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Published: November 28th 2006
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Very nice town
We love it here Shawne and Jo say...
Day 33
Mileage Today: 0
Flats Today: 0
DAY OFF
Waking up in a bed, inside a warm home made it difficult to get going. We wanted to just lay there and snuggle for hours. We finally rose to find that Liz had already left to visit her man. We dressed and left the house, on the way to breakfast. Liz told us not to worry about locking the house because it wasn't necessary here. We heard that the locals can eaily identify tourists by noticing people who use their remote control to lock their cars, hearing the short beep or chirp as the doors lock. People here don't lock their cars; they even leave the keys in the ignition! We ate breakfast at a nice cafe that also had local art for sale on the walls. A group of cowboys sat at a table across the room, discussing hunting and ranching.
A small, frail old woman entered the cafe and found an empty table. We watched in amazement as every one of the men at the large table stood up as the old woman approached. They greeted her and helped her to her table, pulling
out her chair and helping her with her jacket and handbag. After the woman was seated and comfortable, the cowboys all sat back down and continued with their stories as if nothing unusual had just occurred. We'd never seen that kind of respect and gentlemanly conduct in our lives, especially from a group of roughneck cowboys in the middle of telling action-packed tales of a good hunting trip. We were dumbfounded.
We left the cafe and walked about town, stopping at a real estate office. We flipped through a property guide as we spoke with the agent. Many of the homes in Alpine were in the low $100,000 range. Property was going for $6,000 an acre! We were liking this place more and more every minute. Heading back to Liz's house, we discussed the possibility of living in Texas.
Shawne installed the odometer on Liz's bicycle as Jo updated some of the travelblog. Shawne made the mistake of turning on the Magic Picture Box (aka the television) and lost all motivation to write in the journal as he flipped through the channels. He noticed in the local newspaper that there was a Halloween Parade around five o-clock tonight. We decided
Strange trike
A recumbent trike with elecric assist! it would be a great experience, especially since we were going to miss the Nevada Day Parade at home.
After lounging around for a few more hours, we left the house to find the parade route. After asking for directions, we found the starting point of the parade and walked down the street toward the high school The sidewalks were dotted with children in costume, their eyes trained on the starting point of the parade.
We searched for a place to sit, finally finding an empty spot on a rock wall in front of a house. There were a few people sitting on the wall, so Jo tried her first Texas accent...
"This y'all's fence?" she asked.
Without skipping a beat, a man replied, "Nah, wanna help us hold it up?"
We laughed a grapped a spot on the wall. The branches of a few large pecan trees hung overheat, dropping nuts all over the ground at our feet. People picked up the pecans, crushing the shells against the rock wall and eating the treat inside. We tried this a few times, only to find the meat inside to be old and rotten. Then, we learned that the best nuts
Waiting
The streets are lined with cars and people, waiting for the Halloween Parade. were still on the tree. Jo stood atop the wall, balancing as she reached far above her head to snatch a few pecans. She broke them open and enjoyed a snack.
The parade started as a police car rolled past us with it's siren blasting and it's lights flashing. An ambulance and two fire trucks followed behind. Handfuls of candy flew through the air as firefighters and EMT's tossed sweets to the children on the roadside. Five pickup trucks, some with trailers, were decorated in various themes and filled with children and adults who also threw candy to the crowd. Two women rode by on horseback followed by a golf cart decorated with spiderwebs and other festive goodies. Then, it was over. It seemed that half the town turned out for this five minute parade. The children had a great time, and so did we!
We walked down the main drag of town and noticed something missing. It was graffiti! The sides of buildings and railroad overpasses were clean and bare...not a hint of spraypaint. We toured the downtown area, then strolled back to the house for dinner. Liz had a large bowl of Halloween candy on the coffee table
in the livingroom that we simply could not resist. After cooking and eating a delicious meal of beef ribs (It was such a treat to have an oven to cook in!), we made our way to a bar we'd seen earlier to enjoy a few frosy barley pops. The place was packed, and cars overflowed from the parking lot and filled the streets. Two bouncers at the door checked our ID's and asked for a six dollar cover charge a piece. They were dressed the same, in a flannet shirt and gray wig and beard...but we couldn't figure our who they were supposed to be. We didn't have any cash on us, so they let us go inside to pay the cover at the bar with a credit card. Once inside, the line for a drink was long, the music was very loud, and there was nowhere to sit. We noticed that all of the other employees, even the women, had a flannel shirt and a gray beard and wig. We still couldn't figure out the costumes. Then, we saw a man that was not incostume, but had a flannel shirt with a gray beard and long gray hair tied
in a pony tail. We gifured that he must be the owner and all the employees decided to dress like him for Halloween! We de3cided that the place was too busy for us at the moment; we were looking more for a bar with a juke box and some good conversation. We found it down the road at the Crystal Bar. There were a few cowboys and cowgirls glued to the TV for a big college football game featuring Texas A&M.
We struck up some conversation with the bartenders, Daniel and Zach, as well as a few of the patrons. We asked about some of the strange signs that were posted, like:
'Anyone underage caught drinking alcohol in this establishment will be banned from the premises until they are 21 years of age.'
-and a bumper sticker that read-
'Does my fat a** make my a** look fat?'
We then asked about the area and how they liked living in Alpine. Everynoe we talked to had nothing but good things to say about the town and the people. We asked about drug abuse and were told that, "some kids may smoke pot once in a while".
"What about meth problems?"
Jo asked.
"OH NO! GOD NO! We don't have anything like that here!" was the reply.
Everyone we talked to who had moved there decided that they would never leave. "It's a great place to raise a family," we were told again and again.
The conversation turned to employment, and Shawne was offered a job as a driller, and Jo was asked to be a bartender. We enjoyed a few beers and headed for the house. We stopped at a gas station for a snack, the walked the rest of the way to Liz's place.
Another night in a soft and safe bed put us to sleep quickly.
THANK YOU LIZ!!!
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Mom
non-member comment
Alpine, Texas
Sounds like a friendly place. No wonder you are thinking about making this home. You know it gets real HOT in Texas in the summer right? Plus they have snakes, scopions and all other types of big bugs coz everything is big in Texas. Talk with you soon. I am glad you are almost done with your adventure but am so proud that you did it. Hugs and Kisses...Mom