The Adventure In Texas With George
8 Cities. Here is my account of my road-trip across Texas.
Day One : El Paso
Mission Trail
Chamizal National Memorial
Day Two : Odessa
Odessa Meteor Crater
The Henderson House
Monahans Sandhills State Park
Day Three : Lubbock
Lubbock Lake Landmark
Day Four : Plainview
Plainview Chinese Cultural Center
The Plainview Chinese Cultural Center (PCCC) is a non-profit organization started in 2005 to offer bilingual Chinese language and cultural programs for children and adults. The language programs are unlike any other Chinese program as they are based upon a bilingual format where instruction and materials are provided in both Chinese and English. The programs are designed for non-Chinese speaking or English language dominant families and does not require any prior knowledge of Chinese. The goals of these programs are reading comprehension and conversational Chinese by making the language more accessible. There are multiple levels for children ages five through eighteen and two levels for adults. The cultural programs encourage appreciation of Chinese culture by exposing participants to various Chinese holidays and festivals and the traditions involved in those celebrations. They also offer geography, sports, music, calligraphy, origami, dance, drama, martial arts, and arts and crafts. The quality of the programs is a priority of PCCC's Board of Directors and executive and administrative staff. All of the instructors are highly qualified and are required to participate in regular on site training each year. The Board and staff have tried to foster a fun environment while emphasizing quality. The success of PCCC's vision is based upon the involvement and dedication of everyone involved in the program, parents, children, staff, administration, and the Board, working as a team and communicating with one another. PCCC is also a member of the Association of Chinese Schools (ACS) and the National Chinese Association of Chinese Language Schools (NCACLS) and participates in ACS' annual conference.
Plainview Historical Cotton Center
Until the late 19th century the Comanche tribe of Native-Americans occupied the area. In 1907, with the coming of a branch of the Santa Fe Railroad, a number of farming operations were established. Cotton Center was originally created in 1925 as a consolidated school district, with a small community site, containing the school, cotton gins and various businesses to support the surrounding farms. In 1935 a local post office opened, and the first irrigation well was drilled. By the late 1940s irrigation wells proliferated, pumping water from the Ogalla Aqufiler. The community revolves around farming and is tied together by the school, which as of 2005 had 140 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Cotton Center has remained stable population wise for the past 10 years.
Baker Cave National Park
Baker Cave is a prehistoric natural site located on a small canyon near a river in Southwest Texas. Baker Cave is a part of rock shelters in the Lower Pecos Canyons region and is 120 feet long by 56 feet deep. The site was perched well above the flood, saving the materials that the ancient peoples had left behind. I think it was interesting! A large cooking thing was found inside it, and containing small animals such as snakes, rats, fish, and rabbits, and a wide variety of seeds and nuts, indicating a not so well diet. Disgusting! he site was named after the Baker family, who owned the land and allowed archaeological research in the shelter. The Baker family had protected the site from looters, as did its isolated location. The first fieldwork began in April 1962, by archaeologists from the UTA's Archaeology Research Lab, who designated a shelter. During the excavations at Baker Cave, many features were found, including hearths. Most of the hearths were round and bowl-shaped.