The Big Thrill
The kids and I spent yesterday at a 3,000 acre ranch about 1 1/2 hours from here. Part of the drive time was the picturesque hill country roads and towns, and the last 45 minutes was the four-mile-long driveway. I'm not kidding.
When my friend invited us, we were thrilled. We couldn't imagine 3,000 acres. I personally couldn't imagine a driveway that was four miles long. Of course, that was before I realized that four miles doesn't mean four minutes. Or even 14 minutes. No, it's more like 40 minutes. Rowdy Son asked me at one point if he could just get out and walk beside us, since he could walk faster than I was driving. As we bumped along the caliche road, I decided it was way too snakey for that. "NO".
When my friend invited us, we were thrilled. I asked for directions but the thrill wore off and the terror began when she eyeballed my little car and mused out-loud, "I think it should clear the low-water-crossings OK". I've lived in Texas long enough to know all about "low-water-crossings". For the uninitiated, it's not a crossing over low water, it's a LOW water crossing. As in, a "through-flowing-water-and-don't-stop-the-car-in-the-middle-crossing". As in, water rescues from the pick-up roof crossing. She had TWO to get through? And it's been a rainy spring. And I have a small car.
When my friend invited us, we were thrilled. After learning about the four-mile-long driveway, the two low-water-crossings and the loose livestock, I started to think of excuses why we couldn't possibly go. The loose livestock came up this way--"You don't have to open and shut too many gates," she said. I thought that was great. "Because we have cattle guards and the cattle just roam. Now, go slow so you don't hit any. And whatever you do, if you see some, DON'T honk your horn". Since honking my horn to clear the road of livestock would have been my first thought, I asked why. "Because they'll think you're there to feed them and they'll rush you," she said. She eyed my car again, and added, "You wouldn't like that". Um. no.
Still, it truly WAS thrilling to drive (by the way, there were three low-water-crossings, but she said the first one didn't count...it "wasn't more than a large puddle"...can I add---with fish in it, but whatever) through breathtakingly beautiful Texas hill country. And hills there were. Rolling green hills, loads of wildlife, blooming cacti, sparkling creeks. When it actually rains in this part of the country, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. My friend raises mohair goats and the herd looked like little french poodles (until you got close and got a whiff. I'll refrain from rude comments about the smell of France and all things French, but the goats probably were worse!). We sat in the shade of her 100-year-old porch and looked at pretty goats, pretty views, big skies and NOTHING ELSE. The privacy was deafening and profound. I loved it. I want it!
The kids swam in a creek with a waterfall. It's going to be hard to beat that with invites to our above-ground pool and neighbors within watermelon-seed-spitting distance. Maybe we'll get lucky and have the thrill repeated. Because, it really was thrilling.
When my friend invited us, we were thrilled. We couldn't imagine 3,000 acres. I personally couldn't imagine a driveway that was four miles long. Of course, that was before I realized that four miles doesn't mean four minutes. Or even 14 minutes. No, it's more like 40 minutes. Rowdy Son asked me at one point if he could just get out and walk beside us, since he could walk faster than I was driving. As we bumped along the caliche road, I decided it was way too snakey for that. "NO".
When my friend invited us, we were thrilled. I asked for directions but the thrill wore off and the terror began when she eyeballed my little car and mused out-loud, "I think it should clear the low-water-crossings OK". I've lived in Texas long enough to know all about "low-water-crossings". For the uninitiated, it's not a crossing over low water, it's a LOW water crossing. As in, a "through-flowing-water-and-don't-stop-the-car-in-the-middle-crossing". As in, water rescues from the pick-up roof crossing. She had TWO to get through? And it's been a rainy spring. And I have a small car.
When my friend invited us, we were thrilled. After learning about the four-mile-long driveway, the two low-water-crossings and the loose livestock, I started to think of excuses why we couldn't possibly go. The loose livestock came up this way--"You don't have to open and shut too many gates," she said. I thought that was great. "Because we have cattle guards and the cattle just roam. Now, go slow so you don't hit any. And whatever you do, if you see some, DON'T honk your horn". Since honking my horn to clear the road of livestock would have been my first thought, I asked why. "Because they'll think you're there to feed them and they'll rush you," she said. She eyed my car again, and added, "You wouldn't like that". Um. no.
Still, it truly WAS thrilling to drive (by the way, there were three low-water-crossings, but she said the first one didn't count...it "wasn't more than a large puddle"...can I add---with fish in it, but whatever) through breathtakingly beautiful Texas hill country. And hills there were. Rolling green hills, loads of wildlife, blooming cacti, sparkling creeks. When it actually rains in this part of the country, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. My friend raises mohair goats and the herd looked like little french poodles (until you got close and got a whiff. I'll refrain from rude comments about the smell of France and all things French, but the goats probably were worse!). We sat in the shade of her 100-year-old porch and looked at pretty goats, pretty views, big skies and NOTHING ELSE. The privacy was deafening and profound. I loved it. I want it!
The kids swam in a creek with a waterfall. It's going to be hard to beat that with invites to our above-ground pool and neighbors within watermelon-seed-spitting distance. Maybe we'll get lucky and have the thrill repeated. Because, it really was thrilling.
posted by herewegoagain at
10:56 AM
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