Sept. 15 Day 25

Left the Rocking A Camp Ground about 10:15 and headed down 183/283 to Mabelle and then picked up 92/277 to Seymour and on to Stamford and into Abilene. Stopped at flying J for fuel at $3.69 which was average for the area. We did see some at $3.79 in some smaller towns. On across I20 to FM 89 to Buffalo Gap and then 3 miles to the Abilene State park. On our way down from Abilene we received a phone call from Dennis the oldest son and ask where we were and when we said Buffalo Gap, he said that he had been to Buffalo Gap many times while being stationed in Abilene at the Air Force Base. He mentioned a great restaurant on main street, but that was over 30 years ago, what a coincidence.
After we got settled in our campsite we took the van and went back to Buffalo Gap to check it out. What a beautiful little town. One of the town squares is all fenced off and is the Historic Buffalo Gap. We drove around the square and it looked very interesting but not wheelchair accessible at all. All of the houses in town were very well kept with lots of flowers and very nice landscaping. One area was called the Plaza. We drove in and it appears to be a collection of eclectic buildings of artisans, pottery, jewelry for example. It was all closed down for the day, it appeared, or maybe for the season.
The town of Buffalo Gap got its name as a result of the fact that the buffalo migrated through the narrow pass making it easy to kill them for food/hides, etc. We are just in the north edge of the Hill Country l known as Panhandle Plains. There are many large hills, some dirt and some solid stone of some type. The altitude changed from about 900’ in Vernon, TX to about 2000’ here at the park. The soil has changed from red sandy soil you associate with Oklahoma to a more rich dark soil with a lot of Cotton, Milo, and Wheat had just been drilled, in the areas that were tillable. Many acres of scrubby brush good only for the cattle grazing.
Back at the campground we saw 5 deer cross the camping space across from us and Evelyn scared an Armadillo when se went outside to put the grill away. All in all, a very nice day of travel and adventure.