Ozona, Texas

We made it!!! After many many hours of driving! The drive was... how can I put it.... the ugliest place I've ever been to!!!! As soon as we got out of Page, AZ It was nothing but a dry wasteland. Oh flat, dry wasteland. When we finally got to Ozona, I was mildly relieved... the town was in what Texans call their "mountains" notice the quotations around mountains? That is because what Texans refer to as mountains, are more like what Utahans refer to as hills, if that. But hey at least its not flat and dry! There are cedars all over these hills, its by far the most remotely pretty place since leaving Arizona. The population in 2010 here was 3400 people, 60% Hispanic. I'm gonna guess its MAYBE 5000 now, still mostly Hispanic. I've never felt weird being white... now I do.

We realized sometime last night we may need food for Sam to pack a lunch. So we headed to the only grocery store in town. The Super S Store. Bread was $3.00. A can of soup was $3.50. Milk was $4.00. Groceries it appeared were going to be expensive! When we got home I immediately looked up the nearest wal-mart. 1.5 hours away!!!!!!!!!!! Nonetheless, I had no choice. So I high tailed it to San Angelo to go to Wal-mart.

Which is where I saw my first animal since arriving in Texas. When they say that Texas is the Cowboy capital of the world, I've realized I don't think people know the definition of a cowboy. The whole way here I have seen only a hand full of cows. Not what I was expecting. I thought I would see cowboys with their trusted horses in chaps, boots, spurs, hats, and lasso's herding cattle across the land. And I also thought they'd be... well... white.

Apparently from what I've gathered thus far, Ozona is the Mohair and Wool capital of Texas... In case you don't know what Mohair is... let me enlighten you. Its a silky cloth made from goats hair. So you may wonder what animals are here? yup that's right; goats and sheep. So much for that cowboy herding image.

Also here in the great town of Ozona, Davey Crockett is a symbol of their town. I ran past a huge sculpture of him in the middle of town this morning. They claim Davey Crockett was born and raised right here. Hence why we are Crockett county!

I was seriously hoping that the LDS ward finder was just... out of date or something? And that's why it said the nearest ward... excuse me.. branch... is 2 hours away. So me and my naive Utah attitude I figured we would see a great brick church in the middle of town... nope its true. Church really will be a 7 hour day for us. On the bright side.... well, I may have to get back to you on that. Its only Monday.

Texans have a funny way about themselves, they are very kind; like when today I was driving to San Angelo on highway 163 and people would drive at 60 MPH on the shoulder to let an individual pass. They probably just assumed because I was from Utah I would drive up their rears, so they let me pass.

Something else I've learned in this short time, Texans LOVE BEING FROM TEXAS!!! Every sign is about Texan spirit, their fast food joints have menus with things such as "The Texas Way Burger" Or "Texas BBQ Sandwich" Or "We love Texas so much if you litter you pay $2000 fine. I've never felt so much love for such a... GORGEOUS PLACE (wink, wink)

It hasn't even been 24 hours and its already been an adventure! I'm not sure what this next year will bring us, but I'm sure we will have a great thing to tell when we're old.