A return visit to the Tallulah River.

Sunday we went back up the Tallulah River to see the effects of four days of quite heavy rain. The difference in these photo's and the ones in the previous post is spectacular.


The road by the river goes up to Tate City and ends up in North Carolina. At the point where the road ends there is a hiking trail that continues into the Nantahala National Forest.


On Wednesday morning I'm leaving for Dallas and a few days in Austin.

Almost Spring in Georgia

Last week we had a preview of spring with temperatures in the 70's. This makes me feel like taking the Land Rover out and going camping. There are many great camping areas in this part of Georgia. One place I want to go is up the Tallulah River towards Tate City. Apart from the official camp grounds along the river, there are many other places farther back in the woods.

Willie's Place, Carl's Corner, Texas

On Friday and Saturday, the 3rd and 4th of April, you'll find me performing at Willie Nelson's new place at Carl's Corner, Texas. Please come over. This is a really cool place. It's a truck stop selling bio diesel, but also includes a theatre, a couple of restaurants and the Whiskey River Saloon.


The Willie Net radio show is broadcast from inside the theatre.
Don't forget, the 3rd and 4th of April.

The Georgia Aquarium..... and snow.

This past Sunday, Linda, John and I drove to Atlanta to spend the day at the Georgia Aquarium. We drove though a raging snow storm to get there. Parts of Georgia got 7" of snow in a very short time. Anyway, we made it to the aquarium.

Wow!!! it is amazing in there. The main tank holds 6.3 million gallons of water. Now if that had been imperial gallons, I would have been impressed. There is so much to see that a day isn't really long enough. Take your kids. They'll love it. If they misbehave, show them the piranhas.

Benavides, Lancaster, Texas.

I both started and ended my recent tour at Benavides in Lancaster, Texas. It was a fitting place for both. Thanks to all my friends in the Lancaster/DeSoto area for your support. I look forward to being back there soon.


The back room at Benavides has it's own bar, a big stage, fine acoustics and seats around 120 people. It was designed with musicians in mind and that's a rarity anymore. Thank you Vivian for providing such a fine place to perform.

Paranoia in Texas

Last week I drove along Hwy. 287 from Amarillo to Ft. Worth. I am writing a song about driving across west Texas and decided to take some photographs for a video I intend to make. I looked for an appropriate, safe place to pull off the four lane and noticed a dirt road to the south. I pulled off and parked up the dirt road about 50 yards from the main highway. Stepping out of the car, I proceeded to take photographs of the sky and deserted landscape. You can see two of them on this posting. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a state trooper slow down, do a u-turn and head my way. He pulled up behind me and started to ask questions.. What are you doing" Why are you taking photographs? Why do you have a tow hitch on your car? What do you tow? He was very polite and I answered all the questions to his satisfaction. He said they had to do this since 911. We talked a while. He asked if I had any CD's and I showed him. Finally he said "good day" and turned and left.

That was when I started to ask myself some questions. Have we become so paranoid that if someone pulls out a camera we have to find out exactly what they are doing? What would have happened if I had been taking a photo of an historic monument like the Alamo instead of this place in the middle of nowhere? Maybe we are going a little too far. I was intending to take more photographs that day, such as the "Watch out for rattlesnakes" sign at one of the rest areas, but decided it wasn't worth having to explain.

Monarch Pass, Colorado

I have been driving over Monarch Pass since the late seventies. Usually I stop at the gift shop on the top. Now I'm sure it was here somewhere......


Oh, there it is!
The first few times I drove here, I was in a Ford Courier pickup truck. It was an automatic and in first gear (with the engine screaming) it would reach 25MPH. As soon as I returned to auto, it would slow down to around 10MPH. causing quite a jam. The Subaru does so much better. It's nice to linger here a while in a different world.


Monarch Pass, 11312 feet above sea level.