LAS VEGAS -- I am currently on the ground at the GAMA Trade Show, which I am covering for my own Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine, Skirmisher Update, and new "d-Infinity" quarterly magazine, along with Brutarian magazine (which runs "The X-Phile," a parnormal column by yours truly).
If you are interesting in keeping track of or commenting on what I am doing at GTS, go to http://skirmisher.com/forum/index.php?topic=2105.0. And if you are going to be at the show, reply to the post at the above link so we can meet and chat a little face-to-face!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Travel Advisory: Picacho Market, Picacho, Arizona
Avoid this gas station at Exit 212 off of I-10 in Picacho, Arizona, about halfway between Tucson and Phoenix! The fact that their gas cost about 10 cents a gallon more than anywhere else we stopped in the previous two days was bad enough -- but then, when I went to the bathroom to wash up, I discovered that it was equipped with a coin-operated lock that required a quarter to open!
I am pretty sure that making paying customers pay again to use the toilet and wash their hands is illegal in some states, and certainly should be illegal in all of them. And, at the very least, it is sleazy. Stay away from this one; no sense giving your money to jerks.
On the Road: Van Horn, Texas
VAN HORN, TEXAS (March 18, 2010) -- Heading west out of Fort Stockton late in the afternoon while en route to Las Vegas, we were suprised at how few amenities appeared over the ensuing 100-or-so miles; even at the intersection with I-20, where we had imagined there would be a couple of motels and maybe a decent truckstop restaurant, there was literally nothing but roadway. The twinkling lights of Van Horn, Texas, a little crossroads community of about 2,500 people, thus appeared very welcomingly on the darkened horizon ahead of us, and we were pleased to find plenty in the way of places to stay and eat, as follows.
Chuy's Restaurant: This Mexican restaurant was recommended to us by my friend Karen Russell Holmes, a native of Van Horn, and she did not steer us wrong. I ordered the Catfish Picata, nice chunks of fish sauteed with onions, tomatoes, and jalapenos, with rice and beans on the side. My wife, however, ordered the Pork Asado.
"Oh my God! You've got to try this," she said after tasting it.
Humoring her, I tasted it, and was stunned. In short, it was very literally one of the best things I have ever tasted, immediately moving into the top 10 of favorite things I have eaten. (Prompted by this wonderful dish and inspired by a recent article in Texas Monthly magazine, I am starting my own "Texas Bucket List," and "Eating the Pork Asado at Chuy's in Van Horn" is on it.)
Knights Inn and Suites: This place on the I-10 Business bypass was reasonably priced at just $45 plus tax and had nice, clean rooms and good proximity to restaurants and other services. We could not, however, get an Internet connection! For some people this may be irrelevant, and for them or the people for whom the computer in the lobby would be sufficient I can recommend this place without qualifications. If you need to be online with your own computer or for any length of time, however, you should pick one of the many other places to stay in Va Horn.
Chuy's Restaurant: This Mexican restaurant was recommended to us by my friend Karen Russell Holmes, a native of Van Horn, and she did not steer us wrong. I ordered the Catfish Picata, nice chunks of fish sauteed with onions, tomatoes, and jalapenos, with rice and beans on the side. My wife, however, ordered the Pork Asado.
"Oh my God! You've got to try this," she said after tasting it.
Humoring her, I tasted it, and was stunned. In short, it was very literally one of the best things I have ever tasted, immediately moving into the top 10 of favorite things I have eaten. (Prompted by this wonderful dish and inspired by a recent article in Texas Monthly magazine, I am starting my own "Texas Bucket List," and "Eating the Pork Asado at Chuy's in Van Horn" is on it.)
Knights Inn and Suites: This place on the I-10 Business bypass was reasonably priced at just $45 plus tax and had nice, clean rooms and good proximity to restaurants and other services. We could not, however, get an Internet connection! For some people this may be irrelevant, and for them or the people for whom the computer in the lobby would be sufficient I can recommend this place without qualifications. If you need to be online with your own computer or for any length of time, however, you should pick one of the many other places to stay in Va Horn.
On the Road to Las Vegas
My wife Diane and I headed out the afternoon of March 18 on an 11-day roadtrip from Canyon Lake Texas, through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada to Las Vegas where we plan to spend a week; and then back via a different route that will take us, among other places, through Roswell, New Mexico. En route, I will be doing legwork for my newest book project, Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State. Most of the coming posts to this site over the next couple of weeks will be devoted to the good, the bad, the ugly, and the interesting on our 2,700-mile roundtrip.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Driving the Devil’s Backbone
Ranch Road 32 — also known as “the Devil’s Backbone,” a name it shares with the rugged ridgeline along which its runs — is a strange little stretch of road that somehow feels more isolated than it should and which is almost Gothic in its features. Ancient farmsteads lay in the woods and fields along its length, some clearly occupied, some obviously abandoned, and others apparently somewhere in between. Old model trucks, some perfectly restored and others rusting away, sit in yards and meadows. Twisting lanes, a few with appropriately eerie names, such as Purgatory Road, lead off to the north and south, their mysteries concealed almost immediately behind bends.
The Devil’s Backbone runs about 23 miles from where it begins at the intersection with Highway 281 just west of the Comal County line near Blanco, to where it ends at the junction with RR 12, a little bit south of Wimberley. Having a name at all in a state where a disproportionate number of roads are known only by numbers is distinction enough, to be sure, and having a name straight out of a Western is at least twice as good.
That Western ambience is not just a coincidence, of course, and cowboys once ran cattle along the Devil’s Backbone and enjoyed the same striking views that reward travelers to this day. Sections of this drive are, indeed, very beautiful, and at several places drivers can see the land descend dramatically from the edge of the escarpment and into rolling planes to the north. A picnic area in the eastern half of the drive is a good place to pull over for a break and enjoy this view.
Other scenic highpoints include haunting views of the Little Blanco River, straight as an arrow at some points, flanked by immense cypresses, and — being completely dry — appearing more like some long abandoned road than any sort of waterway.
This drive will also be very enlightening for anyone who has ever wondered why Comal County is shaped the way it is, and they will have a much better sense for this after driving this route. The diagonal, northeastern boundary of Comal County runs parallel to the Devil’s Backbone and, following the topography of the region, essentially has one of its edges formed by it.
Another recommended stop along RR 32, located about halfway along its length and just a little to the north of it on Fischer Store Road, is the original family Fischer store itself, which has operated off-and-on at the site for more than a century-and-a-half. Today, the long, corrugated metal building is run as both a museum and an antique shop by Charlene Fischer, whose great-grandfather opened the original general store on the site in 1853 (the current structure was built in 1902).
“There were cattle drives through here,” Charlene said of her ancestors’ decision to establish a store on the Devil’s Backbone. “It took so much land to run cattle that everyone was very spread out and it was a fairly large trade area at the time.” Because of this, she said, the store had two large warehouses for storing inventory, one of which can still stands today.
Back in the old days, Charlene says, driving the Devil’s Backbone was very tough, and Model Ts had to run up the steepest slopes backwards because they were not powerful enough to go up them forwards without overheating. It’s a somewhat easier drive today, of course, and a bit of an excursion into times past in Comal County.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when exploring the Devil’s Backbone:
* At several points, such as near the little Blanco River, there are good places to pull over, park, and walk around. Watch out, however, for anyone who might be driving too fast down RR 32 if you do get out of your car or slow down to enjoy the scenery!
* There are few amenities available along RR 32, so be sure to take any snacks or drinks you might want to have with you. And, as it is a relatively isolated area, be sure to have a cell phone with you as well if you own one (reception does not appear to be a problem along most of the road).
The Devil’s Backbone runs about 23 miles from where it begins at the intersection with Highway 281 just west of the Comal County line near Blanco, to where it ends at the junction with RR 12, a little bit south of Wimberley. Having a name at all in a state where a disproportionate number of roads are known only by numbers is distinction enough, to be sure, and having a name straight out of a Western is at least twice as good.
That Western ambience is not just a coincidence, of course, and cowboys once ran cattle along the Devil’s Backbone and enjoyed the same striking views that reward travelers to this day. Sections of this drive are, indeed, very beautiful, and at several places drivers can see the land descend dramatically from the edge of the escarpment and into rolling planes to the north. A picnic area in the eastern half of the drive is a good place to pull over for a break and enjoy this view.
Other scenic highpoints include haunting views of the Little Blanco River, straight as an arrow at some points, flanked by immense cypresses, and — being completely dry — appearing more like some long abandoned road than any sort of waterway.
This drive will also be very enlightening for anyone who has ever wondered why Comal County is shaped the way it is, and they will have a much better sense for this after driving this route. The diagonal, northeastern boundary of Comal County runs parallel to the Devil’s Backbone and, following the topography of the region, essentially has one of its edges formed by it.
Another recommended stop along RR 32, located about halfway along its length and just a little to the north of it on Fischer Store Road, is the original family Fischer store itself, which has operated off-and-on at the site for more than a century-and-a-half. Today, the long, corrugated metal building is run as both a museum and an antique shop by Charlene Fischer, whose great-grandfather opened the original general store on the site in 1853 (the current structure was built in 1902).
“There were cattle drives through here,” Charlene said of her ancestors’ decision to establish a store on the Devil’s Backbone. “It took so much land to run cattle that everyone was very spread out and it was a fairly large trade area at the time.” Because of this, she said, the store had two large warehouses for storing inventory, one of which can still stands today.
Back in the old days, Charlene says, driving the Devil’s Backbone was very tough, and Model Ts had to run up the steepest slopes backwards because they were not powerful enough to go up them forwards without overheating. It’s a somewhat easier drive today, of course, and a bit of an excursion into times past in Comal County.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when exploring the Devil’s Backbone:
* At several points, such as near the little Blanco River, there are good places to pull over, park, and walk around. Watch out, however, for anyone who might be driving too fast down RR 32 if you do get out of your car or slow down to enjoy the scenery!
* There are few amenities available along RR 32, so be sure to take any snacks or drinks you might want to have with you. And, as it is a relatively isolated area, be sure to have a cell phone with you as well if you own one (reception does not appear to be a problem along most of the road).
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Restaurant Commentary: Burger King (2116 W Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030)
As hard as it might be for a fast-food place in general and a Burger King in particular to fall short of my expectations, this place has done it.
In short, all I really hope for from an establishment of this sort is that the fries are going to be hot and that it is going to be open when it's supposed to be. I have no idea whether the fries at this place were any good -- because it closed at least two hours earlier than it should have and I wasn't able to order them or anything else.
This was especially unfortunate, because I was attending an event at nearby Rice University that kept me on campus late on a Saturday night, and the Burger King next to my hotel was the only place to eat. I got there right at midnight, read the sign sign that said it was open until 2 a.m. that day, and then discovered the door was locked. All the doors were locked. The unpleasant-looking young man behind the counter could not have missed that I was there, rattling the doors and trying to get in, but would not make eye contact and did not have the decency to tell me why I couldn't get in.
Clearly, management is pretty indifferent at this particular BK outlet; the company can run those creepy, "edgy" commercials about "the King," but it hardly matters if the stores won't let anybody in. Avoid this one at all hours, because even if they let you in, the commitment to customer service is clearly pretty low and chances are you will end up unhappy about something else anyway.
In short, all I really hope for from an establishment of this sort is that the fries are going to be hot and that it is going to be open when it's supposed to be. I have no idea whether the fries at this place were any good -- because it closed at least two hours earlier than it should have and I wasn't able to order them or anything else.
This was especially unfortunate, because I was attending an event at nearby Rice University that kept me on campus late on a Saturday night, and the Burger King next to my hotel was the only place to eat. I got there right at midnight, read the sign sign that said it was open until 2 a.m. that day, and then discovered the door was locked. All the doors were locked. The unpleasant-looking young man behind the counter could not have missed that I was there, rattling the doors and trying to get in, but would not make eye contact and did not have the decency to tell me why I couldn't get in.
Clearly, management is pretty indifferent at this particular BK outlet; the company can run those creepy, "edgy" commercials about "the King," but it hardly matters if the stores won't let anybody in. Avoid this one at all hours, because even if they let you in, the commitment to customer service is clearly pretty low and chances are you will end up unhappy about something else anyway.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The Cave Without a Name (Boerne, Texas)
The following article originally appeared in my "Canyon Lake Outdoors" column in The Hilltop Reporter weekly newspaper, for which I am the assistant editor. The Cave Without a Name is just such a terrific place that wanted to share it with my readers on this site as well.
Amazingly, of more than 4,300 known caves in Texas, the vast majority are on private property and a mere seven are run as commercial enterprises that are open to the public. One of those, however, is not just down the road from Canyon Lake, it is an exceptionally beautiful natural site and a genuine Hill Country treasure.
Located north of Boerne and just off of FM 474/East Blanco Road, “the Cave Without a Name” is worth a visit by anyone in the area interested in doing something a little different or looking for a fun way to occupy out of town guests for the afternoon. One of the most appealing characteristics of the cave during much of the year, especially one as hot as this has been, is its constant cool temperature, which can make a visit to it on a hot day a particularly pleasant experience.
“It was discovered in the late ’20s, when ranchers noticed steam coming up around a big rock that used to sit here,” said site manager Mike Burrell, who has worked at the cave for about 11 years. “The cave is always about 66 degrees, always about 100 percent humidity, so on really cold winter days, that relatively warm, moist air hits the cold air and condenses.”
When the landowners eventually moved the rock, they discovered a sinkhole descending 55 feet into the ground. (That hole is about 30,000 years old and eventually converged with the cave itself, which is about 500,000 years old.) Great numbers of prehistoric animal bones have since been found in the cave but no evidence of a human presence. Indeed, it would seem that the first people to make any use of the cave were moonshiners, who set up a still in one of its upper chambers during Prohibition.
“It was not until after Prohibition was over that some kids snuck in here,” Burrell said. “They were the first ones to go beyond where the still was and find the big part of the cave.” After they reported what they had found, people started to explore the cave with ropes and ladders.
In 1938, an entrepreneur from San Antonio named Jimmy Horn purchased the site, installed lights and gravel trails over the natural muddy floor, and in 1939 opened it to the public as an attraction. The following year, Burrell said, Horn held a contest to name the cave, and it was won by a little boy who said that it was too beautiful to have a name, and it was thus simply called “the Cave Without a Name.” For a brief period in the 1960s, one of the site’s subsequent owners did dub it “Century Caverns,” but this caused resentment among locals, who expected to see something new associated with the unfamiliar name but instead discovered it to be the cave they already knew.
Features of the cave include several large galleries containing stunning arrays of stalactites and stalagmites of every size, towering columns, and formations such as flowing draperies, soda straws, and pools of water. One of the most striking attributes of the place is how different one chamber is from another and the variety of features that can be found within them. One great cavern even functions as a natural amphitheater and is used for events like concerts and weddings.
Today, visitors to the cave are able to experience about a quarter-mile of its overall length, much of which has a subterranean stream running through it. There are, however, about three miles of explored passageways at the site — some underwater and accessible only to people with scuba gear — and portions of both that and some upper galleries that can be viewed from the cave floor have still not yet been investigated.
“We have not found the end to it,” said tour guide Luke Pennington. “We’ve kind of reached the end of where [scuba] tanks are going to take you.”
The Cave Without a Name is located at 235 Kreutzberg Road, Boerne, TX 78006. It is open year-round every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Memorial Day to Labor Day and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Labor Day to Memorial Day. For more information about visiting the cave or upcoming special events at it, call 830-537-4212 or go to www.CaveWithoutAName.com.
Amazingly, of more than 4,300 known caves in Texas, the vast majority are on private property and a mere seven are run as commercial enterprises that are open to the public. One of those, however, is not just down the road from Canyon Lake, it is an exceptionally beautiful natural site and a genuine Hill Country treasure.
Located north of Boerne and just off of FM 474/East Blanco Road, “the Cave Without a Name” is worth a visit by anyone in the area interested in doing something a little different or looking for a fun way to occupy out of town guests for the afternoon. One of the most appealing characteristics of the cave during much of the year, especially one as hot as this has been, is its constant cool temperature, which can make a visit to it on a hot day a particularly pleasant experience.
“It was discovered in the late ’20s, when ranchers noticed steam coming up around a big rock that used to sit here,” said site manager Mike Burrell, who has worked at the cave for about 11 years. “The cave is always about 66 degrees, always about 100 percent humidity, so on really cold winter days, that relatively warm, moist air hits the cold air and condenses.”
When the landowners eventually moved the rock, they discovered a sinkhole descending 55 feet into the ground. (That hole is about 30,000 years old and eventually converged with the cave itself, which is about 500,000 years old.) Great numbers of prehistoric animal bones have since been found in the cave but no evidence of a human presence. Indeed, it would seem that the first people to make any use of the cave were moonshiners, who set up a still in one of its upper chambers during Prohibition.
“It was not until after Prohibition was over that some kids snuck in here,” Burrell said. “They were the first ones to go beyond where the still was and find the big part of the cave.” After they reported what they had found, people started to explore the cave with ropes and ladders.
In 1938, an entrepreneur from San Antonio named Jimmy Horn purchased the site, installed lights and gravel trails over the natural muddy floor, and in 1939 opened it to the public as an attraction. The following year, Burrell said, Horn held a contest to name the cave, and it was won by a little boy who said that it was too beautiful to have a name, and it was thus simply called “the Cave Without a Name.” For a brief period in the 1960s, one of the site’s subsequent owners did dub it “Century Caverns,” but this caused resentment among locals, who expected to see something new associated with the unfamiliar name but instead discovered it to be the cave they already knew.
Features of the cave include several large galleries containing stunning arrays of stalactites and stalagmites of every size, towering columns, and formations such as flowing draperies, soda straws, and pools of water. One of the most striking attributes of the place is how different one chamber is from another and the variety of features that can be found within them. One great cavern even functions as a natural amphitheater and is used for events like concerts and weddings.
Today, visitors to the cave are able to experience about a quarter-mile of its overall length, much of which has a subterranean stream running through it. There are, however, about three miles of explored passageways at the site — some underwater and accessible only to people with scuba gear — and portions of both that and some upper galleries that can be viewed from the cave floor have still not yet been investigated.
“We have not found the end to it,” said tour guide Luke Pennington. “We’ve kind of reached the end of where [scuba] tanks are going to take you.”
The Cave Without a Name is located at 235 Kreutzberg Road, Boerne, TX 78006. It is open year-round every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Memorial Day to Labor Day and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Labor Day to Memorial Day. For more information about visiting the cave or upcoming special events at it, call 830-537-4212 or go to www.CaveWithoutAName.com.
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