West Texas: Beautiful. In a stark, barren, desolate sorta way.

I'll be the first to admit I have a hobby that maybe not a lot of other people have. I like to drive. A lot. I mean, it's OK to drive the family from point A to point B to get to wherever we have predetermined we're going. But mainly I just like to get out and drive down roads I've never been down before. And then come home and use a highlighter to mark where I've just been. OK, so maybe it's the second part of my avowed strange hobby that perhaps makes it strange. I can probably thank my Dad for that behavior. So ... thanks, Dad.

I've come to grips with my weirdness in more ways than one. But for the purposes of this blog entry, the weird-hobby highlight-driving that I like to do. Not only have I come to grips with it, I relish it. It's not as though I get up and look for places to drive just so I can be out of the office.

Wednesday I went to Alpine to do some legwork on a story for the web site. And when I arrived, I thought how boring it would be to retrace my steps and return home the same way I came, despite the fact that one of the legs of the trip -- the stretch of Hwy. 67 which extends from a point about eight miles west of Stockton to a point about six miles east of Alpine -- is one of the most scenic panoramic-view drives you could hope to find in Far West Texas. (It's not my favorite; the drive from Marfa to Presidio trumps it by a bit.)

So instead of coming home the way I drove down, I decided to add about 45 minutes to the journey home and return via Marathon-Sanderson-Sheffield-Iraan-Rankin.

Maybe I should've been a geologist. Or a truck driver. Or a truck driver for a geologist. I find unexplored roads all fascinating and not the least bit boring. I put 432 miles on the truck yesterday and only for a brief time did I ever tire of the scenes along the way.

I've heard about people being from Sanderson before, but having actually been there now, I wonder ... how on earth did they survive? I don't know that I've ever seen a more desolate town.

Up the road a bit, I joked to the sheriff of Upton County a couple years ago in McCamey that his county looked to be more stark, more barren even than southern Brewster County and he seemed almost offended. But after driving north through Terrell County and topping that off with a run through Upton, I think I may actually be right. Nothing against either place. At least southern Brewster has a designated major tourist stop that brings in visitors. But in Upton and Terrell, there's a lot of nothing. Nothing, that is, except God's spectacular dig.

The canyon north of Sanderson (left) is something I wasn't quite expecting nor was the remote stretch between Iraan and Rankin ... eerie in an eerily beautiful kind of way. While Sanderson is surrounded by mesa and canyon walls, Iraan seems to be hiding from Rankin, stuck behind the mountains and buttes between the two outposts.

I have to say, though, that the sheriff in McCamey was right about one thing: the stretch of Hwy 67 west of McCamey to I-10 near Stockton is not the most desolate strip of blacktop in West Texas. That distinction, at least up to this point in my life, belongs to the seemingly endless road between Marathon and Sanderson. If you ever attempt to drive it, you do want to make certain you are gassed up,with a crank case of fresh oil, replenished fluids and plenty of tread. Although it is a mere 42 miles between the two points, it is as bleak as West Texas gets. In a beautiful sort of way.

The Bible is replete with stories of the symbolism of entering the desert. Perhaps that's the attraction for me; the need to enter into the desert and replenish on a regular basis. Whatever it is, this land, this West Texas we live in, is a magnificent thing to behold.

If you find it boring ... drive it again and see it for what it really is.

Comments

[Billq]

Jimmy

Good post. There is no place I would rather be that right here in West Texas. My favorite places are the Big Bend and Guadalupe Peak.

Blessings,

Bill

[jimmy]

Hey Bill, thank you for the comment ... this place does have some pretty exquisite sights (and sites) ... and some great day trips.

[Jen W.]

I loved this post so much that I had to make my first comment on your blog. It hits close to home for me, I love to drive too. I drive to Colorado City at least twice a month to pick up and drop off my step-daughter when she visits, and I often wish I could just keep driving; any direction would do!

What really prompted me to comment was that I have a suggestion/request. Do you have an account on a photo-sharing site anywhere? I have a Flickr account and I love it, but wherever you stored them I would love to see more of your traveling photos.

[Chris Clark]

Gas must be cheaper out there...I dunno anyone that can afford to drive for "fun".

Way back, when gas was cheap, I like to do the same thing, only in east texas...I guess my forests are your deserts...

Great post and pics...

[jimmy]

Ji Jen ... thanks for the note. That's a great idea. I do havea few photos you may enjoy looking at. I'll see what all it takes to set one up and let you know if I do that ... thank you for posting for the first time. Do come again :)

Chris ... How can you see the landscape with all those darn trees?

[Dan Varner]

I'm with Jen W...long time reader, but first time to post. I'm new to West Texas (within the last year), transplanted from south of Houston by means of the oil patch. I wasn't sure that I was going to like it much out here, but I have been pleasantly surprised. There is a beauty that is very hard to describe. I have a deer lease just south of Crane between Castle Mt and King Mt. and the views (and sunsets/rises) are as spectacular as I've ever seen.

Thanks for the post and Pics Jimmy. I look forward to exploring more of West Texas. Thanks again.

[jimmy]

Dan ... welcome to West Texas A friend of mine told me it was in Terrell County, north of Sanderson, where the word 'remote' was actually created.

[Janie]

Awesome pix, Jimmy the P! Glad you're out and about and cruising beautiful West Texas.

[Janie]

You know, if you'd do a rig count while you're trekking around, you might just be able to sell your data!

[Cowtown Pattie]

We desert rats love desolation West Texas style!

[Joanna]

You would be amazed about many of us from Sanderson that now live in the Midland area. We still call it "home" and you should see how big that little town will get on July 4th-our homecoming!

[jimmy]

Janie ... Hey, long time no hear. You been out traveling yourself, eh?

[Jimmy]

CP ... Hey, you need to get out here and sit a spell. Must be rough on a Cowtowner like yourself to be so far removed from real beauty. I figured you might like the Ross Maxwell quote in the next post, too ...

[jimmy]

Joanna: I admire you and all the other Sandersonites (?) for your self preservation. I probably should have stuck around and explored it a little bit more last week ... You guys are obviously a strong bunch.