Well we got off to visit Sonora and the River. It was a nice hot day. Got to Sonora and drove over to Tayloe where my family used to live (well a good many cousins still live on that street still) and drove by my grandma's, nannies', and aunt Essie's houses. All was pretty much the same except for my grandma's house. I was pretty much in tears, just ask Emily, over the addition that was going on at my grandma's house. It was terrible and just unbelievable to say the least. We promised not to go back ever again. Time will tell.
We drove over the courthouse to visit Joyce, my cousin, who works as the county treasurer I believe. Visited with her for a little bit then walked over to the courthouse to look around at all the new renovation going on with this old courthouse. The court yard is a very nice place to visit with lots of large old old Live Oaks and a nice green lawn.
Here is a picture of ALB and me in front of the courthouse. I was talking to Steve on the phone trying to help him get his ringer going again on his office phone. I accidently shut it off on Thursdays before we left for the weekend. What I cannot figure out is how he knew I was returning his call the first time without his ringer being on?
After saying goodbye to Joyce we headed over to the Sutton County Steak House for lunch. We ended up getting the buffet and salad bar. All the steak fingers, chicken strips, mashedtaters, and cream gravy you could handle. And the hot rolls were excellent. Emily enjoyed it and ALB like the taters and gravy a lot.
We loaded up and headed toward the head of the Llano River about 29 miles east of Sonora. We stopped along the way to take pictures and to explore. We saw a very nice wild flower but the photo did not come out. I was wanting to ID them but it will be hard now. We drove the old highway which is now Ranch Road 3130 all the way to the Cedar Hill turnoff. I-10 is just too boring to drive though much faster now.
It seems they have opened the speedlimit up to 80mph from Kerr County (Kerrville) to El Paso. Very nice.
We visited the Cedar Hill (one room) School House where my grandmother and her siblings all attended school. I think they all left by tenth grade or sooner. Emily was surprised by it though she had been there before....just too young to remember it.
We drove on down and enjoyed the drive and low water crossings and literally the water crossings. Emily was worried at first but I assured her that the crossings were almost all solid rock bottoms. To prove it I turned around in the river and backed up the river so we could use the truck as a platform to wade from. Elizabeth would not let us get too far from the truck as can be seen in this picture. :) Since this is the head of the river then it does not get too deep except for the water holes or flooding. ;)
Elizabeth was not as pleased as I had hoped to wade the river. She wanted me to stay close and would sit in the river and be happy. With some splashing and a lot of whining and crying. Two spills in the river upset her a good bit but I promised her that getting wet was ok and much cooler than being dry in 100F weather. :)
She even seemed ok to explore a little bit with Emily but it was hard for Emily to keep upright in the river.
We ran into some interesting sights along the way. One was out in the middle of a pasture. We are not sure but think that the rancher was using the light signal to control cattle traffic across his pasture. I guess cow trails are very outdated.
We of course ran into my all time favorite the Bumper Gate. :)
Though this one is made of mostly steel pipes....the ones that Granddad Rode and his brother made used wood to fashion them similarly. Each visit I find fewer and fewer of these gates especially this style of bumper gate.
And while visiting Aunt Essie at the Eldorado nursing home we found this plaque by the flag pole. I did a google and could only find a record where he died in Schleicher County in 1987.
We love and miss you Mom (Gwen) !!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
This double style bumper gate was found on the old Highway that run parallel to I-10 east of Sonora before you get to the Baker Road exit. This style is one which I am most familiar. This particular one in the picture is almost all metal but Uncle Ben and Granddad Rode used to build these out of mostly wood. There were several on Baker Road but I think they are all gone now and a couple on the road out to the Old Rode Place.
This is what I call a single style bumper gate and they too travel around a max of 180 degrees but they do not stop at the fence line. They are more like a flapping door to a kitchen. They open approximately 90 degrees and swing back out another 90 degrees. I have never rode one of these but it looks like it could be fun. I was pretty much grown by the time I first saw a bumper gate of this style.
