Tour to Grandma's House - April 15, 2000
by Dan Bowen - Grandma's House - This is the Day the Lord has made. And didn’t we make a great day from it. A small group assembled at the designated meeting spot on Hwy 29 in Georgetown, Texas. This consisted of the Donnells, Burks, Stanleys and the Bowens. We were ready to leave when all of a sudden up comes a bright red Corvette, the Spreens, to escort us to Grandma’s. What a wonderful ride we had through the countryside looking at all the flowers. By george we even saw zebras, chaparrals, emus, ostriches, horses and cows. We stopped in Bertram just prior to the Hill Country Flyer arriving. We walked around to some of the antique shops as normally we do and were there only 45 minutes. We made the entire trip in about 1 hour & 30 minutes where we were greeted with cameras and a lot of smiling faces.
Jan and Vic Donnell with Ethel Burch
A small Texas home built a 100 years ago and still owned by the same family. Ethel (Grandma) Burch was on the porch smiling and waving to us as we parked. Several members of Ethel's family were there and they were very happy to see us and the cars. After a tour of the house given by Grandma, and story telling, we gathered around to have some good Texas Bar-B-Que. Mmmmm was that delicious. Then we sat around outside and told more stories. Stanley found out that Kent was or is an Aggie, so here comes the jokes. The sad part is that there are no Aggie jokes, they are all true stories.
Anyway we piled in to the back of Kent's truck and a Suburban and toured the ranch, an 800 acre spread. We didn’t tour all of it just a small portion. We stopped after making a U turn and got out for a stretch. There we were looking for rocks. That’s right ROCKS. Grandma plays this game where you see a rock and pick it up. Then you tell what it looks like. Example: Kay found a rock that looks like a foot and it does. Grandma found a face in another. Ruthie found a bird-shaped rock and Corkie found a rock that was as ugly as Kay’s dog. There must have been something in the sauce to get them to hallucinate. Vic picked up a cow pattie but couldn't see anything in it. Jan was looking at the flowers. Jay and Dan found an old grave site with old rusty car parts piled in some rocks.
Grandma was taken for a ride in Vic's Auburn and was so tickled. An old photo album came out with some great pictures and more stories. Kent and Sara gave Grandma Ethel a framed picture of herself in the rumble seat of a Model A Ford taken in 1932. She was so delighted. The day was slipping away and we needed to return home. After a great mini tour like that we were sorry that there were not more who attended. But there is always next time. Until then, happy motoring.
Gathered at Bertram Train Station idling in the shade What a great B-B-Q
In front of a ranch house (circa 1904) riding the range in a Chevy - Just pickin' up rocks on the range