luckenbach, geology, rowes, look who I found

October 21, 2008

Day Thirty

"If you find Luckenbach, you have to be looking for it."
- Hondo Crouch -

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It was cool this morning when I left. Perfect weather and perfect roads today.

Do most bike tourers write about the weather as much as me? Sometimes it feels like I've turned into one of those old guys who sits in front of the television with a bottle of Maalox in one hand, the remote in other, while wearing a Mr. Rogers sweater and watching the Weather Channel all day.

My parents retired to Johnson City, which is only about thirty miles east of Fredericksburg. They've since moved, but for years I had always wanted to visit Luckenbach, which is fairly close. My uncle, aunt, and cousins lived in Johnson City when we were growing up, yet I never made it over to Luckenbach. Twice, I decided to go while on my way to Fredericksburg, but never saw the sign. Later I learned that every time they put one up someone would steal it.

So, now, I know where to turn, and I'm going! Let’s go to Luckenbach, Texas!

Hondo Crouch, a local rancher and regional folk hero, bought Luckenbach in 1970 when he saw an ad in the paper: "town - pop. 3 - for sale." Hondo was a poet/sage who used Luckenbach to host the first Women's Only Chili Cook-off, as well as a World's Fair ("World" because he proclaimed Luckenbach as the center of the universe), and the Mud Dauber Fest (based on the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano each year).

After Hondo died in 1976 his music-making friends penned the song "Luckenbach Texas," which was then recorded by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson in 1978. The song, now a classic, became a huge hit all over the country and put Luckenbach on the map.

When you pull into town, there's not much there... a post office and a few scattered outbuildings. Really, what do you expect for a town with a population of 3?

The dance hall is closed but still hosts concerts Tuesday through Saturday. There's a small amphitheater where hundreds, if not thousands, of people have played over the years, some of whom have gone on to become famous.

While I was there, I had a sense of the place having a rich history. Although there were the normal trinkets you can buy at any tourist trap (bumper stickers that say "Luckenbach, TX, pop 3" and keyrings that say "Luckenbach, TX: Where Everybody's Somebody"), I didn't get the sense of it being touristy... although maybe that's because there were no tourists.

When I walked through the store to the bar in the back, a guy was sitting on a stool playing a guitar. He was pretty good, and I pictured this having happened quite a lot in the last forty years.

The guy behind the bar, Danny Terry, acted like I was a regular who'd known me for years.... the sign of an excellent bartender. I bought a Coke for a buck, and we chatted for a while. On the way out, I noticed that he had some CDs for sale, placed alongside Willie's, Waylon's, and some others.

As I worked my way back to the front, I stopped and talked to the cashier. There I learned that at one time there was a Luckenbach Festival, but the 14,000 people who attended were just too much for the local law enforcement to cover so they stopped having it.

The regular cashier, Virgil the Store Guy, was at a meeting. Apparently, that's all anyone knows him by, and there's a business card at the cash register with his name on it... Virgil the Store Guy.

I also learned that in the eighties, as a joke, there was a parking meter in front of the General Store/Post Office. All you had to do was park in the space beside it and you wouldn't have to pay the meter.

As you can see, there are a lot of "Kinky" bumperstickers. They refer to Kinky Friedman, a somewhat liberal singer/songwriter who ran for governor on a "dewussification of Texas" platform. There's also a "Holler & Swaller" sticker. I had to look that one up, and it's not what I had originally thought. Fortunately.

You could look at vintage pictures for hours. There are also a lot of business cards stuck in every nook and cranny.

After hanging out in Luckenbach for a little over an hour and chatting with several other people who were passing through, I finally climbed back on the bike and started riding.

A lot of the rolling landscape is filled with oak trees and Spanish moss. I saw at least twenty deer on my way to Blanco. The Texas Hill Country is exactly that: hilly.

My path followed the Pedernales river. In Texas, it's pronounced PER duh NAL us. Because of the drought it's not much of a river, and was even stagnant in places.

The geology in this area are unique, and shows Precambrian formations and stone. Interestingly, there aren't a lot of places on the planet where you can see Precambian rock. In other locations they get covered up (aka "overprinted") because of shifting tectonic plates, earthquakes, and volcanos. The Llano Uplift, as this region is called, is essentially untouched by the passage of 1.3 billion years and gives a clear picture of the Precambrian Era. Compare it to the Jurassic Period, which is "only" 56 million years ago. The tyrannosaurus rex and brontosaurus came well after the Precambrian Age. Enchanted Rock, seventeen miles north of Fredericksburg, is much older than any dinosaur bones.

Today was one of those perfect days in which you could ride forever. The weather, the scenery, the low humidity, the (lack of) wind... everything made it an ideal day to ride.

at first glance, I thought these were piles of hay

Although I could've gone a lot farther today, Blanco (pop 1,505) was my final stop because I have a place to stay there.

The first thing I did when I got to town was eat. I'm still trying to eat as much Mexican food and barbecue as I can while I'm in the South, so I stopped at Riley's on the town square. I also got some Blue Bell ice cream, which is unavailable in Iowa.

Riley’s picnic tables, with decor typical of most barbecue places in the region

While I was there I met and chatted with Mary and Jim Rowe, a couple from Mississippi who are traveling around. They've seen bikers on the road before and had some questions about a few things. Interestingly, they were different from the ones people usually ask. They very kindly gave me their address in Mississippi in case I pass near them on my way to Florida.

Tonight I'll be staying with Tommy and Vickie Bibb. I worked with Vickie when I lived in Munday, Texas. Tommy has since retired and they moved to Blanco, and I moved north shortly thereafter.

I wanted to get at least one blog posted so I rode to the public library. Vickie offered her computer, but I didn't want to show up and say, "HI! I haven't seen you in ten years! Where's your computer?"

While I was at the library I got a text message and replied. Twenty minutes later, guess who showed up?

My friend Klaus! He texted me, asking where I was. He was coming to Blanco from the opposite direction, Kerrville, and had spent last night in Comfort. (It’s too bad I wasn’t there with him. We could’ve made bad jokes about the town’s name like we did in Hope and Surprise) I texted him back and told him I was at the Blanco Public Library. His reply was that he's five miles away.

I called Vickie and asked her if Klaus could also stay the night. She's been reading the blog, so she already knew about him.

Klaus and I rode to the Bibb’s, where we spent some time catching up. We showered, then went out to eat at a local Mexican food cafe.

On the way back, Tommy took us on a tour of the town. He retired as a superintendent a few years ago.

When the topic of Tommy’s retirement came up Klaus, puzzled, made a comment that none of us had ever considered before. "When you retire, why do you move away from friends when you need them most?"

It's true... many people tend to move somewhere else after they retire and we were at a loss for an answer.

Back at the house, we visited some more. We calculated the difference in mileage between what Klaus did and what I did... he rode 141 more miles than I did and still made it to Blanco at the same time.

He is hard.

In Blanco, I'm back on the ACA route. Just up the road, about eight miles, there's an Austin alternate for people who are interested in going there. Klaus is considering it, but perhaps he’ll pick a different route since no one has said, "YOU'RE GONNA GET KILLED!!!"

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distance: 36.6 mikes
average speed: 12 mph
maximum speed: 35.0 mph
time on the bike: 3:01:53
cumulative miles: 1433 mikes

Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 1,433 miles (2,306 km)

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