Abilene

Carol Ann and I are in Abilene, TX tonight. Abilene is 386 miles from our home in Nacogdoches (in east Texas), but is still not actually considered to be in west Texas. El Paso is another 450 miles west on I-20. We will be “dry camping” (no electric, water, or sewer) in our motorhome for the next four nights. It’s not exactly roughing it. We have our own generator, water tank, and waste tanks. We are here to attend the “Legends and Outlaws Music Fest,” three days of Texas music in an outdoor venue consisting of a large stage, plenty of open space for the audience, and RV parking in a lot behind the audience. There are a lot of trees, cottonwoods I believe, but there isn’t one leaf between all of them so they won’t be offering any shade. Shade would be good as it will be sunny with temps in the low 80’s. Fortunately the humidity is not high. It hasn’t rained an appreciable amount out here in years due to the extended drought.

There were a lot of little problems that seemed to plague us today. Before leaving this morning we were chasing cats around the house and in the backyard. We had planned to take three of our five cats with us but finally decided to make do with only one, Goblin. She is a bit overweight, tends to waddle when trying to run, and wasn’t fast enough to escape. The house sitter will have the other four plus our dog for company.

It was gray and overcast morning with a temperature of about 55 degrees when we finally got on the road. It soon began misting and then the rain poured down hard for a while. However, by the time we reached Dallas, the sky was clear and sunny with the temperature heading for the 80’s. West of Fort Worth the wind picked up as it often does out on the plains.  It wasn’t long before my neck and shoulders were aching from working so hard with the steering wheel to stay in my lane.

We stopped to top off our fuel and propane tanks when we were about 90 miles from Abilene. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of diesel for the generator and enough propane for the fridge, hot water heater, and heat if needed. Diesel fuel was no problem but the Flying J did not have the right kind of adapter to fit my propane tank’s fill valve so our propane tank is only about a third full.  That should be enough if we don’t need heat, and it doesn’t look like we will.

After we drove up the dirt road and across the red dirt RV parking lot our midnight blue tow car was completely red. The RV parking is in a field with very little vegetation but with a lot of red dirt. It was windy today so everything is coated with a fine, red dust. We disconnected the car only to find that it would not start.  Three guys helped me push it out of the way and after we got the motorhome parked and setup I got some help jumping the car off. 

If we need anything in the way of supplies we have to make sure we get them before 2PM tomorrow. That’s when the music starts and there will be no pass outs, which means we are locked in until Sunday morning. If the car doesn’t start in the morning I won’t be able to bet to the beer store!

Unless you are familiar with Texas music you probably wouldn’t recognize the names of many of the artists that will be performing over the next three days. I suppose the biggest name is Leon Russell. Unfortunately, he died a few months ago so will not be performing as scheduled. It’s unfortunate because Leon was a prolific songwriter, writing songs for the likes of Joe Cocker, Elton John, Tom Petty, J.J. Cale, Phoebe Snow, Ray Charles, Dusty Springfield, Whitney Houston, Willie Nelson, Christina Aguilera, and Michael Buble. Leon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

This is Leon doing one of my favorites, Delta Lady.

The others include:

·      Robert Earl Keene (this blog is named after one of his songs, The Road Goes On Forever)

·      Gary P. Nunn (he talks about one he wrote, Redneck Mother, and sings it at Up Against the Wall)

·      Ray Wylie Hubbard (one of his best is Screw You, We're From Texas)

·      Billy Joe Shaver (a good one is Live Forever)

·      Jason Boland (meet Jason and the band here, The Texas Music Scene)

·      Tommy Alverson (listen to Una Mas Cerveza)

The other dozen or more performers I have never heard of but am planning on enjoying them all. I’ll be sure and let you know all about it.

Post Script:  I have added a photo page (see right hand column) where I will be posting some of the picutres I take at the music fest.