Through the Heart of Texas

I drive a lot. 

I drive through big cities and small towns. I drive by a big city’s downtown, like Denver, or right through smaller places like Rapid City. And I drive around a lot of places. I drove around Indianapolis twice before I had time to go downtown and discover their fabulous river walk, wonderful arboretum and the museum with the granite of Washington, DC monuments.  Now I love Indianapolis.

I’m on the road again- one of my marathon wanders from the Black Hills throughColorado, off to Texas and more of Texas, then west to Tucson and San Diego. My winter goal is to prepare for walking across much of Spain in April so I left the snow and headed south. I have grandchildren at the end of this rainbow trail but I also have treasures to find along the way.  

Ahhh! 

 I enjoyed visits with friends in Colorado and I stuck my weary feet in a small hot springs in Montezuma, Colorado after three days of walking four to nine miles each day.  

5 miles in Palo Dura State Park.
What a great hike in the second largest canyon in the US.
And much more accessible hiking than the BIG canyon. 

At my exquisite lodging at Dyess Air Force Base (that’s the branch of service that knows how to pamper guests!), I read all about cool things to do and see in west Texas. 

So off to the National Center for Illustrated Children’s Literature and the storybook capital of the US-Abilene, Texas. Bet you didn’t know that! It was wonderful and if you buy three books, you get a free bag-  “this is Texas and we know how to do a nice tote bag”.  So, of course, I had to buy three books, well four actually.  All the best children’s literature illustrators wait for invitations to have their illustrations and books displayed there in Abilene.  In June the city hosts the children’s book festival and has a really fun storybook park fill of lovely bronze depictions of classic illustrations!  Like the three naughty kittens that lost their mittens complete with a very stern mama cat almost as big as me and a life size Wilbur staring up at Charlotte in her steel web. Who knew? I want to take my grandkids now.  https://www.nccil.org

From there I was off to one of “America’s Best Small Art Towns” according to a book I picked up somewhere along the way. And sure enough- Albany, TX, population 2,000 has an exceptional art collection including some very fine bronze sculptures. http://theojac.org

Finally, I rested my head at Goodfellow AFB. San Angelo would definitely be a town I’d drive around. It’s flat and brown in Feb with non-stop wind. Nothing distinguishing. But I was there and I wanted to get in my walking miles so off I went and...

San Angelo, Texas has a fabulous river walk!  Not THE San Antonio River Walk but this walk has few people, no skaters or cafe chairs ready to bump you into the water.  Just lovely Hill Country limestone slabs cantilevered over the Concho River in stacks and piles. Water runs from fountains, under the walkway and into the river. Statues of sheep, resplendent in design and colors, line the walk and remind walkers of  the town’s history in the wool industry.  Anglo and Hispanic cultures are celebrated with mosaics on underpasses, pickups and even a VW beetle.  One mosaic interweaves classic art masterpieces to interpret the city- Van Gogh’s sky and Henry Moore’s people combine to celebrate all that is fine in a town that has worked hard to bring beauty and fun to a riverfront that probably wasn’t always so attractive and accessible. 

http://www.artinuncommonplaces.org/

https://rippedjeansandbifocals.com/reasons-to-visit-san-angelo-texasdo-in-san-angelo-texas/

What else have I missed on my hurry to get from point A to point B?  I’m in a fine season of life- I have time to dawdle but so do many people. Few chose to get off the main road and explore the less known. Maybe because I live in the “fly over” zone of America, I know what people could miss.  

All places where people take pride and create beauty are winsome, are places you remember and talk about.  Places you want to share- so get out there and explore that place you might have been tempted to drive around. Drive right through life and savor all the unexpected!