Go Beyond

Cheryl and I are finally home after two days of wandering and winding our way down Texas backroads. Our journey took us from our home in Katy all the way to Driftwood, a quiet little community nestled in the Texas Hill Country. From Driftwood we made our way south to Gonzales, the birthplace of Texas Independence. And then from Gonzales we slowly made our way back to Katy. We drove hundreds of miles, took lots of photos, and enjoyed some really delicious food along the way, including fried pickles and the biggest onion rings we’ve ever seen. As a result of our backroads adventure, we now know a little more about many of the places named on the Texas map — places like Cat Spring, New Ulm, Industry, Round Top, Muldoon, and many others. As someone who has traveled around the world dozens of times, I am proud to say that Texas has a lot of beauty to offer travelers, especially those willing to get off the beaten path.

Driftwood marked the point farthest north that we traveled to. It’s a tiny little place that seems to be frozen in time — days when life moved at a slower pace. It is a little Hill Country gem that can only be accessed via scenic drives in all directions.

Not far from Driftwood we caught sight of longhorn cattle next to an old windmill. This is about as Texas as a drive like this gets.

Perhaps the most unusual sight we saw today was a red fire plug, out in the middle of nowhere! I had to stop and take a picture. The only thing around this fire plug are vast rolling meadows behind barbed-wire fences.

We drove past lots of churches in small towns, the kind that still put inspirational messages on their marquee. Twice along the way we turned down dirt roads to visit churches we had spied off in the distance. Worship is alive and well in rural Texas.

Any drive down Texas backroads will take you past old houses and buildings no longer in use. Every time I see one of these old places I can’t help but wonder about the people who built it, who lived there and for how long, and what it must have been like for those who lived there to celebrate holidays and live through the ordinary days.

Patriotism is alive and well in rural areas. I wish I had counted all of the Texas and US flags that we saw along the way.

And, we had to stop to take a photo of the church with the red door. The contrast immediately caught our attention.

On the way home, Cheryl and I talked about how much we enjoyed our little adventure and where we might wander to next. We agreed to explore the backroads west of San Antonio in the near future. We hope to continue learning more about the great state of Texas, one backroad at a time.