A Weekend in Texas - Oklahoma City to Austin on the Back Roads
“Look for chances to take the less-traveled roads. There are no wrong turns.”
In Febuary we headed to Austin for the annual WEIRD Open fencing tournament. We had a lot of fun and I'm crazy proud of Darrell because he did so well. If I ever get caught up on my photo editing I'll have to share a few of my favorite shots from the event. They're always tons of fun and the people are awesome.
We decided to leave a day early and take the long way down. He looked up a few stops beforehand (he's able to find anything on a map and I'm pretty sure it's magic) like cool abandoned buildings and interesting little towns. But we also stumbled across some great things, including the most wonderful almond croissants (and eclairs) I've had since New Orleans.
Texas has gotten really good about posting no trespassing signs, almost every place we stopped had one. I totally understand why and we always obey them but I wish urban exploration wasn't so frowned on. We're not planning to deface anything, we're cautious when it comes to exploring old structures, and our only goal is documentation. I feel like there should be a license or certification or something. Is that weird? Or maybe it's weird that most of our road trip goals involve finding an awesome abandoned building to photograph?
My favorite random spot we came across was Baby Head Cemetery. We drove by and then had to turn around when I realized what the sign said. In the late 1800's the remains of a child were found on a nearby mountain, hence the name. And at one point there was a town and creek with the same name. It's a sad story and an unforgettable morbid name.
Our next stop was Longhorn Cavern State Park just before they closed for the day. We didn't make it in enough time to tour the cave but we'll be in the area again next year and it's on our list to revisit. You can walk down into the sink hole where the entrance to the caverns are and there's an exhibit about the Civilian Conservation Corps work in Texas and trails above.
One of the things I love about getting off the interstate are scenic drives; sometimes we plan a trip around them or just stumble on to one. And thank goodness for Google because I always want to know why they were created and what the entire route is. We spent some time on the Texas Forts Trail and it's a beautiful area. I'm pretty sure we were on another one at one point but I forgot to get a picture of the sign.
The last stop before the tournament was Inner Space Cavern. (I think the theme for most our adventures is probably abandoned places and deep dark caves) This has got to be my favorite tour of all the caves we've seen though. Our tour guide was Jesse and he made all the difference. He knew everything you could possibly want to know about the caverns and made the whole tour fun and interesting.
I'm sure we'll be going through Texas again sometime soon. Especially since Dallas is the nearest place to get an In'N'Out Burger. But I'm always looking for a new place to see. Where are your favorite spots?
