WillowBend56

A drive from Ft. Davis to Toyahvale on Hwy 17 is fantastic this time of year with the cottonwoods turning yellow. Superlative!

Tyler--best place of 8 locations I have lived in Texas during my lifetime! Lived there as a kid 1961-1962.

My mother recalls a siren would sound off every time the highway lift bridge was raised for a passing ship. I think the railroad had a swing bridge. This would have been 1950 to 1953.

Always a must-stop place to eat at when we drive west of Ft. Worth on I-20. https://www.smokestack.net/ Across the interstate is this neat museum on Thurber's coal mining and brick making past: https://www.tarleton.edu/gordoncenter/

Best book store I've found for Texas and Western history, lore, and fiction! Owner does mail order sales too. http://www.cactusbookshop.com/

Had reservations there for 4 days in September. That got cut back to Fridays and Saturdays only about a month before we showed up. Then 24 hours before we were to check in, we got a call that Indian Lodge was closed until early October 2020 because some of the staff tested positive for COVID-19. No alternatives were provided or even a list of places. We ended staying here in Ft. Davis on short notice and liked it: Mountain Trail Lodge https://www.mountaintrailslodge.com/

Looking for some place a bit retro to overnight in West Texas? Try this place: https://antelopelodge.com/ Built in 1950. It still looks it inside and out. Important things have been updated and remodeled though. Rooms are clean with new beds, fridge, and microwave. TV too. It's a trip back 70 years!

Two summers ago it was hard to find a place to overnight between Big Spring and Van Horn for less than $200 a night. A few weeks ago I drove Pecos to Abilene and saw an explosion of new motels and all sorts of temporary housing.

I've heard the food is fantastic and photos of the hotel entices one to overnight there. https://hotelblessing.com/

A.J. Foyt Chevrolet where I bought my 1978 Chevy Nova!

In the 1970s I would occasionally attend the mariachi mass at St. Joseph's. They had singers (and musicians) who could belt out the songs!

This book is a thumbnail guide to Houston: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1467118001/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2QETXY0KJE7TY&coliid=I37P7DATCBKC52 Not much depth, but it covers a lot of topics.

I saw this book at Barnes & Noble yesterday: http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Houston-William-Dylan-Powell/dp/1910496758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458481972&sr=8-1&keywords=lost+houston

Check out the new book from University of Texas Press on River Oaks and Highland Park http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/ferhig

Yep, that's Illinois Central's "Green Diamond" train set on tour before it went into regular service between Chicago-Springfield-St. Louis in the 1930s. P.S. T&P and CNO&TP are two different railroads, neither of which served Houston. The latter was not even in Texas despite the name!