WALTZ ACROSS TEXAS

There are less than 200 miles between Wellington, TX and Dimmit, TX.  In between are 4 of the 7 remaining original mile markers from the Ozark (Auto) Trail.  But there are 5 OTHER reasons to ride those 200 miles which gives me 9 reasons (and counting) to go back.

Reason One - The tamales at Galvan’s in Turkey, TX. 

Yes, the home of Bob Wills is also home to the second best tamales in the universe.  (The best are at Joseph’s in Santa Rosa, NM.  But that’s another trip.)  The first time I pulled in to Galvan’s it was late in the afternoon and I was hungry.  I asked if the tamales on the menu were handmade.  The waitress smiled and said “yes”.   Worth the trip.

Reason Two - Caprock Canyon State Park.  

I’ve spent many nights backpacking in New Mexico, and Colorado and this little park a couple of miles north of Quiteque rivals most of them.  On my first visit I rolled in just before dark along with a Gold Wing who’d ridden from Kingfisher, OK.  He said he just needed to get away for the weekend.  There was no cell phone signal and it was dead quiet except for a chuck-will’s-widow calling in the distance.  [A chuck-will’s-widow is a night hawk from the same family as a whippoorwill.  And, like the whippoorwill, is named after the sound of it’s call.]  That night, when the stars came out, they ALL came out.  It was so dark you could see the milky way!  Worth the trip.

Reason Three - Tampico, TX - It was an oil boom town in the 1920s.  Now it's a ghost town.  It’s 10 miles east of Turkey and a mile south of the highway.  Keep an eye peeled for the small "Historical Marker" sign or you'll blow right past it and never know it. If you look, you can see the foundations of the old stores on the south side of the dirt road that  runs west of the OT marker.  

An original Ozark Trail marker in it’s original location on the dirt road Main Street of a ghost town.  Worth the trip.

Reason Four - The old train station in Tulia and the brick street in that runs east all the way to the OT marker on the town square.  

You can stand at the depot and imagine what it was like arriving by train and heading in to the center of town. The OT marker in Tulia is in it’s original location and is my favorite of the remaining original seven.  Brick street. Town square.  Train depot.  Worth the trip.

Reason Five - The People.  

Like the waitress at Galvan’s. Or the hunter who helped me lift my motorcycle that had fallen over while I was kicking around Tampico.  Or the guy in Dimmit who saw me taking pictures of the OT Marker on a Sunday morning and stopped and offered to go get the keys to the local museum so I could see more local OT memorabilia.  Or the two overnight clerks at the Allsups in Quiteque (pronounced kitty - kway) who sold me soda and cookies or the staff at the Caprock Canyon park office who made me feel welcome anytime.  There’s good people along those 200 miles.  Worth the trip.