“Wagon Wheel Crossing”
When going west on FM 1340, the Wagon Wheel Crossing is the last low-water crossing over the North Fork Guadalupe River. From here, the road rises and the scenery changes from river valley to the ranch land of post oak mottes and the rocky grasslands typical of the upper Texas Hill Country.
After about five miles, FM 1340 ends at Texas Highway 41. This Texas highway follows “the divide” westward to Rocksprings, Texas . In the hill country of Texas, “the divide” is the local term for the top of a range of hills that is relatively flat and is the division of the river drainage systems. The north side of Highway 41 drains to the Llano River. The south side drains to the North Fork Guadalupe River, then further westward, the Frio Rivers and then closer to Rocksprings, the East Prong of the Nueces River.
FM 1340 and the North Fork Guadalupe River valley is very nostalgic place for me.
During that period of my life when I was a partner in a large architectural firm, it was very difficult, really impossible, to have a two-week vacation. However I could have time off for occasional long weekends, generally around a holiday such as Thanksgiving. Along about 1982, I met Ray Eubank through some investments with his firm. Ray owned the Circle E Ranch located on the East Prong of the Nueces River near a wide place in the road named Vance, Texas.
For the next twenty years, until Ray sold the ranch, my wife, Corinne, and I had a standing invitation to visit the Circle E Ranch. These trips to his ranch were some of the happiest times in our lives. Our dog, a Chocolate Lab named Augustus, absolutely loved that place. When we would start down the twisting and winding canyon road to the ranch, he would know where he was going, and come alive in anticipation of the smells that he would have and the animals he would see. I can clearly see him smelling the air intake, whining and barking for us to hurry up.
During the time of these visits to the Circle E Ranch, it was our custom to stop on the way in Kerrville to visit with Corinne’s mother. From Kerrville, if we had time, we would go out-of-our-way up FM 1340 and the North Fork Guadalupe River valley to get to Texas Highway 41. On Texas Highway 41, we would travel westward along “the divide” to get to the Ranch Road 335 that went south, on a roller-coaster ride, down the Nueces River canyon for seventeen miles to the Circle E Ranch.
Now, when I drive up FM 1340 and the North Fork Guadalupe River valley, and I look at the beautiful scenery and the calm and clear river, which is so similar to the scenery on the Circle E Ranch. I guess I am not just seeing the scenery—I am reliving, through my memories, all those trips to the Circle E Ranch. The memories of the wonderful people we were with there, the parties, the dinners, the evening conversations, the tennis matches, the card games, the night sounds, the bright stars and The Milky Way, the birds and the hikes in the mountains and canyons with Augustus.
Cheers,
Acree
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