Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

::waves::

This was my nickname in high school:

I am in my favorite city in Texas, it's a happening Saturday night, Wurstfest is going on, and I just have to pass the city by.

I am alone, visibly trans, in rural Texas, and there are crowds everywhere. And all it takes is one jerk to make my life very complicated very quickly.

This is what they want. To make us go away, become invisible and get your vote while they drive us away.

But at least the guy at Chicken Express called me ma'am. I hope the next generation of politicianscan undo this mess.

Where I am now.

Some things never change. 30 years later, it still takes an hour to get out of UTSA.

::Turns on Lithium on Sirius XM and heads into the Hill Country::

Let's pretend it's the mid 90s and Amy or Steph is with me as we explore our world with the optimism of youth.

Oh, one last thing before bed.

We were almost T-boned in a high speed police chase west of Hondo.

Good night! :D

Good night.

Once there, we were broken hearted to find out that the park is only opened Saturday and Sunday.

We got some food, had a picnic at a local quiet parkas a consolation prize. We took a side trip home that was not only fairly quiet, but skipped a few towns I'd hoped to hit. But it was a nice trip and, not being in the Hill Country gave me the Big Sky I miss. I love the mountains of Washington, but that Big Sky...I miss it.

2/2

Today's Texas Adventure

Dad wanted to see Fort Inge, one of three "points"that make up the town of Uvalde (Fort Inge, Uvalde and Uvalde Junction). It was one of a line of forts designed to protect white pioneer from the Comanche on the area.

We headed out and stared fairly leisurely, but ends up skipping a few hours of cities as time began to dwindle. Uvalde is a long way from San Antonio.

1/2

Some sit down restaurant food, my first since coming to Texas. And likely my last given some of the looks I got at the restaurant. Thankful it was to go and that person was leaving.

I finally got some catfish. Folks got chicken fried steak. I miss southern cooking. The jerks, not so much. Just wish there weren't so many of them and things weren't so bad that I need to worry about them.

THE EYE WATCHES. ALWAYS WATCHING.

Okay, Texas, now you're just showing off.

What's neat about D'Hanis is that there is a very large brick company just outside of the town, and you can find D'Hanis bright red brick all over the Hill Country and this part of the "coastal plains." I love seeing how everything in "New D'Hanis" is bright red.

2/2

Our next stop was Old and New D'Hanis. A tiny town founded in 1847, and 175 years later is slightly less tiny, mostly because the townsite moved a mile over when the railroad bypassed the old town, and the old town never went away.

1/

Hondo, Texas - not a ghost town but a pretty thriving little place. But I get the feeling that Radio Shack is probably a ghost town. And my dad's dentist was on this hotel back in the day.

A lot of these trips aren't actually in the Hill Country, but in my dad's and his brothers' stomping grounds, on the southern edge of the Hill Country.

Get a load of that sign. It caused a lot of commotion when it went up in the 40s. They added a "please" and that made everyone happier.

The 1881 ghost town of Dunlay. It was part of the railroad. Not much else to it, honestly. Oh wait, my uncle walked home seventeen miles from here after his truck broke down. So there was a little more to tell.