The small towns in and near the panhandle of Texas are always praying for and awaiting the next precipitation within an hour of the last rainfall. Speed limits drop as quickly as the rain approaching these apple pie slices of rural America. If the faded glory is strong enough there may even be a stop light. Most of the time the K2R2 slows enough to see our distorted reflection wiggle along on either side of the road in the windows of abandoned store fronts like some giant fun house mirror room.
Leaving Cap Rock Canyon State Park out of Quitaque towards Turkey, Texas the you pass a drive in theater painted like a giant American flag rising out of the prairie. The Midway Drive Inn Theater is located, oddly enough, midway between Turkey and Quitaque or midway between Los Angeles and New York City. The marquee claims to be closed just for a winter that appears to have turned into forever. Like the landscape, forever.
Then there are places like Turkey, Texas from whence the king of western swing Bob Wills hails. Through the efforts of local residents they have kept alive the eight beats to the bar moves dear to the hearts of Texas swing fans. The pride shows in the preservation of this town.
After passing by Whiteflat, Texas, which was named for the sea needle grass covering the plains, one comes to Matador, Texas. Stopping to eat at Billie Deans allows time to explore the site of Bob’s Oil Well, a landmark for the motorists during the 1940’s. As well as getting full service gas you could get groceries while the kids could see caged rattlesnakes, lions, monkeys, coyotes, and a white buffalo.
Arriving at Knox one is greeted by a long horn tractor. Here instead of allowing the abandoned implements to rust along the byway they are whimsically welded (is that a jarring juxtaposition?) into a redneck art located around town.
The panhandle area is a great place if you slow down enough to see your refection smiling back at you from the windows of the storefronts like the ghost from the past.
