Coleman Confidential: Family Edition

Edith May Bullock--my great aunt
(Click images to enlarge)

My father's family hails from north central Texas, so part of this trip included stops in two towns in Coleman County--Coleman and Glen Cove. My 95-year old grandmother, who lives in California, gave me the phone number for her 93-year old sister, Edith, who lives in Coleman. We stopped to visit Aunt Edith and she took us to dinner at Dairy Queen.

Peanut Ridge, the farmstead in Glen Cove
where my grandmother and her four siblings grew up

The next day, we drove out to Glen Cove to see the cemetery where my great-grandparents and several other family members are buried.

The bed of my Great-grandpa May's old truck

After visiting the cemetery and leaving an ebenezer--or stone of remembrance--on each grave I could identify as belonging to a family member, we drove into Glen Cove proper to find the property that was the farmstead my grandmother grew up on. I met a man named Bill Henning who remembered my great-grandparents and my great uncle Clayton. He showed me where the old farmhouse had been and pointed out the truck bed and front axle of my great-grandfather's truck that he used to haul wood. The windmill and water tower, as well as a shed and stable, are all that remain of the original farm.



Photo copyright: Janet Kincaid, 04/09

West Texas Confidential

Alternative energy in West Texas oil country
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After visiting Glen Cove, we hit the road and headed for West Texas. Originally, we were going to hook up with one of my very favoritest photo bloggers ever--Debi Cates--but due to illness, we had to skip meeting Debi. Still, we drove through some interesting country. What struck us were two things: the oil fields and the windmill farms. Many West Texans seem to have a strong opinion about oil as an energy source and seem none too happy with current Obama Administration policies aimed at alternative energy sources. And yet, there are large wind farms in this part of the state, too. It's sort of like the dog who's growling at you while it wags its tail--you're not sure which end too believe!

Photo copyright: Janet Kincaid, 04/09

San Antonio Confidential

The Alamo--Where the Legend of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie Was Made!
(Click to enlarge.)

Before we left San Antonio, we went back into the city to photograph its most famous landmark: The Alamo. The light wasn't the greatest, but this Texas sight lived up to expectation in terms of what I had in my mind's eye. The Alamo--or Mission San Antonio de Valero--was the site of a Spanish mission and home to missionaries and Indian converts in the 1700s. In the 1800s, the Spanish stationed soldiers there who called it Alamo, meaning cottonwood. To read more about the key role this site played in the battle for Texas independence, go here. And to see a few more ho-hum pictures of the Alamo, as well as some of the lovely spring flowers surrounding the mission, see the slideshow.






Photo copyright: Janet Kincaid, 04/09

Hill Country Confidential

Contrary to popular belief, Texas isn't all flat or all urban sprawl
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One of my road trip goals was to visit the town my father's family came from. It's located in central western Texas, off the main roads. Originally, I was going to go through Dallas and stay with a friend there, but someone recommended the Hill Country to Maya so we decided to get off the interstate and check that out. Turns out, it was a good choice. Most of the roads were two lane and the towns few and far between, but the country was beautiful! If I lived in Texas, this is where I would live--between San Antonio and Coleman.

Hill Country--the beautiful part of Texas
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Fortunately, they've had a lot of rain recently, too, so everything is lush and green. Here are just a couple of pictures from the road, as well as some of the wildflowers we saw along the road side.




Photo copyright: Janet Kincaid, 04/09

LBJ Confidential

The boyhood home of Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States
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Traveling through the Hill Country took us to Johnson City, Texas. This bucolic town is the location of President Lyndon B. Johnson's boyhood home. It's now a national historic park maintained by the U.S. Park Service, along with his ranch a few miles out of town. We stopped in for a quick look and a tour led by park ranger Lou.



Photo copyright: Janet Kincaid, 04/09

Missions Confidential

Mission San Juan y San Miguel
(Click image to enlarge.)

Leaving Louisiana behind, we continued westward and entered the great state of Texas. I wish I had a picture of the 14+ lanes of freeways and expressways and interchanges in and around Houston. That was some insane roadways, boys and girls! Houston is notorious for some of the worst traffic in the nation, but I think traveling through the area on a Saturday proved advantageous. We made it through and past this sprawling--and I do mean s...p...r...a...w...l...i...n...g--metropolis in no time. The destination for the day: San Antonio. The goal: to photograph the Alamo--scene of the battle for Texas independence from Mexico. Unfortunately, it was Fiesta San Antonio, which meant the streets around the Alamo were closed and traffic was horrific. So, we skipped the Alamo and went down to the southern end of the city to see the missions down there.

Mission Concepcion
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Mission San Jose y San Miguel De Aguayo is "the queen of the missions" and begins a line of missions established by the Spanish in 1720 along the San Antonio river. We visited Mission San Juan and Mission Concepcion.




Photo copyright: Janet Kincaid, 04/09