It’s 2014 and I didn’t make a Labor Day overnight trip this
year. This year has been one of many significant
changes. I have a different motorcycle
and I’m trying life as a retiree. Rather
I took a day trip to a little known town but one that most of you have seen.
Sportster #1 a 2005 883 model was totaled in June. This trip was made on the replacement Sportster
#2 – a 2009 1200 model.
I started retirement in August but my discretionary
time doesn’t seem to be as abundant as expected. So far this year my usual August overnight
trip is being replaced by an October day trip.
Maybe there will be more than one?
Archer City's famous son is the author and screen
writer Larry McMurtry. How have most of
you seen this town? The two movies,Last
Picture Show and Texasville were shot on site.
Why pick Archer City?
Last week while channel surfing I ran across the movie “The Last Picture
Show” and watched the remainder of the movie.
A few days later I was reading an article about Archer City TX and I
figured that the spirit of Sam The Lion was sending me there. Additionally,
with the town only 150 miles away it seemed to be a perfect Day Trip.
Archer City is the home of the “Archer County Court House”,
the “Booked Up” – used book stores #1 & #2 (Note: #3 and #4 are defunct)
and the famous Royal Movie House. The
Royal Movie House is just a facade as the theater burned down and only the front
and a bit of a side remains. There is a stage
at the back of the ruin used as a venue for local performances.
From my brief stay, "Archer City" would appear to better be
described as "Archer Intersection" since it is the intersection of Hwy 25 East/West
and Hwy 79 North/South. There are a lot
of trucks that go through this intersection and it is no wonder that in the
movie, Billy was killed by a truck. The
Royal Theater was just east of this intersection and the Booked Up stores just
to the south.
A bit about Larry McMurtry in case you missed the previously
mentioned two movies. McMurtry has been
a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and is best known for the
film adaptations - Hud, The Last Picture Show, Texasville, Terms of Endearment, Brokeback Mountain and Lonesome Dove. He is also the owner of the “Booked Up” used
book stores in Archer City.
I took some of the roads less traveled but when getting in and out of the ever expanding DFW Metroplex I had to travel some slow major roads. The trip odometer read 300 miles upon my return. That equates to 6 hours in the saddle.
While traveling through Jacksboro TX, I found that it is the origin
of 4H in Texas. To city dwellers this
may not seem to be a big deal but looking at the Texas Landscape, there are
many to whom this means a lot.
There wasn’t one. I stopped in several small towns along the way that have yielded to fast food chains. I would prefer there be more local BBQ places.
It was a good day trip.
The weather was perfect and the scenery on the back roads was excellent. I didn’t include scenery pictures because the
back roads while smooth and gently winding did not provide picture opportunities. There were no shoulders to pull on to.