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dolariTHE WEEKEND
I will write more about this later. The Monday Roadtrip took a LOT longer than I expected to write up. Reasons for the roadtrip coming up tomorrow. I promise.
MONDAY
Considering New Girl (I haven't written about her in years, have I? She's not so new anymore) was coming over today for dinner, and the fact that we can't stand each other anymore than your average matter can't stand anti-matter, we decided it'd be in everyone's best interests that I Stay Out of the House for the entire day. I decided what better than a nice long road trip?
I was a little apprehensive about it, though. The truck just had some major repairs, and needs more. The route I was planning on was pretty remote in some spots, even if it's all paved. Getting stranded in Boondocks, Texas, isn't all that fun. But after a relatively stressful week, weekend and upcoming week, I figured it was time to splurge a little. Repairs be damned.
$20 in my hand, a 40 ounce coke, and a laptop with two charged batteries later, and we were off.
The laptop handled EXTREMELY well, with each battery lasting about 4 hours (It was just playing MP3s, lid closed, lights off, at Max Power Saving). Emptying the digital camera into the hard drive really ate up my batteries, though. Something to remember for next time. Another thing to remember s that This Is a Computer. You can download maps to it, and USE THEM. I sure coulda used some of those old 1880s maps today.
So...the trip:
Out of Austin on FM 969 to Roger's Hill.
Roger's Hill has an...interesting house, which I can only think is a "practice house" for the construction company that owns it. PArt of the house is all tile, another part is all stucco, another all wood, and another all iron girders.
From Roger's Hill to Hornsby Bend to Dunlap to Webberville.
Colorado River at Webberville
I woulda stopped by Erin's house and said hi to the folks...but it was 4:00 PM, and no one would have been home. On top of that, I like to call before appearing at people's doorsteps for no reason. :)
Webberville to Utley to TX 71 into Bastrop. In Bastrop, the Gotier Trace begins at the entrance to Bastrop State Park where it branches off TX 21 (The Camino Real). Follow either PArk Road 1A or 1C to Gotier Trace Road and take it. This was a really tiny road, in the middle of the pines of Bastrop. And as soon as I left the state park area, to my horror, the road became not only a dirt road, but a bladed SAND road. A WET SAND road. Which means it's just one grade above MUD. Snow driving tactics took hold - keep moving, don't stop, and you won't get stuck.
Gotier Trace Road at Antioch.
I followed Gotier Trace Road for a good number of miles, passing the Antioch Cemetary through some nice pastureland and brushy woods, and a winding creek just off to my north. Gotier Trace Road ended at Mink Rd/Friech Road. The old Trace headed east, so i headed down Friech to FM 2238 into Serbin.
Serbin has a beautiful Methodist Church, all done in white, blue and gold. Most churches aren't done is such vivid colors, and are very muted. But this one was specifically done for the Serbs in the area using traditional colors. It's bright, vibrant, and frankly, beautiful.
Serbin is as far east as I've tracked the Gotier Trace, to. I know Gotier Trace went to San Felipe via Round Top, but no idea of the route from here, so I just drove around in a direction I knew would take me to Round Top.
Serbin via FM 448 to Giddings (Not on the Gotier Trace). On US 290 to Ledbetter and Round Top Road to Round Top.
Round Top is one of the older cities in Texas, being founded around the 1830s, and really hasn't grown at all since then. It's sill just a speck on the map, but a pretty important one historically. There's LOTS of history here, from the old courthouses, to restored houses, to the old unrestored houses just dotting the city.
A house just "sitting" near Round Top's town square.
Now, one reason I wanted to go to Round Top, other than the history, Gotier Trace, and La Bahia trail reasons, was Royer's Cafe, considered the Best Cafe in Texas. So I wanted to put it to the test...only to find out that it was closed. On a Monday. At 6PM. As a matter of fact, everything else was closed too. Three other restaurants in the are were closed specificall on Monday. I guess WWF Monday Night Raw is a Big Deal around here, that they close up shop all day for it. I was really dissapointed because I was hungry, and wanted some sit down and eat food. I planned to ge some chips at the local convenience store only to find...it was closed too.
Mrf.
So. Here I was in Round Top with four more hours to kill...what do I do now? Hey...TX 237 is the old La Bahia road, right?
From Round Top via TX 237 to Warrington
Lo and behold, just outside of Warrington, I find The World's Smallest Catholic Church (Funny how for a sometimes-athiest-sometimes semi-spiritual-type I go to a LOT of churches). There was a large church here that was demolished for lumber in the 30s. All that lumber was used to make a bigger church in Giddings, but they didn't use all of it. So they took the leftovers and rebuilt the church. 12 feet by 16 feet. TINY.
Warrenton to Oldenburg
A little piece of Brittania in Oldenburg, Texas.
At this time, I'd wasted away daylight, and my camera was useless...good for your bandwidth. :D
From Oldenburg to Rutersville to La Grange
I'd hoped at another chance at a good sit down dinner in La Grange, since it was a pretty fair sized city. No luck. The two restaurants I knew of were closed: One had actually closed for the evening (It was 8:30 - Raw was on), and another had been turned into an Uber Taco Bell. That served Taco Bell stuff, Fried Chicken and SOLD GAS.
I did hit the Weikel Bakery (which is actually a Convnience Store built around an excellent long-time bakery) and picked up some EXCELLENT pigs in a blanket and a tray of cinamon rolls for when I got home. Still, I was dissapointed in the fact that I didn't really get a dinner. :P
Out of La Grange on US 77 to FM 153 to Winchester, FM 448 back to Giddings via Northrup. US 290 from Giddings through Hills, Paige, McDade, Elgin, Manor and back to Austin.
I finally had my sit down dinner at Midnight, and it was hotwings. :)
I will write more about this later. The Monday Roadtrip took a LOT longer than I expected to write up. Reasons for the roadtrip coming up tomorrow. I promise.
MONDAY
Considering New Girl (I haven't written about her in years, have I? She's not so new anymore) was coming over today for dinner, and the fact that we can't stand each other anymore than your average matter can't stand anti-matter, we decided it'd be in everyone's best interests that I Stay Out of the House for the entire day. I decided what better than a nice long road trip?
I was a little apprehensive about it, though. The truck just had some major repairs, and needs more. The route I was planning on was pretty remote in some spots, even if it's all paved. Getting stranded in Boondocks, Texas, isn't all that fun. But after a relatively stressful week, weekend and upcoming week, I figured it was time to splurge a little. Repairs be damned.
$20 in my hand, a 40 ounce coke, and a laptop with two charged batteries later, and we were off.
The laptop handled EXTREMELY well, with each battery lasting about 4 hours (It was just playing MP3s, lid closed, lights off, at Max Power Saving). Emptying the digital camera into the hard drive really ate up my batteries, though. Something to remember for next time. Another thing to remember s that This Is a Computer. You can download maps to it, and USE THEM. I sure coulda used some of those old 1880s maps today.
So...the trip:
Out of Austin on FM 969 to Roger's Hill.
Roger's Hill has an...interesting house, which I can only think is a "practice house" for the construction company that owns it. PArt of the house is all tile, another part is all stucco, another all wood, and another all iron girders.
From Roger's Hill to Hornsby Bend to Dunlap to Webberville.
Colorado River at Webberville
I woulda stopped by Erin's house and said hi to the folks...but it was 4:00 PM, and no one would have been home. On top of that, I like to call before appearing at people's doorsteps for no reason. :)
Webberville to Utley to TX 71 into Bastrop. In Bastrop, the Gotier Trace begins at the entrance to Bastrop State Park where it branches off TX 21 (The Camino Real). Follow either PArk Road 1A or 1C to Gotier Trace Road and take it. This was a really tiny road, in the middle of the pines of Bastrop. And as soon as I left the state park area, to my horror, the road became not only a dirt road, but a bladed SAND road. A WET SAND road. Which means it's just one grade above MUD. Snow driving tactics took hold - keep moving, don't stop, and you won't get stuck.
Gotier Trace Road at Antioch.
I followed Gotier Trace Road for a good number of miles, passing the Antioch Cemetary through some nice pastureland and brushy woods, and a winding creek just off to my north. Gotier Trace Road ended at Mink Rd/Friech Road. The old Trace headed east, so i headed down Friech to FM 2238 into Serbin.
Serbin has a beautiful Methodist Church, all done in white, blue and gold. Most churches aren't done is such vivid colors, and are very muted. But this one was specifically done for the Serbs in the area using traditional colors. It's bright, vibrant, and frankly, beautiful.
Serbin is as far east as I've tracked the Gotier Trace, to. I know Gotier Trace went to San Felipe via Round Top, but no idea of the route from here, so I just drove around in a direction I knew would take me to Round Top.
Serbin via FM 448 to Giddings (Not on the Gotier Trace). On US 290 to Ledbetter and Round Top Road to Round Top.
Round Top is one of the older cities in Texas, being founded around the 1830s, and really hasn't grown at all since then. It's sill just a speck on the map, but a pretty important one historically. There's LOTS of history here, from the old courthouses, to restored houses, to the old unrestored houses just dotting the city.
A house just "sitting" near Round Top's town square.
Now, one reason I wanted to go to Round Top, other than the history, Gotier Trace, and La Bahia trail reasons, was Royer's Cafe, considered the Best Cafe in Texas. So I wanted to put it to the test...only to find out that it was closed. On a Monday. At 6PM. As a matter of fact, everything else was closed too. Three other restaurants in the are were closed specificall on Monday. I guess WWF Monday Night Raw is a Big Deal around here, that they close up shop all day for it. I was really dissapointed because I was hungry, and wanted some sit down and eat food. I planned to ge some chips at the local convenience store only to find...it was closed too.
Mrf.
So. Here I was in Round Top with four more hours to kill...what do I do now? Hey...TX 237 is the old La Bahia road, right?
From Round Top via TX 237 to Warrington
Lo and behold, just outside of Warrington, I find The World's Smallest Catholic Church (Funny how for a sometimes-athiest-sometimes semi-spiritual-type I go to a LOT of churches). There was a large church here that was demolished for lumber in the 30s. All that lumber was used to make a bigger church in Giddings, but they didn't use all of it. So they took the leftovers and rebuilt the church. 12 feet by 16 feet. TINY.
Warrenton to Oldenburg
A little piece of Brittania in Oldenburg, Texas.
At this time, I'd wasted away daylight, and my camera was useless...good for your bandwidth. :D
From Oldenburg to Rutersville to La Grange
I'd hoped at another chance at a good sit down dinner in La Grange, since it was a pretty fair sized city. No luck. The two restaurants I knew of were closed: One had actually closed for the evening (It was 8:30 - Raw was on), and another had been turned into an Uber Taco Bell. That served Taco Bell stuff, Fried Chicken and SOLD GAS.
I did hit the Weikel Bakery (which is actually a Convnience Store built around an excellent long-time bakery) and picked up some EXCELLENT pigs in a blanket and a tray of cinamon rolls for when I got home. Still, I was dissapointed in the fact that I didn't really get a dinner. :P
Out of La Grange on US 77 to FM 153 to Winchester, FM 448 back to Giddings via Northrup. US 290 from Giddings through Hills, Paige, McDade, Elgin, Manor and back to Austin.
I finally had my sit down dinner at Midnight, and it was hotwings. :)
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Date: 2004-05-18 07:42 am (UTC)