Texas Highways Magazine June 2022

While she was growing up in Laredo, contributing writer Katie Gutierrez longed for life in a bigger city with more bustle and less monotony. But after living in San Antonio for 10 years, the third-generation Laredoan found herself missing her hometown's sense of community—something she had mistaken for “sameness” as a child. “I miss hearing Spanish everywhere and looking around and knowing that most of us in any given place—a school, a restaurant, a mall—grew up in Laredo and share a common language of experience and culture,” she says. For “Always Both and Neither” (Page 52), Gutierrez shares the story of a new generation of residents who are revitalizing the downtown with restaurants, bars, and art venues. Laredo has grown and changed since her childhood, but Gutierrez found it retains its…

Adolfo Valle, the Michigan-based artist who illustrated “A Single Silver Spur” (Page 14), spent hours researching bridles, saddles, and escaramuza charra performances. “I had to know exactly how the pieces fit in order to make the image believable,” he says. “This is part of the excitement of being in the world of creative arts—I get to learn about new subjects to draw all the time.” He based the image on writer Marcela Fuentes’ 1984 photo, above. Valle strived to maintain the image’s original intent “and the emotional memories it holds for the people who were there,” he says. Featured Contributors Marcela Fuentes For “A Single Silver Spur” (Page 14), Fuentes revisited childhood memories of her father and her years in charrería, or Mexican rodeo. “Talking to my former teammates, it was clear being…

This Is Where I Draw the Line “Pushing the Boundaries” [May] by John Nova Lomax was a nice article to read and certainly had a lot of truth in it. But there was a touch of disingenuousness in it, saying there are no “real” boundaries to the Hill Country. Just look at the map of Texas in the Events section. There, in the middle of the state, in solid color and sharp-drawn boundaries is the official Texas Highways magazine definition of the Hill Country. As I live and die. Richard Dasheiff, Plano Not So Scenic After All In “Hidden Hill Country” [May], you mentioned the scenic view from the Devil’s Backbone picnic area on Ranch Road 32. Unfortunately, the view cannot be enjoyed at that location due to high overgrowth of vegetation on the…

Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge harbors 110,000 acres of coastal wetlands, prairies, and beaches near Los Fresnos and South Padre Island. The federal government established the refuge in 1946 to protect habitat for wintering waterfowl and other migratory birds. “We are located along two major flyways, making it great for birding,” says George Garcia, visitor services manager at the refuge. Laguna Atascosa is also home to more than 450 plant species, including Spanish dagger (yucca gloriosa), shown here against the backdrop of the Laguna Madre at sunrise. The refuge, which has more than 60 miles of hiking and biking trails, opens daily from sunrise to sunset.…

High school girls basketball is huge in the Texas Panhandle. Nan Cook ought to know. The Perryton resident retired in 2020 from a teaching career that included 22 years coaching high school teams from Abilene to Amarillo and in various small towns, including nearby Spearman. “In a small-school setting, it’s fun to watch the community come out to watch the kids play,” Cook says. “At larger schools, you have mostly parents and family members [in the stands]. But here, it’s everyone. You’d better be there on Tuesday night and Friday night, or people will wonder what’s wrong.” Since becoming the Ochiltree County seat in 1919, Perryton has been a center of agribusiness in the northern Panhandle, just 7 miles south of the Oklahoma state line. Cook learned to drive farm…

There’s a photograph of my father and me from 1984, when I’m 8 years old. We’re at the Fiesta de Amistad, the annual weekendlong “feast of friendship” between the United States and Mexico. The event is Del Rio’s most popular celebration, commemorating the joint construction of the Amistad Dam by the U.S. and Mexico. It’s a big deal: Fiesta de Amistad starts on a Friday with an abrazo, or embrace, between the mayors of Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, and includes a craft fair and grand parade featuring Miss Del Rio and Señorita Amistad. My father and I are in the parade, among 200 participants from both sides of the border. There are floats galore, flashy convertibles carrying local belles, whirling native matachine dancers, conjunto bands thumping out polkas and…