Lubbock, on the way to Amarillo

We had a longish drive yesterday, about 300 miles, but we broke it up with a stop halfway in Lubbock.  This town is the home of Texas Tech University, and on their campus is the National Heritage Ranching Center.  It is an outdoor exhibit of many buildings relocated to this spot and restored to show the evolution of dwellings through the plains and prairies of Texas from the late 1700s to the early 1900s.  They have done an outstanding job, with smooth, paved pathways leading from building to building in chronological order and excellent signage explaining each one.  We also had a phone app with audio presentations as well.

The temperature was 99 with a bright blue, cloudless sky, but there was a constant breeze and many benches in the shade for rest along the way.  We did not feel oppressed by the heat, but near the end of the two hours and mile and half walk, we realized we should have carried a water bottle.  I skipped the last few buildings, which turned out to be very interesting ones, because I gave up and headed back to the main building that had a water fountain and air conditioning.  I waited for Mark to do the last batch.  When he got back, he was dizzy when he bent over the water fountain.  He realized he had overdone it a bit, too.  Dry heat can be deceiving when you don't feel like you are hot!   We would never walk two hours in the summer around WDW without carrying our water bottles.

Then we headed up to Amarillo and got frozen dinners at a local grocery store to nuke in the room and watch TV.  That was very relaxing.  I had an hour to read my Lewis and Clark book.  I have only 24 pages left to read, and then I will start the Sam Houston biography.

This morning we are heading about 50 minutes southeast of Amarillo to Palo Duro Canyon.  This is the site of Comanches and the massacre of about 1200 Comanche horses by Commander MacKenzie's troops out of Fort Concho.  It will be especially interesting because we just were in Fort Concho listening to Rocia tell us that story, and we listened to the incident in the book Texas as we were driving up here yesterday.  Perfect timing for us.  We are also visiting the Panhandle and Plains Museum in Canyon, Texas this afternoon.  Then we have a reservation at Ohm's Cafe, THE  place to eat in Amarillo.  This is my birthday dinner, a day early!

My weight is back down today.  It was probably an aberration of the scale.  It's hard to believe I went up three or four pounds and then back down when I kept my calories low and did a lot of walking both days.  This morning I was 264.2, which is up three-tenths.  That's fine because the scale is only supposed to be accurate to two-tenths.  I'll take it, especially since I'm still below my first milestone of 265.

I have planned breakfast and lunch and have about 900 calories left for dinner.  I don't know what I'll be eating at the Ohm's Cafe, but I'll try to make the best choices possible and still have fun for my birthday dinner.

Fabulous large sculpture garden of 16 steers and two men on horseback as if they were at a watering hole.   Various local ranches donated money for each piece of the sculpture.

Inside the Visitor Center was a large room of various types of vehicles.

Los Corralitos, c. 1780, representing the early Spanish Colonial period in South Texas

El Capote cabin, c. 1838, representing the simple architecture of frontier days in the early Republic of Texas era 

A dog trot style, still my favorite. Hedwig's Hill, 1855, built near the Llano River in central Texas

Howell House, 1872.  This family built a two story limestone house after the Indians burned down their wood house.  There are slits in the second floor wall for rifles.

WOW!  That giant rabbit ran right past us, then paused in the grass by that tree.

Then he took off again.  It was HUGE!

Waggoner Ranch commissary building, c. 1870s

Long's Whiteface Camp, 1901, named for the white-faced Hereford cattle raised on the ranch.  Began as a dugout partially buried in the ground.  The second story was added in 1903.

In the middle of the cabin, looking up.

Mark is standing on the landing that you enter.  He went down to the original part of the house, below ground, and said it was cool down there.

Box and Strip House, 1903, board and batten construction was a step up from the dugouts and economical to build when lumber was brought in by train.  Not very stable though.

Every building was set up inside with period pieces to stage it appropriately.  You are not allowed inside, just looking over a gate.  This is inside the Box and Strip house.

Five different windmills of different styles and eras were also on the property.

The Bairfield school house, 1890.

Harrell House, 1883, 1900, and 1917.   The family kept adding on until it got quite large and beautiful.

This is an example of the type of sign outside each building.  Half in English and on the right was a Spanish version.

Las Escarpadas, 1886

 

Las Escapades was one of 7 Division Headquarters buildings for the 3 MILLION acre XIT ranch.  This ranch was located in the panhandle. 

The headquarters building was offices and living quarters for the manager and a place for the cowboys to eat.

Matador office, 1880

One of the rooms in the Matador office.

Queen Anne style Barton house, 1909.   Five rooms plus a bathroom on both floors.

Mark took the rest of the pictures because I had bailed out already by this time. This is a locomotive powered by coal.

Ramp for the cattle to go up into the box cars.  They packed them in tight so that they didn't fall when the train went around curves or swayed too much.

Ropes Train Depot, opened 1918.