
The next morning we met friends at the Weatherford Cafe and had
a lovely breakfast (and saw a stunning sunrise). Then it was on
to Boyd to see more friends and then to Denton
to see another old Carlsbad friend. It was after leaving Denton
that our photography trip began. We saw the tin-roofed museum at
Greenwood,
the old bypass bridge near Leo, the old general store in Rosston,
hiked to two remote centennial markers near Bowie,
and went inside churches in Windthorst
and Scotland.
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Bowie Texas
Centennial marker
Photo courtesy Holly Gibson, April 2015
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Windthorst
TX - St. Mary's Catholic Church
Photo courtesy Holly Gibson, April 2015
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Wichita
Falls - Lucy Park
Photo courtesy Holly Gibson, April 2015
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Wichita
Falls was our destination for the day,
and I was so excited to see all the Cracker Barrel signs. I somehow
moved to one of only four states that does not have one. Obviously
poor planning on my part. We took more pictures until the light
was gone and then it was time to go back to the room and get ready
for the next day. Friday we visited Nocona
and saw a Shirley Temple/RC Cola mural where Shirley appears to
be holding the bottle in the wrong hand, visited Gainesville
and Bonham, and ended up
in Paris. It turns out that
every first Friday of the month local collectors bring in their
restored vintage cars for a casual car show in the town square.
I’m not sure if town square is the proper name for it, but that’s
exactly what it was, complete with fountain. We saw some beautiful
cars and chatted with the owners. Then we visited the Eiffel Tower,
crowned with a red cowboy hat, and drove around some back roads.
The sunset was lovely, as was the rising of the full moon, and there
was even an owl in a nearby tree to share the sight with us.
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Paris
TX Eiffel Tower
Photo courtesy Holly Gibson, April 2015
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Paris
town square
Photo courtesy Holly Gibson, April 2015
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Sunset in Paris
Photo courtesy Holly Gibson, April 2015
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Paris
- Owl
Photo courtesy Holly Gibson, April 2015
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The
next morning we left Paris
and visited Ben
Franklin and Ladonia.
We also happened on a dedication ceremony held by the Frognot
Water Co-op of, I believe, a new water tower. Another stop was Garland,
where my dad made one of his infamous u-turns to get to an old train
depot, and I found that I had a talent for stand-up comedy as I improvised
a routine on the spot, complete with a newly found Texas accent. Sadly,
the time was soon up and the next stop was Dallas Love Field, but
I look forward to our next adventure on the Texas highways and back
roads (and more u-turns).
© Holly Gibson
April 16, 2015 guest column |
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