Today's post is being written while Suzanne is driving the motor coach. We are riding along two lane US Hwy 84, from Lubbock, Texas through the Texas Panhandle to Santa Rosa, New Mexico. The scenery has changed over the past few hours from farms (cotton, wheat, carrots, onions, pecans, potatos, etc.) and cattle ranches/dairy farms to open prairie with mesas and buttes starting to appear.
Alongside US 84 is a major railroad, where we have passed hundreds of train cars heading east and west, being pulled by BNSF locomotives (for you non-railroad folks, that's the railway company created when the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroads merged). BNSF employs 38,000 people, is the largest intermodal carrier in the world, is the largest grain hauler in the US, and hauls enough coal every day to supply 10% of America's electrical needs. (Full disclosure: we do not own any stock in BNSF, and Suzanne's Dad never drove for BN, SF or BNSF.)
Some of the place names we have seen bring smiles to our faces.
- Bovina, TX, population 1,718, high school mascots are the Mustangs (you thought it was going to be something really silly, didn't you?). Formerly known as Bull Town, for a time in the early 1900's Bovina shipped more cattle to market than any other place in the world.
- Shallowater, TX, pop. 2,366, "Where pride runs deep", high school mascots also the Mustangs, but the girls' teams are the Fillies. Shallowater got its name from a marketing ploy the owners of the townsite used to attract settlers to come and homestead.
- Muleshoe, TX, pop. 4,246, high school mascots are the Mules and Lady Mules (that's Pete the Mule to the right). This season, one of the Lady Mules' softball pitchers was the first pitcher in 6 years to win ten games. At the Muleshoe HS graduation ceremony, the Valedictorian thanked God, her family and friends, and the Pledge of Allegiance opened the ceremony. (Well Done, Muleshoe HS, we applaud your traditional American values, and happy you weren't arrested like you would have been in California or some northern or eastern states...). ;-)
- Robert Lee, TX, pop. 1,049, named after then COL Robert E. Lee, US Army, 10th Cavalry, who served in Texas from 1856-1861 and distinguished himself as a
scout and engineer. Their high school mascots are the Steers. I don't think there are any Lady Steers....
- And lastly, Sudan, Texas, pop. 1,039, a railroad and farming town. The high school mascots are the Hornets (the girls' teams are the Hornettes). Have you ever seen a more wholesome looking group of kids? They must be doing something right here in Texas!
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