San Angelo, TX
The drive through West Texas continues to be wide open spaces. Thank goodness I started out with a full tank of gas. The entire drive was a 2-lane road at 75mph, and I was the only car for most of the trip. All along the road are blooming wildflowers, yellow, orange, purple, and white. I saw a lot of cows, sheep, a few horses, and a small herd of impala. (Apparently hunting impala is a thing in Texas.) A pair of wild turkeys crossed the road right in front of me.
The ranches along the way have neat entrances and names like Coyote Creek, New Horizons, and Antler Creek. One ranch is named Acts 16:31. (Look it up.) These ranch gates made me think of Southfork – seen in the opening credits of Dallas, the TV show.
The International Water Lily Garden is a small gem of a park in San Angelo. I enjoyed talking with a group of women, all wearing matching turquoise tee shirts, who were on a girls trip to San Angelo from Lubbock. All you can hear in the garden is the gurgling water in each tank and lots of birdsong. There is no shade at this garden and today’s temperature is 89o.
After the beautiful libraries at Baylor University, the Angelo State University Library was a letdown. It has an institutional feel, though the quiet of a Saturday visit might have been part of that detached feeling. I didn’t see much in the way of opportunities for student engagement except for a small jigsaw puzzle table.
Lunch today at Taqueria Jalisco was a one-of-a-kind mixture of chicken, beef, and shrimp in a queso sauce with tortillas and pico de gallo. Dinner at Angry Cactus: blackened catfish with veggies and lime rice. As I left, I saw the group of women I had met earlier, still in their turquoise shirts.
Kelly's SC to CA Road Trip and Reflections 