Among the culinary highlights of my trip were: a homemade piece of pie, a sauerkraut sandwich, and a truly wonderful dinner at a place called the Welfare Cafe; located in Welfare, Texas, pop. 10. Amazing food at a really unlikely location...and a special experience for non-food related reasons as well.
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In Comfort, we ate at a place that had a cowboy duo singing during dinner - they were quite good but it stuck a yodelling song in both of our heads for the rest of the trip and that was NOT good.
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There is a general store in Comfort that has been in the same family since the 1800's; I found a treasure trove of old cheesy postcards there (watch your mailboxes, some of you). We spoke at length with the current owner, whose deceased wife was the first woman in the state of Texas to receive a pilot's license. (She had an uncle who flew and who took her up in his plane when she was five years old and after that she was determined to fly herself.) He had pictures of her with her plane and newspaper clippings about her...it was very cool and very touching. The store itself was like a wayback machine - there were items on the shelves that had obviously been there for over twenty years...really amazing old showcases and cabinets. It seemed like the only viable part of the business was selling hunting licenses...
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Did some hiking at Lost Maples and Enchanted Rock - both very beautiful. Enchanted Rock is a bitch to climb - you go up something like 850 feet within a sixth of a mile...but it is totally worth it when you get to the summit. Moon-like landscape and a 360-degree view. We spent a long time up there laying in the shade under some humongous bolders...it was really nice.
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On the way to the airport yesterday we stopped at the scene of the crime, which was a surreal experience made more so by the somewhat kooky owner, who decided to do his comedy routine for us while we drank the "cowboy coffee" he offered us. He is a little nutty, but ultimately harmless and his schtick took the edge off a very intense experience...which I think was mostly a good thing. And he took our picture in the kitchen, which is where we met, so that was nice.
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And then after that it was the whole crying at the airport deal, which sucked ass.
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But in a month, he will be here, and then a month or so after that, he will be back to help me move...so I need to keep my eyes on the prize and not get too melancholy over the separation in the meantime...
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So far, I am not doing a great job with that.
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