The Outskirts (part 1)(+Historical Marker 5527 & 4871)

hello everyone, i hope this post comes not too far away from the previous. this one isn’t food related (although the next one probably will be). but this post is still somewhat interesting for those who enjoy bits of history.

now, my job requires me to move around the Texas panhandle quite a bit, and in doing so, i try to knock more items off of my 30 Before 30. i found a few more little gems over the past couple of days which i find to be quite interesting.

first off, for those of you who don’t know, i live in Amarillo, TX, which is pretty much the center of the panhandle, the other day i had to drive out to Bovina, TX, which doesn’t really have a lot of things going on, and it’s really not much of a ghost town either. however, i passed a few US Historical Markers on the way there (some near Friona, TX (known as the “cheeseburger capital of texas, and “the biggest small town in texas”), and some near Hereford, TX (known as the “beef capital of the world” and the city is actually named after the Hereford breed of cattle!)).

anyway! one of the historical markers i passed, was (to be honest) a little lame. Historical Marker 4871 (Parmerton):

Parmerton

like i was explaining to my coworker i was driving along with: “historical markers are like easter eggs. some have crappy candy in them, and some have two-dollar bills”

during our drive through Friona, we stopped at this mom-n-pop joint called Tasty Cream, and i ordered a delicious pistachio shake

pistachio shake, green goodness

very delicious. the rest of our trip out there was pretty boring, but on the way back, we stopped at another marker (only because i bought my coworker a dr. pepper float at Tasty Cream). This was an unnumbered marker, from what i can tell it’s just Texas Marker 1982? either way, it was pretty interesting, and certainly one of those “two-dollar bill easter eggs”:

seriously? a POW camp in the Texas Panhandle???

so this one completely blew my mind. i never knew there was a POW camp in the Panhandle. and from the information i gathered from this site, there is a monument there now dedicated to the 3 italians who died while they were held there. so that was pretty interesting for all you WWII buffs…

the next day i had to once again drive out to Hereford, so on the way back i swung through and caught US Historical Marker 5527 (which marks the site of Dawn, TX):

Dawn…. not much happens here

so that’s it for now, just a super quick update. i promise i will be posting something else this weekend, hope you all enjoyed my travels! nothing more excited than the open road, you never know what you’ll come across!

The Julian Bivins Museum (Boy’s Ranch)

okay, so i apologize in advance for not posting a new blog earlier, but my job is hectic at times, and can literally change my schedule daily. that being said though, for those of your who have read my 30 Before 30, know that within my list, i have set a goal to visit at least 10 museums (which i will probably change to 10 museums a year to make things more interesting).

so upon my daily travels, i visited an interesting community about 30mi northwest of Amarillo called “Boy’s Ranch”. now this place is full of interesting history (although some of it might seem a little strange as well.

to paint a picture in your head, imagine a community lost in time. a small township, where the lcoal population is roughly 500. this community is so set apart from the rest of the world that when someone visits, they have to check in, and get a visitor’s pass. the kids that go to the local school also have to get visitor’s passes off of Boy’s Ranch. the brunt of the community are school-aged children who go to the school, and the adults there are either faculty members, or work in the community (gas station, post office, grocer). to make things creepier, they have their own cemetary very close by.

so to help explain the story of Boys Ranch, one must learn a little history about “the Ranch” and the area.

Boys Ranch, was originally the site of Tascosa, TX. this town was originally the second town to be founded in the Texas panhandle, and known for most of it’s history as “the cowboy capitol of the panhandle”. during the 1870s this was a thriving town. however, during the construction of the railroads in the area, Tascosa was missed by about 20, and all of the railroads ended up converging in Amarillo, TX. this convergence, slowly began to turn Tascosa into a ghost town.

in 1939, an Amarillo businessman by the name of Cal Farley bought land in the area and started a place called Boy’s Ranch to help troubled boys who needed a “second chance for success”.

Cal Farley

the museum chronicles some of this, as well as showing period pieces that have been preserved. the museum was also the Old Tascosa courthouse (which at one time was also the county seat for the area, before being moved to Vega, TX (at which time, only 15 residents stayed in Old Tascosa).

so without further ado, here are a few pictures i took while at the Julian Bivins Museum:

Cal Farley

well, i hope you all enjoy this first step in completion of the 30 Before 30!

30 Before 30

so i was doing some general surfing around the other day, and stumbled upon someone who had begun commenting and following my blog. amongst her bloggings, i found an interesting list entitled “30 Before 30”. this reminded me in a way of The Bucket List, except possibly more awesome.

now, i’ve already done some pretty interesting things in my life:

1. been in the US Army for roughly 6 1/2 years (still have about 2 1/2 years left on my contract) and during that time went to both Iraq and Afghanistan

2. i’ve been to both the east and the west coasts of the US

3. multiple times i have done surprisingly good deeds for total strangers (found a purse in a parking lot, found someone’s social security cards, helped stop a woman from being beaten by a dude)

4. been on national tv for a karaoke contest

5. held a few fundraisers for various causes

6. found the love of my life

but there are so many completely awesome things i have yet to do, and reading parts of her list made me start to think, that i too should have a list. i’ll be 28 this year, so in a way, i’m running out of time, but i won’t let that deter me!

so as this will be a work in progress, i will do my best to create my own personal list of awesome. MY “30 Before 30”. also, with this list, i will break it down video game-style with a list of primary objectives and secondary objectives.

so without further ado (or adon’t), here we go:

30 BEFORE 30

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES

1. visit the grand canyon

2. get a pool

3. get down to under 150lbs (and keep it off for at least a year!) (i was at 167 earlier this year, and have lost almost 10lbs already!!)

4. crash a wedding

5. go hunting

6. get one of my songs played on the radio (and not as a bumper track (yes, i’ve had a song played on a bumper track for Mike FM in Fort Wayne, IN))

7. finish writing one of my books

8. read at least 8 more books

9. get a hot tub

10. grow and eat veggies from my own garden

11. go on a hot-air balloon ride

12. visit at least half of the 50 US States (and get a shot glass from each one!)

13. visit (and blog about) at least 25 famous (or semi-famous) US historical landmarks

14. visit (and blog about) at least 10 museums

15. have a major impact on someone’s life (although my gf says i’ve already done this)

16. visit (and blog about) at least 10 ghost towns

17. visit (and blog about) at least 5 haunted houses

18. ride a bull (or 5 mechanical bulls!)

19. open a restaurant/bar

20. go to a NFL game (preferrably if the Indianapolis Colts or Greenbay Packers are playing)

21. try out (and hopefully get drafted) for the Amarillo Venom (hey, minor league dreams!)

22. perform a stand-up comedy routine at an open-mic night

23. interview someone famous

24. create a work of art, and have it displayed somewhere

25. get a bachelor’s degree (or two associate degrees)

26. do at least 50 hrs of community service (not because of a law violation!)

27. blazin’ challenge (my buddy john says i’m a punk, and need to do the wings & things challenge)

28. be in a theatre production of *something*

29. run a marathon

30. visit the top of a mountain (at least 3,000 ft elevation)

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES

1. help an old lady across the street

2. visit the Palo Duro Canyon (the second largest canyon in the US)

3. go skiing

4. go white-water rafting

5. vist the plasma center at least 10 more times (hey, everybody wins!)