THE OTHER SIDE OF PRIVILEGE: There's Nigel the Land Rover with
Ms. Intrepid waiting for me on the far side of Privilege Creek. We're out there
again exploring Texas, taking pictures and all is right with the
world.
ON THE ROAD, FINALLY
Story & Photos by IRA KENNEDY
When you can't go anywhere the least you can do is make plans.
I suppose that's the most you can do too. And we had plenty of time to ponder, which
meant that we didn't decide anything until the very morning we finally hit the road.
Now that I have my new "Roads of Texas" map, one of
my favorite activities -- getting lost -- has come to a screeching halt. With
Ms. Intrepid at the wheel and me riding shotgun with that oversized publication in my lap
like a dinner napkin I'm obliged to know where we are. And where we're going to turn
next. And what's up ahead after that. And how many miles is that. And... well
you get the idea.
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 igel
the Land Rover survived his hospital stay. Apart from a little transmission work
(yea, right), at the heart of the problem was a teeny-tiny computer chip. These
little critters are tucked away most everywhere in endless binary chatter. The
Hindus of India started it all when they decided that nothing or zero could actually
amount to something. Kinda like my Uncle Earle. But if zero looses its relationship
with number one, everything goes kaplooey. And all things micro cause macro
problems.
Anyway, we were ready to head out a week ago, then
came Faye, a gully washer that sprawled across Central Texas in heavy sheets of
rain. You can't see to drive in zero visibility, and it's something of a drawback on
the picture taking part.
 When the day
of our road trip finally arrived we decided to make a decision. I suspected that
with our new map we'd never get lost again so we agreed to look for someplace that was
already lost. Lost Maples seemed like a great starting place. Yea, I know
there is a Lost Pines too but they're in opposite directions from home. The map put to
rest any delima when I realized that after finding lost we'd be close to Utopia.
Just getting out the door was our first obstacle.
First one phone call and then another. By the time we did what needed to be
done, two hours of precious daylight had burned itself out.
On top of that, this was the last weekend of summer
and with the sun setting at seven thirty, another hour and a half was going to be
whittled off the end of the day.
Naturally we had a fair piece of road to put behind
us before getting to our trailhead in Leon Valley, a suburb on the west of San Antone.
Seems as soon as the gate swung open I had that familiar lost feeling. Apart
from trying to read teeny-tiny type when everything is moving up and down and forward,
there were new roads everywhere. I kept getting lost on the map which was a
considerable inconvenience.
Finally, I decided that if it wasn't on the map
didn't matter. As a general rule I don't recommend this approach because sometimes
the opposite is best. For example, on the Rand McNally Texas State Map the location
of Lost Maples is on the wrong side of County Road 187. Okay, maybe the maples
really are lost and wandering around in circles, I don't know for sure. In my later
years I've come to hold the belief that anything can happen and sooner or later it will.
But, -- wandering Maples? I'm not there yet.
Just west of Leon Valley the landscape is as flat as
my wallet with scrub mesquite taking over the landscape as thoroughly as developers had
done a few miles back.  I knew
this couldn't last cause we were headed for Lake Medina and I reckoned you couldn't build
a lake without hills to hold the water.
PAGE 1: ON THE ROAD, FINALLY /
PAGE 2: MEDINA LAKE
PAGE 3: DETOUR TO PRIVILEGE /
PAGE 4: BANDERA
PAGE 5: LOST MAPLES & BACK / THE MAP
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