ALL AROUND LUFKIN
Janice Ann Rowe

Ernest and I left Lufkin on Friday, March 7 with snowflakes in the air. It snowed on us to Kennard and then it turned to rain to Crockett. About Centerville the sun was shining and the skies were clear. We arrived at Canyon of the Eagles RV Park, a Thousand Trails Park, about 3 p.m. It was 273 miles from Lufkin. We picked space 11 with a view of Buchanan Lake, one of the seven lakes in the Highland Lake Series. It is the first, then Inks Lake, Marble Falls, LBJ, Travis, Austin and Lady Bird Lake on the Colorado River and the park is near Burnet, the Bluebonnet Capitol of Texas. We ate dinner at Canyon of the Eagles Lodge Canyon Room Restaurant and watched the sun set over the lake. The park is under the Lower Colorado River Authority. It has 14 miles of nature trail and the Eagle Eye Observatory. The right of way had all been mowed early we thought. We were told that they mow early so tourists can see the bluebonnets. We were too early.

The next morning we were up and at the boat dock at 8:30 a.m. for the Vanishing Texas River Cruise on the Colorado River. We were downstairs in the glassed in heated area for the cruise that started at 9 a.m. There were over 80 on our trip that was from 9 to 1. It was 26 degrees when we left for the cruise and we were in winter clothes. The sun came out and after lunch it was 67 degrees. During the trip, there was a family that came for a memorial service to scatter ashes of a loved one on the river who loved eagles and had been on the cruise a year ago. Tim Mchan was our tour guide and birder. We saw pelicans, American coots, Double crested cormorants, blue herons, turkey and black vultures, mallards, northern shovelers, red and zone tail hawks, 3 bald eagles and one golden eagle or a young one, Forster's terns, ravens and ring bill gulls. We saw an axis deer, hogs, cows, and white tail deer. Captain Shawn helped sight the different species of birds. Several stops were made for photos. One was at Falls Creek Falls and another at Seldom Falls. The Colorado River is the second longest river in Texas with 900 miles. The trip was about 36 miles up the river to Colorado Bend State Park. The guide said that Colorado means red and the Brazos is not red. Ernest kept saying, "This is rough ole land." The rock formations were a part of the Llano Uplift. The silt from up river has made the river shallow and some parts are four inches deep. A fun fact: crows are east of I35 and ravens are west of I35. The guide said that they never see any crows around this area. On the way back, we saw a big Osprey. The guide said that the eagles chase the osprey because they are better "fishermen" than the eagles. A couple on the cruise was from Houston and Scotland. He knew about Lake Monteith in Scotland, which was the name the Mantooth family had when in Scotland. The girl was Odom and had kinfolks in Lufkin.

After the cruise I collected some driftwood. I took pictures of Buchanan Dam; it is three miles long and has a series of horizontal arches. It is evidently the largest multiple arch dam in the country. Considering its age, this means that they have found better ways to build dams than using horizontal arches. There is art deco detail on the work in the concrete and fixtures since it dates back to 1937. Lake Buchanan is the largest in the Highland Lakes. It has 22,335 acres and holds 285 billion gallons of water. It can generate 51 megawatts of electricity. We left for the town of Tow pronounced like "cow" to the Falls Creek Winery and their 65 acres on the estate. They lost many of their grape plants to a disease and they had to be burned. From there we went into Llano, the Deer Capitol of the World, and stopped at a couple of antique shops to kill time. We were at Cooper's Ole Time Pit Bar-BQue, Home of the Big Chop at 4:30. We picked out our meat from the pit outside. Ernest got the huge pork chop. I got a beef rib and pork tenderloin. Inside there were beans, peppers and drink and you could add slaw, potato salad and cobbler. The two couples across from us were from Temple and Belton. The husband from Temple had a sister, Barbara and Robert Saxon from Lufkin. They were looking for cabins to rent when they came back to fish. When we left Cooper's at 5:20 p.m. there was a line to eat. Hugh Anderson introduced Ernest to Cooper's when they travel to Mason to hunt with son Hugh Anderson.

We drove to look at Inks Lake State Park. Saw several groups of deer along the highway on the way back to the trailer. There is a Commemorative Air Force World War II Museum in Burnet.

Ernest took the step stool and put the level on the top of the trailer because he did not think it was true. It is level with the front of the trailer 18 inches off the ground and the back 31 inches off the ground. When Ernest was cooking bacon the next morning the grease went to the left, which meant we were still not level!!!! Funny what you notice about trailers unless you have one. Front end should have been down some more. Dry Hinson told me that the cedar would get to me and it took two days. I have been sniffing!!! I went back to the gift shop and bought a magnet for Ernest's collection from Vanishing Texas River Cruise. We moved to Marble Falls to the Sunset Point on Lake LBJ RV Park. After we got set up we left for Salado. Diesel was $3.99 per gallon. We took a back road, short cut across the countryside to I35. It was horse country and we saw a racetrack at one of the ranches. Our first stop in Salado was at Sofi's, Gladys's, Papagayo and several other shops. The owner, Nancylu Bennett from Waco, knew Joan Duncan. Her shop is called Papagayo, an ethnic store with jewelry, folkart and clothing on South Main. We went across Rock Creek to Matters of the Heart, Splendors of Salado, Heirlooms and Charlotte's of Salado. I bought a "chocolate" like rabbit for Easter. One of the shops was the former Sir Wigglesworth Shop. I asked and they said the owner had passed away about 5 years ago. On Main Street, Mud Pies Pottery owned by Titia Arledge Cushman had the Sir Wigglesworth fudge recipe and we bought some. Ernest had played golf at the Mill Creek Golf Course several years ago, so we drove by some of the houses and saw the golf course. We made reservations at the Stage Coach Inn Restaurant and were there when they opened for dinner. The inn stood at the crossroads of the famous Chisholm Trail and the Old Military Road, which linked the forts. Many famous travelers along the stagecoach line stopped for food and rest. Some were Sam Houston, General George Custer, Captain Robert E. Lee, son of the general, the James Brothers and Sam Bass. The waitresses continue to recite the menu just as in the old days when local housewives would greet the stagecoach or cattle drive with the daily bill of fare. The courses were shrimp cocktail or fruit cocktail, fruit salad or Caesar salad, and entrees were: chicken fried steak or grilled chicken at one price; catfish and other fish for another price. With the entrée, we had squash soufflé, green beans and twice-baked potato, mini rolls and hot water corn bread as an appetizer. They started at $16.95 and went to $25.95 for steaks. All of this plus dessert was for the one price. We chose chocolate pecan pie and lemon chess pie, since we were taking ours back to the trailer. There were about four other ice creams, sherbets and a strawberry kiss. Cheryl was our waitress who recited the menu for us with her trainee Laura.

Monday it rained in the night and early morning so we started late. We stopped at the Granite Mountain Showroom and saw pictures of the quarry where they get the red granite. I asked the difference in marble and granite and was told that marble is generally a calcius stone, formed from oceanic deposits and then compressed under pressure. Granite is an igneous rock, essentially molten magma that is cooled and then hardened below the service of the earth. Marble is more porous than granite. The Marble Falls Granite is called Sunset Red and dates back to the 1880's. This granite put Marble Falls on the map as the State Capitol building in Austin burned in 1881 and they bargained to have a railroad built to transport the granite to Austin. Convict labor was used to remove the large blocks from the ground and to turn them into the finished pieces to build the nations' largest capitol building, which was completed in 1888. Granite Mountain has furnished red granite used to build the Austin Dam, jetties and sea walls along the Texas Coast, buildings in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and closer to home the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, the Ballpark at Arlington, the Convention Center in Atlantic City and One Burnham Center and the First National Bank Building in Chicago.

Our TV had "died" so we went to Wal-Mart and bought a 19- inch digital HD television for the trailer. We had been 2 nights without TV. We went back to Buchanan Dam to see if we could walk out on it. Charles Deaton had told Ernest that they had been on it. We were told that it had been closed due to 9-11 and no more tours were allowed out on it any more.

We took several of the scenic drives, RM 2342 that went by the Legends Golf Course and several new sub divisions out of Kingsland. Our RV Park was on RM 1431, and Inks Lake State Park is on RR 4. We went into Marble Falls for dinner at River City Grille overlooking Lake Marble Falls. Kelly and Matt (in training) were our wait staff. They had the best "lake" cakes made with catfish. They would not share the recipe, but I wrote down the spices that were included on the menu. Maybe we can make some from bass.

We moved from Marble Falls and on the way to Bastrop we met Tamesha Jumper and Bill Vernon in Johnson City for lunch at the Silver K Café on highway 290 in the Old Lumber Yard complex. Tamesha and I had to visit the antique store next door. Then it was on to Bastrop. Have you ever wondered where the "Lost Pines" came from? Millicent and Jack Irish gave us a book "Why Stop?" that is a guide to Texas Historical Roadside Markers. In it they say that these pines located 80 miles west of the main pine belt were probably once part of a vast prehistoric pine forest. As land areas gradually rose, possibly due to glacier activity, most of the forests moved east. Ideal local conditions have kept the "lost pines" intact. These loblolly pines supported the county's main industry in the early 1800s, shipping lumber by riverboat and ox-wagon to points all over Texas. Bastrop had several people ill from a shiga toxin from food, so we ate in the trailer both nights. We stayed at the Bastrop River RV Park near the Colorado River.

Wednesday we left for Round Top to visit with Karen Vernon at her shops, The Gallery at Round Top and Comforts in Bybee Square. Karen and her husband Ken Muenzenmayer are artists that have their paintings on display at The Gallery. The shops at Round Top are open Wednesday to Sunday so that was why we had to wait until Wednesday. Coming into Round Top, we noticed Marburger Farm Antiques, which is where Linda McDougald had sold her antiques. Also James and Billie Mae Thomas had told us about Warrington, where they show Billie's jewelry. Twice a year Round Top hosts one of the nation's largest antique events. They say that about 100,000 people come this two-week period to the show. The population sign of Round Top says 77 people. I know that several Lufkin antique dealers come to Round Top and join the 2,000 vendors and dealers. This year it starts March 26 to April 5. They were getting the tents set up as we drove along the countryside. Royer's Café was not open on Wednesday, so we ate at Klump's Restaurant on the Square. Ernest and I had on our purple Lufkin Panther shirts from KYBI 100 and people noticed that we were from Lufkin. One man noticed our "Al Meyer Ford, Lufkin, Texas" on the truck and said that we must have made a wrong turn. He definitely had a German accent. We walked around the square to Henkel Square Museum Village and met Miss Flora at the Apothecary who told us about the Bybee family. We drove out to Festival Hill or the International Festival Institute and looked at the Concert Hall made of carved wood. Ernest was in awe with all of the carved wood. It seats 1100 people. The Edythe Bates Old Chapel is on the grounds. From there we went to Washington on the Brazos. I scared Ernest when I hollered that I finally saw bluebonnets. These were the first that we had seen and they were on highway 105 out of Washington. We drove on what is called "the oldest concrete high way in Texas" which they are repairing and will probably cover with asphalt. We stopped at the Washington on the Brazos State Historical Site Visitor's Center, which was new to us, and then went to the Star of the Republic Museum, which is run by Blinn College. There were time lines in Texas History and exhibits of the inhabitants, explorers and settlers that came to Texas. I asked what was the difference in Texans and Texians and was told that the Mexicans called us Texians prior to Texas Independence and then we were called Texans at that point. Independence Hall is where the delegates signed the formal declaration of independence from Mexico making Texas a Republic from 1836 to 1846 when Texas became a state. They had just had the Annual Celebration on March 1 and 2 at the birthplace of Texas with costumed interpreters, period demonstrations, military encampments, music and black powder gun salutes.

It is fun to travel but good to be home to see the red buds, dogwood, flowering pear, tulip trees and azaleas blooming. We traveled 1176 miles on our adventure.

Happy Birthday: James Mc- Coy, Betty Jumper, Pam Bowley, Jim Mewbourn, Vickie Boren, La June Bradley, Jay Jackson, Grayson Weiss, Don Prendergast, Jo Ann Hobbs, Jane Fischer, John Duncan, Charlie Deaton, Patsy Hopper, Alannah Russell, Gene Havard, Linda Daniel, Zelma Hughes, Gene Nerren, Jessica Harrison, Chuck Hines, Nancy Carter, Charlie Poland.

Happy Anniversary: Lynda and Chuck Zimmerman.

Brookshire Brothers Food and Pharmacy presented their proceeds from the 2007 Fresh Harvest cooking Show to the Friends of Ellen Trout Zoo. Gloria Mc- Donald, Director of Public Relations for Brookshire Brothers, stated that so many of their loyal shoppers visit Ellen Trout Zoo it was natural that the proceeds go to the Zoo. Their partners, Western Union, matched the proceeds and this doubled the gift to the Zoo's Educational Center in the amount of $24,000.

Let me hear your spring break news. Catch you around …Janice Ann email: roweja@suddenlink. net