Thanksgiving Trip - Day 5

Got up around 0800 to ensure we made it out of town early enough for the weather (rain) and traffic. Visited Bonnie's room one more time to say goodbye - lots of other people up already for the long drive back to New Mexico (some left from the airport around 0700!). Had no traffic at all on the way. We drove on I-35 all the way until we were near Killeen (Fort Hood) and then got off on TX-317. We had been seeing some rolling hills all day, but now we started to see farmland and ranches - very rural. My goal was to stop in Crawford - "home" of former President Bush ("Western White House"). The place was heavily visited from 2000 until early this year - but now it is almost a ghost town. Lots of shops were closed and there was really only one little restaurant (more like a deli counter). We stopped in and talked to a nice lady working there and got some delicious lunch (brisket, chicken, sausage). She described how it had been during the hey-day and told us how we could find the Bush ranch. We bought a few souvenirs and took a picture in front of the Crawford welcome sign. After a little exploring we found the area where the ranch was (you almost can't tell it is there). Explored a few more ranch/farm roads and came across an old one-room schoolhouse. It was open - pictures, old desks and an old woodstove - local ranchers were setting up for a community Christmas party. Folks were very friendly and told us about their experiences during the Bush presidency (nosy Secret Service people, helicopters, peace-demonstrators, closed roads and news crews). They seemed to be glad that it was all over... Got back on the road around 1400 and took some side roads towards Hillsboro. We drove along the Lake Whitney reservoir (might be some good swimming on a hot Texas day!). Weather deteriorating but had no problem getting home on I-35W. The other side of the interstate, however, was a totally different story (miles and miles of backup). We were pretty lucky in both directions, I guess. Home around 1600 - good to be back!