Twisty, Curvy Roads

Dr. Dan hard at work! When you got the Terrible Blues, you are blue indeed! Here is Dan Augustine at his most blue - playing his own arrangement of "Terrible Blues". This was recorded live by The Second Line Jazz Band as they played for the City of Lakeway's Brown Bag Concert Series on February 4th. The other members of the ensemble are Larmon Maddox - cornet, Jim Ivy - clarinet, Dave Hargett - trombone, Walter Tibbitts - piano, Rob Schmidt - drums. Terrible Blues Your browser does not support the audio tag.

Side portico of Woodbine Mansion I was out and about on an errand when I noticed this car parked alongside the portico of this home. Something about the 70's vintage automobile parked by the even earlier vintage home struck me so I stopped to shoot a couple of photos. There is a Texas Historical marker by the gate and I learned that the name of the house is "Woodbine" and that it was built between 1895 and 1900 by a local businessman, A.J. Nelson.  Virginia Creeper covers much of the structure The house occupies a full block. There are several rather charming outbuildings and the grounds are nicely cared for. However the house itself has a slightly disheveled  look that, combined with the almost, but not quite vintage automobile, brings a Faulkner novel to mind. How it looked in 1900  My interest piqued, I did a quick internet search. It turns out that the house has been extensively remodeled more than once. It looked quite different when const...

The Lone Star Bakery in Round Rock, TX Bessie Smith's memorable line from her song, "Kitchen Man", is no where more appropriate than in Round Rock, Texas. This morning, Max and I visited the iconic Lone Star Bakery for coffee and one of their "Round Rock Donuts".  These donuts are famous, and rightly so! I first tasted one of them some 35 years ago and have found no reason to eat any other type of donut since then.   The bakery also offers cakes, kolaches, muffins, and all sorts of other goodies. But my favorite is always the plain, glazed donut, served hot with a cup of coffee on the side. Served hot - they melt in your mouth This morning, I asked if it would be OK if I took a photo or two. They were more than obliging, and brought out a hot donut especially for the photo. Of course I knew that the donut photo would look much better after a bite or two - I almost ate the whole thing before I remembered to take a photo! Quite an assortme...

But I often have no idea where the rest of the world lies in relation to my location. I left Round Rock at about 3pm this afternoon headed for Colorado to visit my son,  Patrick, and his family for Thanksgiving. Usually I navigate by a loose sort of dead reckoning..., since Colorado is to the north and a bit west of Round Rock, I just point the front of the FJ somewhere in that general direction and hang on for the ride. Typically I have only a very loose time schedule, so if I see anything that looks interesting I turn that way. That means I often turn a one day trip into a three or four  day excursion! Today I decided that I would go by a more direct route. I pulled the GPS unit from the glovebox and set it for my  Son's address in Colorado. As I suspected it would, it pointed me straight up IH35 toward Ft. Worth.  From where I live to Ft.Worth is close to 200 of the most boring miles on this planet.  Well, perhaps "boring" is not the correct word. It w...

With the rain over the last few days has had me feeling cooped up, so I decided to hitch up and make a short trip through the Texas countryside. I pulled out of Round Rock fairly late this afternoon and headed for my Uncle Jarret's gravesite near Tunis, Texas. Uncle Jarret was my great-great Grandfather's younger brother. They grew up together in Jackson County Alabama, and while still very young, went with Andy Jackson to fight in the Florida Wars. My family has not produced many musicians, but Uncle Jarret evidently had enough skill to become a bugler in the war. Sometime after they returned from the Florida War, Uncle Jarret moved away from Jackson County. First to Mississippi near his wife's family, and then, around 1850, to Caldwell County Texas, where he lived the rest of his life. Jarret Jones Ivy's headstone Uncle Jarret, his wife Eliza, and one of his sons, Bill, are buried in Providence Cemetery near Tunis, Texas. This is a very old cemetery ...

High Bridge over the Rio Grand Gorge US 84 Looking North after leaving IH40 Friday morning, after leaving the Waylon Jennings RV Park in Littlefield, Texas, I drove on to Billy The Kid's stomping grounds around Fort Sumpter, New Mexico, and then turned north on Route 84 toward Las Vegas, New Mexico. I decided to take the Eastern route from Las Vegas, north through the Mora Valley, and then west across the mountains to Taos. Pueblo, Rio on New Mexico 518 Near Taos, NM. This is a nice drive and has the advantage of reaching some high country sooner than sticking with 84 through Santa Fe and Espanola. At one time, Taos was an interesting village. Mountain man, Kit Carson made his home there. Even twenty years ago Taos retained some charm. I could wander the streets, meet some interesting people, and browse the art in the shops.  Today, Taos seems more of a crowded tourist trap that depends upon narrow streets and Adobe architecture for what charm it can ...

I was sleeping the sleep of the dead when Max decided to wake me at seven this morning. After a few preemptory scratches behind his ear, I immediately turned over for another couple of hours of sleep. So it was close to nine-thirty when we finally rolled out of Walon Jennings Park in Littlefield, Texas. We pointed the FJ toward Clovis, New Mexico where I would have to decide upon the next leg of our route. My choices were to head north from Clovis and strike a wonderfully little traveled road between Tucumcari and Las Vegas, or stick with 84 through Billy The Kid's old stomping ground, Ft. Sumner. I decided to stick with 84, partially because it would save some time, but really because of the memories of traveling that route with my friend, Vic Williams back when I first began to explore New Mexico and Colorado in the seventies. My friend, Vic Williams Vic had encyclopedic knowledge and kept up a running travelogue as we would progress in his VW bus from Austin to wher...