You can see our route from Vanderpool to Uvalde right HERE.
We pulled out of Fox Fire Cabin before 6am, in total darkness.
The trees along the side of the road were high and there were no streetlamps. It was so dark, you couldn't tell the difference if you had your eyes open or closed.
In spite of the blackness of the night, we could hear animals moving, breathing and sneezing in the trees and brush along side of the road. With no local traffic at 6am in Vanderpool, population=12, we moved to the smooth parts of the road. We were both wondering what animals were at the top of the food chain, were they nocturnal, were they attracted to bicycle lights and how fast they could run. Periodically, we could see deer in areas illuminated by random road-side lights.
The Navy defines three types of twilight, depending on whether the sun is 6°, 12°, or 18° below the horizon, corresponding to civil, nautical or astronomical twilight and correlated with the sort of detail you can make out. With astronomical twilight, the earliest, you can just barely make out the illumination of the sky...I call out astronomical twilight when I can finally see the trees silhouetted against the black sky. With it comes a certain relief that pretty soon you'll be able to see that what was in your imagination is truly not there.
Anyway, as we moved well into civil twilight, we pulled into Utopia, Texas. Amazing...who know Utopia was this accessible? The original settlers called the town Waresville and had wanted to rename it Montana, but chose Utopia after they found out that Montana, Texas was already taken. There were even plans for a utopian society, but they were canceled when things didn't go so well in the utopia-wannabe city of La Reunion, Texas. When I was a senior in high school, I did an independent study project comparing utopian civilizations in literature. No where did I come across Utopia, TX.
We stopped for a photo-op just to prove we had made it to Utopia.
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Who knew you could get to Utopia so easily? Nearly the whole town of 241 was asleep
when we arrived, so Utopia was Utopian in the peaceful sense. |
In contrast to yesterday when we were hammered by the Texas Hill Country, the road past Vanderpool and into Utopia was flat. We were making good time, so we stopped to look around. Just ahead in the distance, we saw a shimmering light, my head, while not so heavy, was able to make out the light of the Lost Maple Cafe, a building that dates to 1904.
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| One of my favorite combinations: coffee and a home-made cinnamon bun. The coffee was good, the bun disappointing. (I make better). |
Lani, a would-be vegetarian, totally ignored here veggie principles and gave in to her basest instincts.
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| The egg, sausage and cheese sandwich was as good as it looks. I was shocked...shocked to see such a sandwich at the same table I was sitting. |
The Lost Maple Cafe did possess a special old-fashioned charm and is probably the highlight of Utopia.
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| The Cafe seemed popular with the local crowd, that being all 241 Utopians. |
The walls were covered with items that appeared collectible, like they had been gathered from antique shops.
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| Everything about the Cafe seemed old, but charming. |
Not too long before we arrived in Utopia, a film crew had just finished shooting Seven Days in Utopia, a film featuring Robert Duvall about a pro-circuit golfer who finds himself in Utopia.
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| Lani and I prepare to move on, but the building across the street caught my eye.. |
Utopia is one of six precincts in
Uvalde County, each with their own
Justice of the Peace.
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| In 1195, Richard I ("the Lionheart") of England commissioned certain knights to preserve the peace in unruly areas. They were responsible to the king for ensuring that the law was upheld, and preserved the "king's peace", and were known as "keepers of the peace". Several states use a Justice of the Peace, an official who can have broad powers when dealing with local affairs.. |
Moving past the "downtown" part of Utopia, the road was flanked on both sides by the residential area, mostly a stretch of small homes with a mix of single-wides, double-wides and single family. A few enterprising individuals worked out of their home.
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| This is probably the headquarters for Re-Elect Obama 2012. Enjoy a Dr. Pepper while getting your Glock serviced. |
While most of the terrain that day had been pleasantly level, we were still reminded that the Texas Hill Country was lurking.
We had started this morning with the sound of deer in the darkness in the bush along the side of the road. With morning light, we could see them crossing the road and gracefully jumping the fences. Some were less graceful than others.
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| One of 350,000 deer that are estimated to become roadkill annually. |
Barbecue remained wildly popular throughout all parts of Texas.
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| You can give up meat for Lent without having to give up your barbecue. |
If I ever decide to pursue deer hunting (venison pairs nicely with a Syrah), this is the part of the country I'd head to. Approaching Sabinal, TX, there was a long stretch of road where deer carcasses were scattered at 50 yard intervals. It was crazy...truly. I mean, if you lived here, how could you not hunt?
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| Taxidermists are well-known for their macabre sense of humor. |
As beat as we were yesterday when we dropped bike at the Fox Fire Cabins near Vanderpool, it turned out that we probably could have easily made it to Sabinal, the next "big" town in the area. Sabinal, population 1586 (smaller than its population in 1900 of 2500 Sabinalians), dates to 1854
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The First Methodist Church of Sabinal dates to the early 1900s. The caption states:
"THE METHODIST CHURCH BUILDING HAS NOT MODERNIZED, UNLESS YOU COUNT AIR CONDITIONING AND A METAL ROOF AS MODERN.
The Chamber of Commerce endorses air conditioned buildings - don't you?" |
The rural road that took us from Kerrville, TX through the Texas Hill Country came to an end for us at US90. From here, in Sabinal, we would go West.
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| A Shell station - an oasis in the wilderness |
As with many of these tiny towns, the US Post Office sported one of the best looking buildings. Such was the case in Knippa, TX, (population 689 in 2010, down from 739 on 2000) a mere 10 miles past Sabinal.
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| Lani stopped to mail some postcards she had bought at the Lost Maple Cafe in Utopia. |
58 miles later, we were in Uvalde, Texas, gracing the Continental Inn. We dropped gear and took off for the nearby supermarket, returning with red meat, red wine and some produce.
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Okay...so here are the simple essentials to pain-frying a ribeye steak in your motel room over butane. A little olive oil (right hand) facilitates the cooking by preventing burning and sticking. Be certain to get the thinly sliced ribeye as it cooks in just a few seconds. After the meat is done, pile it on some bread and quickly cook some mushrooms in the same pan. A simple Shiraz (left hand) pairs nicely.
If I only have a glass - or two - of the $5 Yellowtail Shiraz, I don't feel guilty about allowing the rest to go to waste. It's the little things. |
