July 12, 2014

July 12, 2014

We are in Lubbock, TX today. We stopped here to visit the Lubbock Lake Landmark. Arriving just before it opens, we find it already crowded. This really shouldn’t be a surprise. People have flocked to this location for 12,000 years. That is because a lake used to sit here. It dried up when settlers arrived and started pumping the groundwater.

In 1936, during dredging, bones and human tools were accidentally discovered. Since then Lubbock Lake has been continuously excavated by Texas Tech University. The oldest bones are from the Clovis Period when the Paleo-Indians hunted the now extinct Columbian Mammoth. We are pleasantly surprised to learn the site is having an “Archeology in Action” open house today. One of the benefits is that we get a guided tour of the facility. The tour starts out in the field where we watch young university students scraping dirt looking for artifacts. Many are international students from Europe and Central America. I am thinking many of these archeology students may opt for a new major after digging in the dirt all summer. Another stop was the screening station where the accumulated dirt is washed to find the smallest of bone fragments and tools. There were also a couple other exhibitions on flint napping and bone cracking. After the tour, we perused the small but well-done museum.

Since we need to get acclimated to hiking, we take a quick stroll along the wildflower boardwalk outside the museum. Dozens of watermelon like vines are growing across the path. We learn they are Buffalo gourds, indigenous to the arid southwest.

Getting hungry, we went looking for Texas BBQ and ran into the Buddy Holly Center, dedicated to preserving the memory of this hometown hero. Outside is a statue of this early rock star. He was born the same year as the Lubbock Lake discoveries. Tragically he died in 1959 in a plane crash with the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens.

In the afternoon we headed north to Amarillo. Just outside town we stopped at Cadillac Ranch, a small roadside attraction. Here a half dozen old Cadillacs lie half buried in the dirt. We were surprised to find the place packed and even more shocked by the number of paint spray cans littering the area. Apparently young Amarilloans love to decorate the cars. The paint has to be an inch thick on every car. They are very brightly colored.

The reason we are in town is a family wedding. One of our nephews is tying the knot. This is my first Texas wedding, a great opportunity to finally wear my Bolo tie.