This Adventure Called Retirement

After a morning coffee we hit the road departing Grapevine TX to continue our journey west to Santa Fe NM. We travelled across the Texas panhandle and came upon a historical site worthy of investigation. Mary found reference to the Charles and Mary Ann Goodnight Ranch House. Another interesting find.

Anyone who has read the novel, Lonesome Dove, would be familiar with the legendary rancher and cattleman, Charles Goodnight. He was one of the first ranchers in the high plains area and, with his partner, Oliver Loving, carved out the first cattle drive trail from Texas to Montana known as the Goodnight-Loving trail. In the fictional novel, Lonesome Dove, the leaders of the cattle drive, Captain Woodrow Call and Gus McRae and , are based on the real life partners Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. After Charles and Mary Ann established the largest range ever in Montana, they successfully operated it for decades before selling it and moving back to Texas where they established a smaller ranch and founded the town of Goodnight. This site we visited is the original Goodnight ranch house as well as a museum that highlights the significant contribution Goodnight had on settling the frontier through ranching. Mary Ann, whom Charles called Molly, took a special interest in protecting and preserving the American buffalo. There is still a remnant of the descendants of their herd on the property today.

The home had been fully restored to the 1890s and contained some unique furnishings. we were especially interested in the buffalo horn sofa and chair. There was even a windmill driven pump house, cowhand bunk house, and smokehouse in the back.

Following our visit with the Goodnights we stopped at the one location necessary for every visitor to Texas – Buc-ee’s. I have to admit, it is a sight to see. Buc-ee’s not only had the lowest price gas in the area, it’s fresh food items smelled fabulous. We made the tactical error of having eaten before we stopped there, so unfortunately we could not sample the sweet smelling delectables they were preparing. We did pick up some Buc-ee nuggets and gummies as snacks for the trip.

Our drive to Santa Fe was non-eventful and west Texas is very flat with few trees. We arrived in the small capital of New Mexico just before sunset. Tomorrow we plan to visit the miraculous stairs of the Loretto chapel in downtown Santa Fe believed to have been built by Saint Joseph or an angel sent by him.