“Hey, Honey, do you want to take a trip to Ennis to travel the BLUEBONNET TRAIL?” “Sure, Dear, if you do.” And, it was a “plan,” only briefly put “on pause” until the Covid Vaccine Reaction eased after a day or two.
Our day trip began at a usual place, as we picked up Sonic sodas during their pre-11:00 a. m. special deal time, drove back past the house to pick up a few forgotten items, and then “tooled” on down Helms Trail, past Premier Accessible Van Rental and Stiky Ribz, both places we have patronized the past week. We have been to the “b-b-q place” at other times but used the van rental place just last week to transport Mom in her wheelchair from Three Forks Senior Living to our house and then back. It was so much easier than trying to use a non-accessible vehicle.
Then it was on to FM RD 2932, past Talty Baptist Church, and on to the Crandall city limit sign, showing a population of 2858, I believe. We were a little surprised to see quite a few patches of bluebonnets most of the way from Talty to Crandall, especially along FM RD 148.
Next, it was HWY 175 to Kaufman and then exiting at the HWY 34 exit by the water tower and heading “right” to continue our trip to Ennis. We had to slow down a few times for road work along the way, but then passed the Sokol Hall and kept driving until we reached the Welcome Center (one of the nicest and best “kept” we have visited) and went to the exact room to pick up Bluebonnet Trail Maps, Directions, and other Texas State brochures for future trips.
Our 1st Stop was VETERAN’S MEMORIAL PARK— worth the trip just to see this area any time of the year. It was moving and inspiring and covered a multitude of wars and conflicts—plus, there were patches of bluebonnets, as we moved on to the Bluebonnet Park area, which was also nice!
2nd Stop was MEADOWVIEW NATURE AREA, where we saw picnic tables, lake access areas, and many larger patches of bluebonnets and Indian Paint Brushes. Although there were bluebonnet patches in all the areas along the trails’ routes, we thought this 2nd area was the best!
3rd, we got some exercise in the KACHINA PRAIRIE area, where there was a four-feet wide walking area around the whole marked trail view, a realistic bison statue in the middle of the prairie, sitting benches, and wild honeysuckle bushes— in addition to the bluebonnets. The sign said that this marked area was as the entire Ennis Prairie area was prior to the “settling.”
Having really enjoyed our visit to this Ennis Visitor Offering, we stopped in the town to “gas up” with petrol about twenty cents per gallon cheaper than we expected, and Vivian stopped at the local Dollar Tree to purchase some “goodies” for the next “teacher sorority” meeting, during which time I remained in the Escape and meditated and sang along with KSCS radio (windows up)!
Then, it was on to FM RD 879 towards Garrett and Sugar Ridge areas, which was a really nice “countryside viewing” drive. We had earlier seen advertisements for a SUGAR RIDGE WINERY and BISTRO and now saw directing signs along the roadside—“three more miles.” We had decided that we were hungry and also ready to see some more “tourist offerings” in the countryside area, so we slowed down and kept all four eyes open so we would not miss the “turnin.” They offered “wine tastings, bistro items and beverages, cookies, gifts, wine by the bottle, oldies music, and large, covered outside porch areas with “old-timey” décor and nice social distancing, which I like even when there is not a danger of spreading germs of any type!
There were folks “dropping in” steadily, but the place was never crowded due to its nice layout! Ages were from a cute little one-year-old boy with wavy hair to some “Grandpas” and Mimis” several, several years older than the Themers. I heard one group of eight discussing their trip to this area from Missouri, four from Arkansas, and several who seemed like “locals”, who were entertaining what seemed to be “out of the close area” visitors. We told the three lady hostesses inside that we would be back to try more beverage samples and maybe even the large CHARCUTERIE Board, which featured mixed cheeses, meats, fruits, olives, peppers, crackers, bread, nuts, and more.
Then, heading home, we passed a bed-and-breakfast called the Blue Bonnet Hill House (We had also seen others.) and vowed to maybe stay there the next trip. On we went past Bristol and its “worth stopping to see” OLD SCHOOL-HOUSE on RD 660, more pastures of bluebonnets, a herd of beautiful horses, especially one “paint,” HWY 34 and a Scurry city limit sign, listing its population as 681—and then travelling on FM RD 148 to Crandall and Talty. We passed Mt. Olive Cemetery between Crandall and Forney, passed Venner Circle, with the mobile home on the little strip of land in the middle, passed Dallas East (I still hear oldtimers calling the area a little before Heartland by this name.), and back to our home on Old Military Trail. As we sat in the vehicle, caught in a “reverie,” as the old-time poets would call it, I looked at the trees, birds and squirrels, and two cats, and knew it was always good to get back home!
And, while I “got my old man legs” to moving again outside the vehicle, Vivian and I both remarked that “it was an enjoyable trip, and we recommend it to all of you!” And don’t eat before you go. There are many, many “eating places” worth the trip to the Ennis area!
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