Sunday, May 19, 2002

Food, furry critters make drive a joyous occasion

By Amanda Reiter
Reporter-News Staff Writer

This drive begins beneath Abilene’s Rosebud Park. The wary, black-tailed critters in the park’s prairie dog town scamper about their enclosure yelping joyously, as if to spread the excitement about the next stop — Deadman Ranch in Hamby.

The animals here are a little larger, but you probably feed your dog more than one of them eats. Jerry and Lynda McDonald have about 50 miniature horses on their spread, and their antics are a show to see.

“I don’t care how grumpy somebody is when they come here, they always leave with a smile,” Jerry McDonald said.

Down the road, Albany has the everything-you’ll-ever-need stores: Blanton-Caldwell Trading Co. and the adjacent Next Door Store. Need veterinary supplies, spurs, work clothes? How about doormats, fancy pillows or a rooster-shaped fly swatter? It’s here. Holly Bernard, who owns the Next Door Store, says she can get everything she needs in Albany — except her special vacuum-cleaner bags, which require a trip to Abilene.

Lunch is around the corner at the Prairie Star convenience store, where a gordita-sized pita club sandwich, chips, a beverage and a chocolate-covered strawberry won’t put a gaping hole in your wallet, but will fill the one in your tummy.

Pry yourself away from desserts and go to the Lynch Line bookstore, where you can fill the craving for Texana. There are books about ghost towns, flags, cowboys and even a few autographed copies of A.C. Greene’s Chance Encounters, which was printed right here in the town that proclaims itself “a John Wayne meets Martha Stewart thing.”

Book browsing reminds you there’s more of Texas out there waiting down curvy Farm Road 601. The next stop is Moran, where a chat with Burt Seabourn, who delivers Frito-Lay products to the Moran Center one-stop store, sums up the environs.

“It’s a peaceful place to me,” he said. “I have always run into nice folk out here.”

Farm Road 576 travels to Breckenridge, where nine downtown murals depict the oil-, ranch- and railroad-fueled heydays of the Roaring Twenties. The town has numerous antique and gift shops to devour, but a late-afternoon stop at Wishes Coffee Bar, with its wide array of caffeine concoctions, can help fuel your ride back to Abilene.