This is one of those times when I'm glad I put off writing my post for a few hours. If I had written what I wanted to write while it was still fresh in my mind, I'd have written something that wasn't quite accurate. Let me explain.
Yesterday was a pretty much wasted day. We sat around most of the day doing nothing. (This isn't necessarily a bad thing.) Mike did get the bald tire taken off the trailer, but since everything was closed in Witchita Falls we couldn't get any tires or do much of anything else. Finally, around 4:30, we decided to get in the truck and go have a look around. (We would have walked, but it was very, very windy.)
The RV park where we're staying is on the edge of town. We drove just a short distance over a rise when a huge downtown district with skyscrapers came into view. "Wow!" we said, in unison. From where the RV is, we couldn't see downtown. Sadly, when we got into the area, we discovered that at least 2/3 of these buildings are boarded up and abandoned. There were big "For Lease" banners hanging everywhere. I've heard of urban blight, but I've never actually seen the embodiment of it. The waste of real estate and resources was appalling. It reminded us of the ghost town Rhyolite on the edge of Death Valley that once was a booming mining town. Rhyolite now stands completely abandoned and falling down. We wondered what could have caused such decay in Witchita Falls in what clearly was once a lively business district. Whatever the cause, I was sad to see it. We returned to the trailer with the impression that this is a terribly depressed area, and it bothered us a great deal. I thought about it as I fell asleep last night.
This morning, we had some errands to run. The tires will be here tomorrow. (Including the spare, we are replacing four.) Mike needed something from the drug store, and we did our grocery shopping. We also needed to replace a bulb in one of the truck's headlights. In the process of doing all of this, we discovered the "other side of the tracks" in Witchita Falls. There seems to be a thriving suburban area with the usual list of business and restaurant chains (Walgreen's, Albertsons, Applebee's, Subway, Quizno's, to name a few). We went to the one quilt shop I could find, but it was closed on Mondays. (Maybe tomorrow, if we have time.) There were some lovely residential areas, some with really huge and stately homes. We also discovered a solid educational institution in the Midwestern State University campus. (I love universities.) So it seems that Witchita Falls is a vibrant community after all. I felt much better about it after seeing all of that. Still, I wonder what happened to the downtown area and what caused its abandonment. It certainly builds a case for urban renewal.
The construction here is interesting. We notice that most structures are built of brick, and we surmise it has something to do with the tornadoes that are known to pop up in this part of the country. As I said, it was very windy, and we saw at least two instances of aluminum roofs that appeared to have been lifted off of their foundations and thrown elsewhere like a wad of tin foil. Indeed, we saw some emergency response sirens that can only indicate a tornado warning system. What else could it be? (The only other time I've seen such sirens was when I lived in Hawaii, and they were to warn of tsunamis. I hardly think this is a tsunami zone.) Interestingly, when we were looking for a place to stay, some of the RV parks advertised having storm shelters. Many of the homes are built in the colonial style with large columns in front. The ones with two stories have fire escapes like those seen on old buildings in large cities.
While I wouldn't describe Witchita Falls as a tourist mecca, it does feel as if we've moved to the interior of a "region" of our country that we've not really seen before. It lacks the distinctive flavor of Mexico that is seen closer to the border. It doesn't yet feel like the south either. Could it be that we've ventured into what some would call the "heartland" of America? I'm going to be interested to see what we find when we go north into Oklahoma City tomorrow or the next day.
As I've said before, I grew up in a military family. I've traveled all over the United States in a little tiny trailer and I like to think I've seen most of it. I haven't been to Alaska, but I've been most everywhere else. Despite that, my dad was a Marine, and so we spent most of our time on the East and West Coasts. We didn't venture too much into the middle of the continent except to drive straight through. It's always interesting to me when I see something new in a homeland that seems so familiar to me most of the time. And I'm always glad when I can challenge my assumptions and first impressions of a place.
The weather has changed drastically from yesterday. It was 63 degrees when we got up yesterday morning and reached 90 degrees by late in the day. We were running our air-conditioner to keep the trailer cool. This morning, the temperature was down by 20 degrees from yesterday, and the rest of the day has been similarly cool. The high winds have died down as well. We're hoping to get our tires swapped out early tomorrow morning, and then we'll be on our way to Oklahoma City. If not tomorrow, then the next day. It's a short day's drive from here.
Yesterday was a pretty much wasted day. We sat around most of the day doing nothing. (This isn't necessarily a bad thing.) Mike did get the bald tire taken off the trailer, but since everything was closed in Witchita Falls we couldn't get any tires or do much of anything else. Finally, around 4:30, we decided to get in the truck and go have a look around. (We would have walked, but it was very, very windy.)
The RV park where we're staying is on the edge of town. We drove just a short distance over a rise when a huge downtown district with skyscrapers came into view. "Wow!" we said, in unison. From where the RV is, we couldn't see downtown. Sadly, when we got into the area, we discovered that at least 2/3 of these buildings are boarded up and abandoned. There were big "For Lease" banners hanging everywhere. I've heard of urban blight, but I've never actually seen the embodiment of it. The waste of real estate and resources was appalling. It reminded us of the ghost town Rhyolite on the edge of Death Valley that once was a booming mining town. Rhyolite now stands completely abandoned and falling down. We wondered what could have caused such decay in Witchita Falls in what clearly was once a lively business district. Whatever the cause, I was sad to see it. We returned to the trailer with the impression that this is a terribly depressed area, and it bothered us a great deal. I thought about it as I fell asleep last night.
This morning, we had some errands to run. The tires will be here tomorrow. (Including the spare, we are replacing four.) Mike needed something from the drug store, and we did our grocery shopping. We also needed to replace a bulb in one of the truck's headlights. In the process of doing all of this, we discovered the "other side of the tracks" in Witchita Falls. There seems to be a thriving suburban area with the usual list of business and restaurant chains (Walgreen's, Albertsons, Applebee's, Subway, Quizno's, to name a few). We went to the one quilt shop I could find, but it was closed on Mondays. (Maybe tomorrow, if we have time.) There were some lovely residential areas, some with really huge and stately homes. We also discovered a solid educational institution in the Midwestern State University campus. (I love universities.) So it seems that Witchita Falls is a vibrant community after all. I felt much better about it after seeing all of that. Still, I wonder what happened to the downtown area and what caused its abandonment. It certainly builds a case for urban renewal.
The construction here is interesting. We notice that most structures are built of brick, and we surmise it has something to do with the tornadoes that are known to pop up in this part of the country. As I said, it was very windy, and we saw at least two instances of aluminum roofs that appeared to have been lifted off of their foundations and thrown elsewhere like a wad of tin foil. Indeed, we saw some emergency response sirens that can only indicate a tornado warning system. What else could it be? (The only other time I've seen such sirens was when I lived in Hawaii, and they were to warn of tsunamis. I hardly think this is a tsunami zone.) Interestingly, when we were looking for a place to stay, some of the RV parks advertised having storm shelters. Many of the homes are built in the colonial style with large columns in front. The ones with two stories have fire escapes like those seen on old buildings in large cities.
While I wouldn't describe Witchita Falls as a tourist mecca, it does feel as if we've moved to the interior of a "region" of our country that we've not really seen before. It lacks the distinctive flavor of Mexico that is seen closer to the border. It doesn't yet feel like the south either. Could it be that we've ventured into what some would call the "heartland" of America? I'm going to be interested to see what we find when we go north into Oklahoma City tomorrow or the next day.
As I've said before, I grew up in a military family. I've traveled all over the United States in a little tiny trailer and I like to think I've seen most of it. I haven't been to Alaska, but I've been most everywhere else. Despite that, my dad was a Marine, and so we spent most of our time on the East and West Coasts. We didn't venture too much into the middle of the continent except to drive straight through. It's always interesting to me when I see something new in a homeland that seems so familiar to me most of the time. And I'm always glad when I can challenge my assumptions and first impressions of a place.
The weather has changed drastically from yesterday. It was 63 degrees when we got up yesterday morning and reached 90 degrees by late in the day. We were running our air-conditioner to keep the trailer cool. This morning, the temperature was down by 20 degrees from yesterday, and the rest of the day has been similarly cool. The high winds have died down as well. We're hoping to get our tires swapped out early tomorrow morning, and then we'll be on our way to Oklahoma City. If not tomorrow, then the next day. It's a short day's drive from here.
2 comments:
Clay, sand, and stone are abundant in Texas. Hence all the brick and stone homes. At least that's what my husband tells me. Where we live is right on top of the Bernette Shail. Dig down more than 12 inches and you hit solid rock.
Too bad you didn't drive through Texas a little farther south. I could have filled you in on all the fabulous shops in the Dallas Fort Worth area and give you a personal tour of them.
I've always been told that brick is more common in OK and TX because they don't have the trees that they do further to the north. So wood is more expensive then the clay they use to make the bricks.
If you get to OKC, you should visit Oklahoma Quilt Works at 9323 Pennsylvania Place. It's not that far from downtown where the Memorial is located. It's one of my favorite places to shop when we get down that direction. If you get up the road a bit (north on I-35) Guthrie, OK is a nice historical place to visit. There is one, maybe two quilt shops there, but I've not been to either.
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