Tag Archives: I’ve had delights I’ve seen the sights

Back to Texas

Posted on by kathousekelli70

We lit out for Texas this morning after a hearty Cracker Barrel breakfast. Got to say the bacon at this one was better than yesterday’s. 

We headed toward Pecos, Odessa, Midland via the beautiful Franklin Mountains State Park and Castner Range. It’s a steep incline/decline at 5244ft (still only half the height of some of the mountains we’ve been on in Colorado and only just a couple hundred feet shorter than our highest mountain in Australia) but the roads are perfect.

Lots of inland travel and into Texas, traveling the 180 through Carlsbad Caverns National Park, back up to 5700ft through Guadalupe Mountains National Park and passed the Butterfield Trail Marker.

The Butterfield Overland Trail (or Oxbow Route) traversed through Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. It was pre Civil War mail and passenger stagecoach route operating between 1858 and 1861.

What a hell of a trip during that time over this sort of terrain in all sorts of weather!

Cross country slight trip into New Mexico and back into the Texas panhandle we are back in oil and gas land through Orla – a very productive area.

On to Pecos where we stopped again and caught the damaged historic railroad  depot, Judge Roy Bean’s, Jersey Lily and the gravesite of ‘gentleman gunfighter’ Clay Allison.

Keep heading East through oil fields of Barstow and on into Odessa.

Quick stop at the Indian store for Jack – picked up a poker chip – checked out the bikes.

From here we went to Midland again and this time got to visit the Bush Family Home. A State Historic site in Midland, Texas.

The original home was built in 1939 for Mildred Etheridge and features the original knotty pine walls and floors.

After a few moves around in 1948-1950 the Bush’s settled in Midland during his oil times prior to politics.

The Bush’s, George H. W and Barbara were associated with cancer research during and after their daughter Robin’s death due to Leukemia, with baseball which George W. had a love for also.

George W. had a love for baseball and Roy Rogers. He eventually had a part ownership in the Texas Rangers baseball team.

The house is still going under preservation and getting it back to period correct interior. There were so many fun ‘ancient’ things like the refrigerator, bakelite phone, uranium glass and more.

Thanks Chase for his exceptional guided tour!

A stay in Midland again before moving to Novice tomorrow.

Night!

Kat x

Sunday Sightseeing

Posted on by kathousekelli70

As we left Mean Mongrel Matt, Sassy Belle and Broken Spur to enjoy the rest of their weekend, Jack and I took a Left out of town and headed for the hills.

Well, hills being the Blue Mountains area; Lithgow, Katoomba, Laura, Wentworth Falls, Glenbrook, then down into the Sydney greater region heading North then to Newcastle.

The Blue Mountains

Aptly named for its haze, a mixture of fine drops of eucalyptus oil (given off from the Eucalyptus trees) dust particles, water vapor and that little thing called light waves cause this beautiful blue hue to the mountains.

The Blue Mountains were inhabited by aboriginal tribes when the First Fleet landed. First Governor of NSW, Arthur Phillip had seen these tremendous ranges from a ridge at Castle Hill some 40-60miles East of them. He had named them Camarthen Hills and thought them to be worthy of government stock.

In 1799 it was the place Gidley King established a town for political prisoners from Ireland and Scotland.

The name was first documented in Captain John Hunters account of Phillip’s expedition up the Hawkes yet River in 1789.

There is a whole other story about who passed over them first and when and the explorers who are actually noted for gaining passage through here but I’m not going into that today.

Suffice to say at its highest point at Mount Werong is 1215m/3986ft above sea level and it’s lowest point on the Nepean River at just 20m/66ft.

It is home to such beauties as;

The Three Sisters

A quick stop at Echo Point to get our own snaps at The Three Sisters.

Coffee with a view.

Jenolan Caves

And Wentworth Falls

Poets, artists, sculptors and lovers of nature have frequented the Blue Mountains region for years. One of the most notable and one of my favourites – Norman Lindsay.

http://www.normanlindsay.com.au/

So as we continued to wind through the eucalypts, past car shows, reminiscing about visits to the caves, galleries and sights; we eventually came out on the flat plains into Penrith, heading towards the outskirts of Sydney and onto Newcastle.

spectacular, spectacular!

Kat xo