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What a Hell of a State We're in

Ye Wee Blogger

What a Hell of a State We're in

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  Hill Coun­try, TX

Earlier this month, we drove 3200 miles from home in Northern Virginia to Comfort in Texas and back again. While there, we combined some family business with a holiday. More than half of our long drives were through the departure and arrival states, Virginia and Texas, and the balance crossing Tennessee and Arkansas.

The Journey There

Overnight stops in Nashville and Dallas on the way were fun. We particularly enjoyed the laid back hospitality and friendliness of Hotel Palomar in Dallas. Outstanding dog friendliness too. Our arrival was unforgettable. We were ushered in by the concierge as our unloaded SUV was whisked away to the hotel lot. A member of staff appeared to hold the dogs while we checked in. The concierge disappeared momentarily to reappear with glasses of red wine that tasted wonderful and washed away the detritus of travel that lodges in one's throat on long drives. Dogs or no dogs, we can thoroughly recommend lodging at the Palomar.

At Comfort

Comfort is delightful small town in the Texas Hill Country. We rented a 20 acre property on a low hilltop a mile or two outside it. It suited us well because there was an inner fence around the ranch house that was more than big enough for the dogs to roam around doing what dogs do but keeping them out of trouble.

The area has some good restaurants though we didn't get an opportunity to try out as many as we would have liked. Special mention though to Comfort Pizza. We went there on our last night in the town because it was one of a few places open on a Sunday night. So glad we did, the pizza is simply the best I have eaten in the USA and ranks with the best anyplace. They understand that pizza is about the crust and not the topping. Their crust was beautifully crisp, thin and delicious. The topping sparse, as it should be, and so very tasty.

We were kept delightfully busy and family business has a habit of overshooting the schedule, especially when it is an informal one. So I didn't have a lot of time to spend with my camera but I have put up a few images that hopefully impart a flavour of the area. The ranch house had a covered outdoor kitchen and dining area which we put to good use. The overbearing heat of a Texas summer had gone away by the time we got there and it was very pleasant to sit outside, often into the wee sma' hours.

Le Retour

The journey home was less enjoyable with overnight stops in Little Rock, AR and Kingsport TN (close to the TN/VA stateline). The logistics of such a drive with three Vizslas aboard required that each journey be divided into two six hundred mile stages with a shorter 400 mile leg on the third day, and so the places one can stop are limited to quite small geographic areas along the way.