2019-12-28: Spending the Day in Big Bend National Park

It's been 13 years since I was last here at Big Bend National Park in West Texas. Spending the last few years just a few hours north of here, I figured it was about time I paid another visit. We spent two nights in Alpine, TX as our base so we could get here early, stay all day, and not have a long drive home afterwards. Big Bend NP is over 1200 square miles and that's a lot to explore and see. So let's get going!

We arrived just after dawn to a cloudy morning which kinda hindered having some great sunrise photos. Our first geocache was an earthcache called "Fins of Fire" (GC3AZVV) facing the Chisos Mountains to the east, describing the layers and spikes and the creation of the mountains from volcanic activity.

Continuing the beautiful route down the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, we arrived at the Solol Vista Overlook and another earthcache (GC2NJRH). The amazing views here are awe inspiring. And from this vantage point we barely get a glimpse of our destination Santa Elena Canyon some fourteen miles in the distance. From here though it's just a tiny notch in the mesa across the valley.

In the panoramic photo below taken from the Sotol Overlook, from left to right are: Trap Mountain, Goat Mountain, Santa Elena Canyon, Kit Mountain, across the valley to Tule Mountain, Burro Mesa, Little Christmas Mountain, and Christmas Mountain.

After the overlook, we stopped at Tuff Canyon for another earthcache (GC72D1C). Tuff Canyon is the deepest of the dry washes in Big Bend NP. This also makes it very dangerous during or after a rain as the gathering waters pick up velocity and can cause a flash flood rushing between the canyon walls. Over time the rushing waters slowly dig a deeper channel while at the same time eroding and smoothing the layered rock walls.

The mountains and cliff walls are plentiful. Just driving the roads, you won't even need to get out of your car to be amazed at the views.

Now we get to the Santa Elena Canyon observation area (GC37ECH). The Santa Elena Canyon is one of the most famous landmarks within Big Bend National Park. Looking from the overlook area, that's the United States on the right, Mexico on the left, and the shallow Rio Grande River flowing up through the middle and curving to the left. A lot of people stop there to get their photos. However if you keep following the road around, it will take you down to the entrance, or should I say the exit.

Where the Rio Grande exits the canyon, there's the Santa Elena Canyon Trailhead. The Terlingua Creek drains into the Rio Grande River just as it exits the canyon. You can see it in the next photo coming in from the left. Most of the time the water level is low enough and you can easily walk across rocks without getting wet. Once you cross over and climb the short hill you enter the trailhead that has been paved creating an easy hike with stairs and switchbacks up 160 feet to the point from which I took the photo.

Once you make the short hike up and over at the trailhead, you make your way down the trail into the cool canyon. Because of the 1500 feet canyon walls that seem to raise up forever, they block out the sun except for the short time it is directly overhead. We continued our hike down and back to see how far we could go. Officially it's a 1.5 mile out and back hiking trail.

At this point, we came to the end of the trail. This is about as far as you can hike without getting wet. Now I was wanting a kayak so I could keep going to see what's around the corner. One of these days I just might do that.

Backing up a little ways there's this huge rock that had fallen near the edge of the bank of the Rio Grande. I talked Candy into climbing out on the rock with me and handed my phone to another hiker to take our photo. I think this turned out much better than trying to take a selfie and still get the full canyon effect.

Having made our way back in the GeoJeep, it was time to hit some of the offroad trails. First we drove back up the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and looped around over to the Panther Junction Visitors Center. This time we finally bought one of those National Park Passport books that you get stamped each time you visit a national park or historical site.

From there we made our way down to Glenn Springs Road. It's a gravel road that even a regular car can make it through, see the first pic at the top of the blog. There might be some parts that may be a little rough, but I'd drive down most of it if I still had the Prius and the turn around if I got to an impassible section.

After several miles it turns into Black Gap Road as it nears the spring. There it does become a rougher section that really requires high clearance vehicle. Just past the Glenn Spring primitive campsite I found my next virtual geocache (GCR2A8). The U.S. Calvary once used this location for a few years. If you look hard enough you can still find parts of the foundations of some of the buildings. At the top of the nearby hill you'll find some scattered wooden crosses for the cemetery. To get credit for finding the virtual cache you need to email the number of crosses. The Find-A-Grave website only lists five memorials here. If you use that number you won't have the correct number as there are more than that. And not having any names on the wooden crosses, they are known only to God.

Another hour or so of offroad fun in the GeoJeep and we make our way to the exit roads and back up to Alpine, Texas. It wasn't until later that I realized the Black Gap Road was one of the trails in the Jeep Badge of Honor series. If I had used the BoH app to check in from the trail, I could have gotten my first badge. Oh well, I guess that's a good excuse to have to come back and explore some more of the Big Bend National Park. There is still much to see out here that I haven't gotten to yet. And I recommend this place to be put on your bucket list one day. Just try to avoid summer as the temps are easily in the triple digits!

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course. But also by using you favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, and Instagram. These all link directly to my profile. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2019-12-24: Visiting the Iwo Jima Monument... in South Texas?

Hey everybody! Well this is a short and sweet blog post. I had some personal business to take care of way down in South Texas in a town called Harlingen, not too far from the southern tip near Mexico. I did want to highlight a couple of places here though. I bet you're probably wondering about this first photo though. Why are you using the Iwo Jima statue pic in a blog about south Texas? Because the original... well I'll get to that in a minute. We haven't left the hotel yet this morning!

So when making reservations on South Padre Island, the "ocean front" rooms were all booked. OK, so second best thing is the "ocean view" rooms. When we arrived last night it was already dark and couldn't tell the difference. This morning I look out and really? Ummm really? Where's the water? Maybe if it rained hard and the parking lot next door flooded! Oh well, just stayed the night anyway. Gotta take care of business and hit the road.

Down the block, I saw this gift shop and just had to pull in for a photo opp with the GeoJeep! Saw something similar in Myrtle Beach, SC and backed the Jeep up into the mouth. This place was open already so I decided not to.

After the quick personal business stop in Harlingen and breakfast at IHOP, we drove over to the Marine Military Academy near the Valley International Airport for two great geocaches. The first was a traditional cache hidden under a tank-like "Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle" (GCMT90). I was so focused on the main attraction, that I forgot to get a pic of it!

The Iwo Jima Monument located in Washington D.C. wasn't the original monument. On Feb 19, 1945, Marines invaded the island of Iwo Jima, a Japanese stronghold in the Pacific. Two days later, Marines reached the top of Mount Suribachi and a small American flag was raised. Later, on the same day, a larger flag was raised by six Marines. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured that flag raising on film. A few days later it was published in Sunday papers across America. Sculptor Dr. Felix W. de Weldon, then on duty with the U.S. Navy, saw the photo and constructed a small scale model within 48 hours.

After the war, Dr. de Weldon worked for 9.5 years to create a full size model from molding plaster. The survivors of the flag raising posed for the artist to create their faces. Photos and physical descriptions of the three who gave their lives were used in modeling their faces.

Once completed in plaster, the statue was disassembled and shipped to Brooklyn, N.Y. to be cast in bronze. It took 3 years for the casting process. The bronze parts were then shipped to Washington D.C. for erection in Arlington National Cemetery. The plaster working model was shipped to Dr. de Weldon's studio in Newport, R.I. The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial was dedicated on Nov. 10, 1954.

In October 1981, after much consideration, Dr. de Weldon gifted the original working plaster model to the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, TX. This site selection included: 1. Fairly consistant temperature and humidity for preservation of the molding-plaster figures. 2. The street facing the memorial was named Iwo Jima Boulevard in 1965. 3. The MMA is the only place outside of Washington D.C., where proper honors are rendered with battalion-size dress blue parades. 4. The Marine placing the flagpole into the ground was a native of the area, Cpl Harlin H. Block. Block's gravesite resides directly behind the monument. Cpl Block was killed during continued fighting on Iwo Jima only a few days after the flag raising. .

The Iwo Jima Monument was dedicated April 16, 1982 on the MMA Parade Ground. It is coated with fiberglass for weather protection. And now it is also a virtual geocache  (GC7B6ED).

From there it was a long 6 hour drive back to Killeen, Texas so Candy can spend Christmas Eve and morning with her grandkids. Then later Christmas Day driving to McCamey in West Texas for work on Thursday. I'm exhausted! I need to go back to work to get some rest! See ya next time...

To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course. But also by using you favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, and Instagram. These all link directly to my profile. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share.

2019-11-25: Our Return to Hiking the Lighthouse Trail in Palo Duro Canyon Texas

Welcome back friends, family, geocachers, RV'ers, Jeepers, and everyone else who just happened to drop by my AwayWeGo's Geocaching Adventures blog. This is more about just geocaching though. I'm here to share my travels around this great country. The geocaching just helps me find some of those out-of-the-way very rural backroads "not-on-your-tourist-map" great sightseeing treasures.

If you'd like to follow along via many of the social media sites. I'll provide links at the end of this blog. I'd also love to hear from you, so please feel free to comment here or on the social sites. And please by all means share my stories with your friends too. I hope my stories inspire you to get out and explore.

Well after my opening paragraph, today we DID do the touristy thing and return to the Palo Duro Canyon. We both had this Thanksgiving week off so we decided to take a drive up to Amarillo, Texas and do some hiking in the Canyon. We were here a few years earlier to make this hike and that's where I proposed to her. (see "She Said Yes!") We've been married now for just over three years.

Plus along the hiking trail up to the famous rock formation called The Lighthouse, there was a trail of geocaches hidden. Many of those caches had been missing and we had to DNF them. They've since been replaced and now we can redeem those DNF's.

The weather couldn't have been better! It was cool out and with sunny skies, it made for perfect hiking. It also made for some pretty good photos I think. This next photo I call Sitting Chief. I don't know if it has an official name, but that's what I think of every time I see it.

Some background info from the Palo Duro website: The history of the canyon goes back a long ways. The Clovis and Folsom peoples first lived in the canyon and hunted large herds of mammoths and giant bison. More recently, the Apache, Comanche, and Kiowa took advantage of the canyon's plentiful resources. These early cultures left behind rock art and bedrock mortars where they ground mesquite beans and roots for food. The early Spanish explorers probably discovered the canyon and called it Palo Duro, Spanish for Hard Wood.

The Red River War between the U.S. Army and southern Plains Indians lasted from June 1874 to the spring of 1875. A decisive battle occurred in the canyon on Sept. 28, 1874. Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie led the 4th U.S. Cavalry in a surprise attack at dawn on a camp of Comanches, Kiowas and Cheyennes. The families fled up the canyon, leaving everything behind. MacKenzie’s troops captured 1,400 ponies and shot most of them. Soldiers also burned all the teepees and winter stores. With no horses or supplies, the families had no choice but to return to the reservation. The reign of Native Americans over the Panhandle plains ended soon after.

Charles Goodnight, a former Texas Ranger, drove 1,600 Longhorn cattle to Palo Duro Canyon in 1876. He and his partner John Adair, an English aristocrat, founded the JA Ranch in 1877. At its peak in 1885, the ranch grazed 100,000 head of cattle on 1,325,000 acres spread across the Panhandle. After Adair died, his widow, Cornelia, took over as Goodnight’s partner. In 1887, Goodnight decided to scale back his ranching activities. The partnership ended that year, and the partners divided the land. Most of the canyon belonged to the JA Ranch up until 1890. Adair descendants continue to run the JA Ranch today.

The state bought the land for the park from Fred S. Emory in 1933. Soon after, Civilian Conservation Corps workers arrived, and spent the next five years creating a park. First, they built a camp for their home base, and then they set to work in the immense canyon. The men built the winding road to the canyon floor. Until it was finished, they hiked in and out of the canyon on what is now the CCC Trail. CCC workers made all of the park’s original improvements, including El Coronado Lodge (now the Visitor Center), the cabins on the rim and canyon floor, and trails. Designers planned the park to maximize views and complement the surroundings. The CCC used local stone and wood for building materials. In addition, workers forged decorative metal and crafted furniture. The park opened in 1934 before it was complete. It is the second largest park in the state parks system today, with about 28,000 acres

So of the 6 or 8 remaining caches along the trail that we needed to find, we only DNF'd just one... again. Since our last visit there was added a virtual geocache (GC7B6H7) and an earthcache (GC81YE8) up at Lighthouse Point. Upon arriving, we did the obligatory oohs and aahs, took in the views and captured some photos. Then after a short time we hunted for the answers for the caches before descending down into the canyon for our hike back to the parking lot. It is a beautiful Texas State Park and one of my favorite places in the country. I'm sure we will be returning again often.

I hope you have enjoyed our visit today to Palo Duro Canyon up in the panhandle of Texas. To follow along on our travels and keep up with my latest blogs, you may do so here of course. But also by using you favorite of these social media platforms: Facebook, MeWe, Gab, Reddit, Parlor, Twitter, and Instagram. These all link directly to my profile. Again, please feel free to comment and / or share. Until next time... see you out on the road!

2019-07-28: Geocaching Through Ghost Towns, Cemeteries, History, and Finding an Old Corvette

Welcome back fellow geocachers, travelers, explorers, and Jeepers. Today is cemetery day it seems. On this 300+ mile backroads roadtrip from Central to North Central Texas, I visited several cemeteries searching for history and a ghost story to tell. As usual the passenger seat in the GeoJeep is open, so climb in and let's take a drive through the spooky alley of trees down the middle of the cemetery.

Leaving Killeen, Texas, my first stop as usual is the Dunkin Donuts for an iced coffee and a bagel. Then US-190 west to US-183 north in Lampasas. I make a quick stop for a geocache (GC435CN) at the radio station in Lampasas which for some reason I always skipped before. But today it seemed to be calling for me to stop.

I exit off US-183 near Bozar onto FM1029 going off some very rural backroads driving heading north to my next geocache (GC370W1). Upon arriving at the Trigger Mountain Cemetery I stopped for a photo by the sign and felt that I just had to wear the hat also with a name like Trigger Mountain!

The Trigger Mountain Cemetery is a rather large cemetery for just 13 interments here. But it is also well maintained by the very small community. The first listed burial here is that of 5-year old Riley Burgess Hays in 1904. His father, the Rev L. L. Hays is also buried here and lived to be 99 years old passing away in 1961. The cemetery is still in use today with the most recent burial in 2018.

Down another dirt side road about a half mile was Trigger Mountain Hunting. The small geocache (GC3CEEF) had a difficulty rating of 3.0 and a terrain rating of 3.5. Tucked away in the trees, brush, and weeds, it was not an easy task on this hot July afternoon! But success was had and I was able to sign the log.

Continuing down the very rural dirt backroads, I came to the next geocache at Brown's Creek (GC3BYJ4). Down a steep embankment to the creek, this small cache a D4/T4 rating. But with the water currently shallow, I was able to keep dry and stick to the taller rocks to make my way across.

After leaving the creek and just down a little further I came across a cemetery with a historical marker. I check my phone again but I'm not showing any geocache listed here. So I check out the cemetery and read the historical marker: "North Brown Cemetery was named for creek followed by homeseekers. This burial ground originated about 1857 when death struck at a nearby campsite. In the 1870's, North Brown farming community surrounded this site. It had a school and held church services in the schoolhouse. In 1895 local leaders A. A. Boulter, G. M. O'Quin, and J.S. Weatherby secured a deed to the acreage in which graves had so long existed, and North Brown Cemetery Association was formed. After school had closed, proceeds from sale of its site were pledged in 1967 for cemetery care. Pioneer families continue burials here."

Well I just couldn't let this historical cemetery and these pioneers go unnoticed. So I found two headstones of original pioneers and hid my own geocache in a nearby tree (GC8BNKX).

Working my way through the backroads to the small town of Priddy, I had two cemeteries and two geocaches to find. The first was at the St. John's Cemetery (GC22Z1J) with just over 600 interments dating back to 1902. The other was the Zion Lutheran Cemetery (GC19E1A) with over 200 interments dating back to 1889. This older cemetery contains most of the early German settlers to the town of Priddy and has this kinda spooky entrance with the rows of trees. I couldn't decide which I liked better this color photo or the black/white which I opened with at the top of the page.

Trying to make up some time now, I make my way back over to US-183 where I can move a little fast and put some miles behind me. One quick roadside geocache (GC5MVPM) and continue on my way.

But as usual I soon find myself off on the backroad headed towards another cemetery geocache. This one was for the Routh Cemetery (GC1NTWE) in a little community called Blanket. Supposedly named by a couple of surveyors who happened upon some Indians taking shelter under blankets placed over some bushes to give them some protection from a rain storm. As for the cemetery, the oldest marked grave is for that of 19-year-old Elizabeth Routh who died in 1876. She was the daughter of Simeon Levin Routh who is believed to have brought his family out here from Tennessee as part of the Peter's Colony Group to help settle Texas in the 1840's & 50's. Simeon was laid to rest here in 1890 along with his wife and many of their children. There are 58 interments here in total with the most recent in 2005.

Still on the rural backroads, I don't know if you could call this next one a ghost town when at it's peak it only had 100 residents. Owens, Texas, also known as Clio (GC2QM9D), is located eight miles north of Brownwood on U.S. Highway 183 in central Brown County. The town was settled in the early 1870's. The post office, granted in 1878 as Clio, was renamed for E. Owens, who donated the townsite in 1910. It closed sometime after 1930. John W. Yantis promoted sawmills in the area. In the 1930's the town had a school, a church, two businesses, and a number of scattered homes. In 1949 Owens had one business and a population of 100. In 1953 it had a population of forty and no businesses; and in 1965 the population was sixty. No census data was reported for Owens after 1965. In 1983 the community had two churches and a single business. It was still shown on county highway maps in 2000.

Making my way back to US-183, I'm still on the rural dirt and gravel backroads when I pass by this one house with an old 1969 Corvette just sitting there with no tops covered in dirt and dust open to the rain and weather. Made me sad to see that beautiful car being neglected. 

So now I start driving north on US-183 again and after a little bit I see a sign for a cemetery. I look at my phone but don't see a geocache in the area. Well I just have to investigate that further. It is sad finding cemeteries in such neglected care. The rusty sign above the gate just has the name Reagan on it. I can't find much information about this cemetery other than those who are buried here. The Find-A-Grave website shows there to be 14 burials, 12 of those between 1879-1955 and the other two in the 1990's. Though the odd thing is that I can't figure out why it is called the Reagan Cemetery. There are no Reagan's interred here and I can't find a ghost town or community called Reagan. Another website states that it also goes by the name of Latham of which there are two here by that name from the 1880's. Oh well, I find a spot and hide a cache here myself (GC8BNM4). Maybe somebody else will come along and shed some light on this place. Maybe bring some lawn equipment as well!

My last stop was for another geocache (GC22W7R) nearby in the ghost town of the Yellow Mound Community. I couldn't find much in the way of history and settlement. It had never really developed into an incorporated town. Just some local ranchers and farmers. Looking through newspapers for references of Yellow Mound, they started appearing in 1890 and slowed except for obituaries in the 1960's & 70's. Stories of oil discoveries and drilling in 1919-1930, then those stopped. Probably had a surge of workers during that time, but they too moved on. The most interesting newspaper story I found was on July 7, 1964: "Skeleton Discovered in Pasture" read the headline.

"A skeleton thought to be that of a man was found Monday under some undergrowth on a farm near the Yellow Mound Community, seven miles NW of Eastland. Sheriff Lee Horn, one of the officers who went to the scene, estimated the skeleton might have been there as long as 10 years. He based his opinion on the condition of the bones and a weathered shoe along side the skeleton. The find was made by a farm worker rounding up some calves. The sheriff said he would ask a dentist to check gold dental work in the hopes of establishing identity. About five years ago, a skeleton was found near Cisco, 10 miles west of Eastland."

I never did find a follow-up story to this one.

Getting close to work home in Munday, Texas, I was passing by the Brushy Cemetery. I stopped, but by this point it was 6:30 PM and I had already turned a 4 1/2 hour drive into almost 9 hours. Plus it was hot and I was ready to relax, eat, and settle in for the day. With the wind turbines as I backdrop, I thought it was a decent photo. Grabbed my phone, snapped a pic, and continued on.

That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed the ride and my stories. I hope to see you back again soon for another of my geocaching adventures through history.

2019-07-21: Geocaching the Rural Backroads to a Historic Church, an Abandoned Cemetery, and the First Hilton Hotel

Hello friends, geocachers, travelers, and those who may have found me by accident. On this day it's another of my long 300+ mile Sunday drives from home base in Central to work base in North Central Texas. Not a whole of to see today, but what I did see was historic as well as a sad forgotten cemetery. And you probably at one time or another stayed a night in this mans hotel. This particular building was his very first hotel. As always, the GeoJeep Travel Bug passenger seat is open. So hop on in and let's go for a drive.

Well the first group of geocaches weren't anything really interesting or or brought me to any historical place. They were just some roadside very rural backroads caches. So I thought I'd take a drive through the countryside to see if I could find them. The first one hadn't been found since February of 2016. I couldn't find it and it still hasn't been found (GC1J29N). Probably long gone and should be archived.

The next one hadn't been found in two years (GC25RMW). It was a regular sized cache and also obviously missing. I had a replacement in the GeoJeep, so loaded with some swag for kids and a logsheet and placed it there. Three more quick backroads caches and then get back to civilization (GC1G34Y, GC21XWY, GC3GVFW).

Making it to Lampasas, I've been wanting to get this next geocache for a while but there has always been muggle members in attendance. Today I got lucky having spending some time on the rural backroads. The services are over and nobody is around. St. Mary's Episcopal Church (GC500RZ) was built in 1884 of native limestone. It is the oldest church in the area still in use. Modeled after a gothic church in Rugby, England and birthplace of W.T. Campbell, pioneer communicant. The interior decor, including the oak alter and pews, are original.

Continuing up the road to the town of Early, Texas, I just had to take a photo by the town sign. I suppose this is one place that you don't ever want to be late to! Before leaving town, I make a stop at the picnic area up the road for another geocache (GC7ZWE2).

Arriving in the town of Cisco, Texas, I first head towards the "Hidden Cemetery" on the eastside outskirts of town (GC3J2RT). The cemetery is commonly referred to the Central Methodist Cemetery, although there is no sign indicating that and the cemetery is no longer maintained. The FindAGrave website shows there to be 19 buried here dating back to 1903 with two unknown dates. It is sad to see the neglected condition of these forgotten resting places just off the roadway. Many people pass by every day and not even realized they're there. Maybe one day some local historians or Boy Scout group could clean this cemetery up and erect a sign.

Back in Cisco, I find my next geocache at a Union Pacific caboose (GC7D6EM). A look inside one of these old train cars gives one a glimpse into the life of a railroad workers life away from home. It's gotta be a rough life working and living on the rails.

An unexpected surprise and one of those reasons I like geocaching are the other locations and bits of history nearby that they also bring you to. Most everyone is familiar with the name Hilton Hotels. Next to where the caboose was is the Old Mobley Hotel built in 1916 by H.L. Mobley. During Cisco's oil boom in 1919, Mobley sold his hotel to a 32-year-old ex-legislator and banker from New Mexico by the name of Conrad Hilton. On the night of the purchase, Conrad Hilton "dreamed of Texas wearing a chain of Hilton Hotels." While Hilton did sell this hotel in 1925, he continued on to becoming the "World's Foremost Innkeeper."

This building continued to be used as a hotel for many years later. It was made a Texas Historical landmark in 1970. Conrad Hilton passed away in 1979. The people of Cisco, along with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, restored and redeveloped this area as the Conrad N. Hilton Memorial Park and Community Center. It was dedicated on October 13, 1984.

Also located within the ground of the park, is this old clock from the former First National Bank of Cisco. It was presented to the Conrad Hilton Center on its 20th Anniversary on 2006.

So that was it for today. By this time it was 5:30 PM and I still had almost 2 hours of driving to get to work base in Munday, Texas. Plus grab a bite to eat and stop by the grocery store and get food for the week! Thanks for riding along with me. I hope you enjoyed the step back into time. Until next week, happy travels!

2019-07-14: Geocaching Through Texas Ghost Towns, Cemeteries, Abandoned Places and a Train Depot

Welcome back to another episode of my Sunday 300+ mile drive from Central to North Texas while Geocaching through ghost towns, cemeteries, abandoned places, and history. Oh, and a great "Santa Claus Bank Robbery" story too! The passenger seat of the GeoJeep is open so climb aboard and let's go for a backroads roadtrip!

My first stop was just down the road and a quick park and grab cache (GC288JF). Then another quick stop in the old downtown of Lampasas (GC23Z9K). Good thing it's a Sunday morning cause this one is probably harder during the week with activity of muggles around and about. Driving north on US-183, I stopped for two geocaches at the Goldthwaite City Park (GC7VARK, GCTPY1).

Next up was the ghost town of Democrat Community (GC333E9). From the historical marker: "Although settlement of this area dates to 1878, this graveyard was not established until the turn of the 20th century. The earliest documented grave is that of one-year-old Lee Ella Deen, daughter of W. F. and M. L. Deen, who died in November 1904. In February 1905, J. L. Chancellor deeded the surrounding three acres of land to the citizens of the Democrat and Rock Springs communities for use as a public burial ground. Among the early graves in the cemetery are those of a number of infants and children, victims of the influenza epidemic that raged worldwide in the early 20th century, and veterans of the Civil War, World War I and World War II. A reflection of area history, the cemetery remained in use at the turn of the 21st century."

The church across the road from the cemetery is used as a community center now by the few remaining residents of the Democrat and the Rock Springs Communities.

Driving further up into the town of Comanche, I arrived for my next geocache at the old train depot (GC6H0EC). Comanche was established in 1858, when Captain John Duncan offered the county 240 acres on Indian Creek as a site for a county seat. The commissioners' court accepted the donation, and Ransom Tuggle was authorized to lay out the townsite. T. J. Nabors built the first house. The new town replaced Cora as county seat in May 1859. The first courthouse was a "picket house"—a structure of logs cut and split on the ground, set vertically in a ditch, and covered with boards also made on the ground. The post office was established in 1860 and a newspaper, the Comanche Chief, began publication in 1873. The town, a supply base for Texas ranches during its early history, was incorporated in 1873.

By 1892 Comanche had 2,500 residents, the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway, a daily stage, and numerous businesses. By 1915 the population was 4,500, and the town was a flourishing farm-market center and transportation center. Over the years the population would fluctuate down to as few as 3,415 and back up to nearly 4,500 again.

This geocache was a 2-stage multi-cache. I obtained clues at the train depot to figure out the final coordinates of the cache container which was located at the town's Oakwood Cemetery. When Captain John Duncan this land to establish the county seat, he specified sufficient portions be set aside for a graveyard, churches, and schools. A cemetery of about 6.5 acres was established and named Oakwood for the impressive oak trees growing on the site. The earliest marked grave is that of one-year-old John Neely, who died in January 1861.

The one grave that caught my eye was of M.R. (Boss) Greene (10-14-1843 to 5-12-1877). He was a Deputy U.S. Marshall who pursued  Dee and James Bailey for passing counterfeit quarters in Comanche. After a 10-mile chase, he captured and disarmed the brothers. Catching Greene off guard because of an unruly horse, one prisoner took Greene's rifle and shot him. He returned fire with his hand gun but was fatally wounded in the exchange. The prisoners escaped only to be recaptured and hanged on a live oak tree here in the cemetery where Greene is buried.

The next geocache was at the Amity Cemetery (GC2YQ7R). From the historical marker here: When 14-year-old Charles Farley died in Feb. 1878, his parents buried him near their farmhouse, as this frontier locality had no cemetery at the time. Three months later Fannie Nichols (1875-78) died and was buried nearby. The Farleys then donated an acre of land as a community graveyard. The neighbors built an adjacent brush arbor for funerals and general gatherings. In the summer of 1878, Baptists organized a church, naming it Amity (friendship). Before erecting their own buildings, Baptists and Methodists held services in the brush arbor or at Amity School (1 mi. NW).

William H. Lindley (1840-1913) bought land south of the Farley Farm in 1885. When new surveys placed the cemetery on his land, Lindley deeded the burial ground to the public. Later his son-in-law, George Brown, gave an additional acre to be used if needed. A large tabernacle with permanent fixtures replaced the brush arbor and was used for funerals until 1938 or 1939, when it was severely damaged by a storm. Free-will donations have maintained the cemetery since 1951. A "First Sunday in June Singing" which Amity Baptist Church originated in 1897 now serves as an annual memorial day and homecoming. By 1978 Amity Cemetery has nearly 400 graves.

On the way to my next stop, and one of the things I like about driving the backroads, was this unexpected picturesque scene of the giant hay wheels sitting on this green pasture. Contrast with the blue sky and white clouds I just had to stop and capture the photo.

Up US-183 north of Rising Star, Texas was this abandoned building. I couldn't find out anything about it and couldn't decipher the name on the front. I also couldn't find the geocache on the side by the tree either (GC5M0MG). Looks like it may have been a store or gas station. Someone even suggested it looks like it could have been a post office. Got a lot of stuff stored inside now.

Also nearby is the Romney Lutheran Cemetery geocache (GC1HMM2). It's a small rural cemetery with less than 100 interments. The earliest known marker dates back to 1901. The town of Romney was established in 1880 when former West Virginian J.W. White arrived and named the community after his former hometown. The community was granted a post office in the early 1890s which remained open through 1931. Romney had always been an agricultural community, primarily cotton. At the turn of the 20th Century, it had most essential businesses as well as a school. A boll weevil infestation in 1914 curtailed growth although it limped along into the 1960s when it still had a gas station and two stores. The 1940 population was given as 40 residents. A slow decline drove this number down to a mere 12 by the 1980 census - where it has remained.

To the east of Romney was the Long Branch Church and Cemetery geocache (GC1KEEB). Formerly organized on July 16, 1885, the Long Branch Baptist Church held its first worship services in an old schoolhouse on land donated by R. B. Covington. The thirteen charter members were served by W. B. Cobb, the church's first minister, until August 1886. Missionary pastors continued to hold monthly services over the years. The congregation, which built its first sanctuary on this site in 1905-06, has provided significant service to the Long Branch Community and the surrounding area throughout its history. The cemetery has nearly 700 interments dating back to 1882.

Then there was also the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and Cemetery (GC7G2XZ) near the town of Carbon. The few original charter members met in the old Pleasant Hill Schoolhouse in 1892 and organized the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. Although the first church structure, built in 1905, was destroyed by fire later that year, another was erected in 1906. A new structure was also built in 1945. Several pastors of this church have also held eminent positions at institutions of higher learning in the area. This congregation has remained active in community and mission programs. The cemetery has just over 300 interments and dates back to 1904.

Heading back towards US-183, near the intersection is a TXDOT sign which displays the distance back to the town of Carbon. There's also a geocache near the sign (GC12CTF). I'm glad someone at TXDOT has a sense of humor for the properly distanced placement as well as the geocacher picking this spot to hide a cache. Now I'm thirsting for a carbonated beverage!

My second to last stop of the day was another cemetery geocache in Cisco at the Oakland Cemetery (GC3M5V5). With over 7500 interments located in this cemetery dating back to the 1870's. There are two that I want to bring to your attention: Sheriff George Emory "Bit" Bedford and Deputy George W. Carmichael. They were mortally wounded during what was called the "Santa Claus Bank Robbery" of 1927. Around noon on December 23, 1927, four men dressed up at Santa and attempted to rob the First National Bank of Cisco, Texas. At the time it was one of Texas' most infamous crimes and led to the largest manhunt in state history.

Because of the numerous bank robberies that took place in the recent months, the Texas Bankers Association announced a $5,000 reward for anyone shooting a bank robber during the crime. So when a bystander managed to escape early during the robbery and shouted out into the streets to get the attention of law enforcement, that also attracted anyone and everyone with a gun to assist in taking down one of the four Santa's. There is more to this story, though a quick read, and I encourage you to click the link in the previous paragraph and read the entire account at the Texas State Historical website. You'll be glad that you did!

Continuing north a couple miles out of Cisco, I spotted a cemetery sign and had to investigate further. This small unkept cemetery was called Reagan Cemetery and according to the FindAGrave website contains 14 burials. Though I don't know why it called Reagan as there are no Reagans' buried here. Nor could I find any information about a town or community in the area called Reagan. The oldest is dated 1879. There wasn't a geocache here, so I hid one myself (GC8BNM4) to bring others to this forgotten cemetery.

So that was it for stopping. It was already after 5PM and I still had 100 miles of driving to go. Along with getting a bite to eat, going to the grocery store so I have lunch for work tomorrow, etc etc. Thanks for riding along and I hope you come back again for another geocaching adventure.