Day Trips
By Gerald E. McLeod, Fri., Jan. 10, 2003
2002 was the wettest of years and the driest of years. One man's drought-busting rainfall was another man's flooded creek.
The big news of the year was that there was water in Barton Creek and other Central Texas tributaries on the Fourth of July. After a dry spring, between June 26 and July 6 the skies turned loose with nearly 10 inches of rain in the Austin area and another 42 inches in some areas of the Hill Country, including 32 inches in two days around New Braunfels.
Although the unseasonably wet weather meant swimming holes would be full into the heat of September, it also cost at least two lives on the popular greenbelt waterway. City officials closed the city creeks to boaters for a week, and Barton Creek crested at 10 feet on July 5.
The raging waters affected communities from Abilene to Victoria. The hardest hit by flooding was Canyon Lake, where the muddy water breached the spillway for the first time in the 40 years since the dam was built. More than 400 homes were inundated between the reservoir and New Braunfels, and seven people died. To see pictures of the water's power, go to the Comal County engineer's Web site at www.cceo.org.
The summer storm also destroyed the tourism trade for businesses along the Guadalupe River recreation district. The two peak holiday periods for tube and canoe outfitters, the Fourth of July and Labor Day, were washed out.
While the rains were a boon to the Edwards Aquifer, in Luckenbach five feet of water from Snail Creek flooded the famous bar and dance hall. The major tragedy, after the cancellation of the annual Fourth of July celebration, was the destruction of the landmark 175-year-old cotton mill that was as much a part of the community as the washer-pitching pits and Shiner Bock.
After rain, these were some of the other highlights of the year:
• Despite all of the rain, farmers across the state had to find other cash crops for their fields. At least seven mazes were cut in cornfields for customers to wander through. Labyrinths in Brookshire, Bullard, De Leon, Hondo, Lubbock, Rockwall, and Snyder capitalized on a trend begun in Pennsylvania in 1993. Although the season varies from farm to farm, most of the attractions operated between August and October.
• What Texas has needed for years is an institution dedicated to honoring the state's contribution to country music. On Aug. 17, the new home of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame opened in Carthage in East Texas. The hall honors many native sons and daughters and includes the Tex Ritter Museum. For information, call 903/693-6634 or go to www.carthagetexas.com/Tx_web.
• In February, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department named Robert L. Cook as its new executive director; Cook replaced Andrew Sansom, who had resigned in 2001. Cook began his career at TPWD in 1965 and rose to be the head of the agency's Wildlife Division and then the chief operating office. The new administration faces a future of shifting user demographics and tightening budgets.
• A bright spot on the park scene was the opening of Lake Tawakoni State Park 50 miles east of Dallas. Part of the state's efforts to establish recreational facilities near major population centers, the 376-acre park sits on the edge of a 36,700-acre lake.
• Last year, Rod Kennedy turned over the reins of the 31-year-old Kerrville Folk Festival to Vaughn Hafner, who had purchased the music festival and the Quiet Valley Ranch in 1999. The 71-year-old Kennedy isn't exactly retiring, though; he says he will produce a small jazz festival.
• If you have ever read any of the Texas Department of Transportation's travel literature, then you have probably seen some of Dick Roberts' work. The curmudgeonly but loveable Roberts passed away in April at the age of 78. During his 28-year career with TxDOT, he wrote or edited many of the department's greatest publications including the Texas State Travel Guide.
• Another Texas travel literature voice that was silenced in 2002 was that of book publisher Ed Eakin. The 74-year-old Texas native who ran the largest nonacademic press in Texas passed away in February. In 23 years, he printed everything from biographies to children's books, many that would not have seen the light of day if it were not for him.
605th in a series. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of Day Trips 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.
