Monahans, Texas
December 24, 2019
Caught a pretty sunrise this morning with the waxing moon. Then it was onto Brady, Texas which claims to be the geographic center of Texas, or as they say the heart of Texas. That leg took me southeast - then I turned west for San Angelo. Why? Because Delbert McClinton sings of the city in one of his songs. The landscape started to change on that leg - flat with scrubby trees mixed in with some farm land and pastures.
Once I left San Angelo, I knew I was some place different. The soil looked gravelly and sandy - “gravandy.” And I started to see oil derricks and wind turbines. I drove through Midland and Odessa - those are plain old hardcore oilfield cities. Very industrial with shops for rigs, pulps, pressure testing, pipes, motors. Those cities are also busy train freight locations. Another thing I noticed coming into Midland were the number of businesses in the “fresh water” business.
This part of the world must be desperately hot in the summertime. I guess the heat and the oilfield work go hand in hand.
Some random observations:
- Where are the Dollar General stores?
- Instead of McDonalds, there are DQ’s here. Did you know they have hot fudge sundaes? 🤪😎🤙
- I have not seen a jackalope farm yet
- More so than elsewhere, small Texas towns are proud supporters of their high school mascot - Brahma this, Buckaroo that. And while football is king, baseball appears to be popular, too, based on the condition of the field
- It’s hard to avoid interstates in big Texas cities
- You know you are in the middle of nowhere when you see a road sign “El Paso 268.”
Here are some photos from my drive. You’ll see I continue to come across entertaining names of towns.
How old must this sign be?
Since Brady took the title of "Heart of Texas," Eden, which is some 20 miles west of Brady, took the title of "Center of Texas."
You can Google it if you don't believe me - Robert Lee is the name of a town.
In case you missed the earlier one, there's another Eldorado in Texas.
Yes, a town's name:
Apparently Trump doesn't know that Texas already has a wall.
Iphone flashes are OK with signs.
This photo captures 1 percent of the beauty.
Yes, a town named Bangs.
There were some cowboys sitting by this window wondering what the heck I was doing.
Where to live when you are starting to learn something.
"I know, Mom, both hands on the wheel!"
?
No doubt about it. Santa is on his way!
