The British Invasion

Noticed that this blog was getting quite a few hits in a short period of time, most from places in the U.K. Went and checked and sure 'nuff, the movie "Cast Away" was just on BBC 1 (think it was) A few have found this site via searches and others by a link I left at IMDB.

Welcome to ToTG!

Wonder if I could make money by selling authentic dirt from the intersection?

Scandinavian Invasion

Sounds like a Nordic version of an "Up With People" cover group, or some drink made with schnapps, doesn't it?

No, it's the dozen or so hits on this blog today from Norway and Sweden. They're following a link I left at the Cast Away msg. boards in the IMDB site.

The movie must've been on the tube over there. Searches for the Arrington Ranch House used in the film have this blog on the first page, depending upon the terms used, but the intersection post is nearly always at the top or in the top three.

Texas Heritage Trails

From the website:

The Texas You Will Remember!

Big Region! Big History! Big Fun!

The Texas Plains Trail Region is a wonderfully warm place to make your holiday memories. Our communities are filled with old-fashioned ways to celebrate this season with your family. Our region offers lots of quaint shops to find that special gift and Christmas celebrations that are sure to bring a smile. Check out the events calendar to plan an outing that will be remembered forever.

I believe I had come across this site before, searching for links about the Panhandle area, but today noticed a hit from the website on one of the "Cast Away" posts. The webmaster has been good enough to include this blog on their Movies in the Plains Region page.

We're gettin' famous here, folks...although, face it, we're a Pee Wee Herman blog in a Robert Redford universe.

Rich German Chocolate Brownies

Yesterday (Friday) the StartSampling website had this recipe:

The trademark German chocolate brownie is made of mild, sweet chocolate and has an irresistibly rich and gooey nutty, coconut frosting.

Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:1 hr 50 min
Makes:24 brownies

Ingredients
1 bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 1/4 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 container Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy coconut pecan frosting
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Heat oven to 350F. In 3-quart saucepan, melt 2 cups chocolate chips and the butter over low heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in flour, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, salt and eggs. Spread batter in ungreased 13x9-inch pan.

Bake 27 to 34 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

In medium bowl, mix frosting, 1 cup chocolate chips and the walnuts. Spread frosting mixture over brownies. For brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.

Source: Betty Crocker

(hey, if they can copy off of Betty Crocker, I can copy it from them)

Not that recipes will become a part of this blog, but I just wanted to put this in. The brownies look SO delicious....but I don't really like coconut.

Back when I was a kid, my sisters and I would wake up on Christmas mornings to presents and goodies. Sometimes our goody basket would have exotic nuts, a pineapple and coconuts.

I woke up in the middle of the night, went into the living room where Santa had already left the presents, looked at mine, snooped around my sisters and decided I'd eat one of the coconuts.

I took it out to the garage, put dad's claw hammer to work and gulped down the milk and gnawed the coconut meat down to the shell.

That wasn't enough for my little greedy gut: I decided one coconut was good, so two must be twice as nice. I crept back into the house, careful not to awaken anyone, grabbed the other coconut, took it out to the garage and ate it, too.

Like the character in Cast Away says "Betcha didn't know coconut is a natural laxative."

I've known that since that Christmas Day.

I also took the cure on pineapple, too. My mom had one of those big jars full of brandied fruit, pineapple and cherries, I forget what-all was in it. It was fermented, and was an adult treat, not for kids. The alcohol content wasn't all THAT much, but it adds up...

...if you eat nearly the entire jar.

Nope, to this day I don't like pineapple or coconut. I'd be in a helluva shape if I was stuck on some desert island like Tom Hanks was in the movie.

There's always monkey meat, I guess.

Thanks TBS!

For airing "Cast Away" twice in one evening!


I only hope they don't show a Movie of the Week titled:

"My Sister's Feet"

Cast Away Crossroads

Last Friday I took another trip to the Arrington Ranch House, the rural location featured at the first and last of the 2000 movie Cast Away. (blog post about my first visit) I hadn't visited the intersection and wanted to take photos of the roads described by Bettina Peterson (played by the lovely C&W performer, Lari White), the artist character who gives directions to the Tom Hanks character, Chuck Noland, at the ending of the flick.

A friend of mine went along for the ride; he works for the Texas Dept. of Transportation and, just before the scenes were filmed, was tasked with removing most of the easily visible highway signs around the intersection.

I asked him why he had to remove them and he said he was told it was to keep the location "secret". Since the roads were mentioned by number in the movie, that didn't make sense to me. Personally, I think they were removed for "artistic reasons", to make it look a bit more barren.

This is a new "goalpost-type" sign that replaced one of those that were taken down.

(click for larger view)

This is the intersection, facing NE.

The last dialogue in the film was between Hanks and White; he has just dropped off the pkg. to the woman's house and is now at the intersection, standing by his vehicle, puzzling over a map, wondering which way he should go. (and the obvious symbolism is that he is also puzzling over which direction he should take his life)

Bettina Peterson: You look lost.
Chuck Noland: I do?
Bettina Peterson: Where're you headed?
Chuck Noland: Well, I was just about to figure that out.

The woman then points to each direction, telling Noland where each will take him.

Bettina Peterson: Well, that's 83 South.

(NOTE: That's not THAT hwy. number, it's 1268, but it connects with Hwy 83, which is one of the longest north/south highways in the U.S. It's also facing east in the above photo.)

And this road here will hook you up with I-40 East

(NOTE: That's facing south, but WILL connect you with I-40. I'll have to check my road map, but I believe one would reach the small town of Mobeetie first via Ranch Road 48 and then wind their way over to the interstate. Yep, you can "hook up" with I-40 that way, it's a twisty path though. Might as well just go ahead and get on 83 which will intersect I-40 at Shamrock, Texas.)

If you turn right, that'll take you to Amarillo, Flagstaff, California.

(That's Ranch Road 1268, facing west. It intersects with Ranch Road 748. Turn left/south to Laketon, then turn right/west on Hwy 152 which will then lead to Hwy 60, Pampa, White Deer, Panhandle then Amarillo and points west. One could also turn right, go to Miami and get on Hwy 60 there. Also, there are a multitude of small farm and ranch roads leading off of Hwy 60 between Laketon and Amarillo that would let a traveler go South and hook up with the interstate. )

And if you head back that direction, you'll find a whole lot of nothing all the way to Canada.

Chuck Noland: I got it.
Bettina Peterson: All right, then. Good luck, cowboy.
Chuck Noland: Thank You.

I'm not so sure a "whole lot of nothing" would be a nice thing to say to folks in the top part of the Texas Panhandle, the Oklahoma Panhandle, Kansas, etc. It's a lovely drive between Canadian and Miami as well as on up to the state line.

Be that as it may: That is a caliche road, not in the best of shape with some blind corners and hills. If it is wet from a recent rain, it will be slicker than earthworms in a barrel of snot. (I wonder if the mud puddle the FedEx truck drives through at the first of the movie was real or manufactured, i.e., filled up by the film crew from a water truck? As you can see in the above photo, the low spot is still there)

As we made our way on down to the Arrington Ranch house, nice, smooth stretches lulled me into picking up too much speed, then suddenly hitting suspension rattling holes and ruts. "Spur 'im, Hogan! " my pal said after I steered right into a deep hole and nearly lost control. "Hell, I'm barefoot!".

We stopped to take a few pictures, but I had already taken quite a few the last time I was out there and other than a clearer sky, nothing had changed since my previous visit. As was the last time I took photos, there was no one there, and I wondered if they had ever had problems with "fans" prowling around the property.

There's not much to photograph out there; besides the house, there's the sign over the gate. It was altered for the movie, but the angel wings were left when the sign was restored.

EDIT: 11/11/18

I removed a YouTube user created video of him at the crossroads; that is the reason for the comment from my sister at the start of the comments below this post.  Sorry for any confusion.

Here's the end scene from the movie.  As I have pointed out in the comment section, the surrounding area looks much different now.

09/03/08

I added a bit more information about the various highways, put in some links, posted the Google Earth screenshot. Hope this helps anyone searching for this location.

In case the link was missed at the first of this post, there's another blog post about my visit to the ranch house.

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9/19/08

Sheesh, noticed another hit, then figured out I had put the wrong directions in when I described how to go to Laketon. Mea Culpa, I'm an idiot, what can I say. It's correct now...I think.

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9/23/08

Edit once again, probably for the sole sake of being anal retentive.

In case you didn't know, click any photo for larger view

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1/12/09

Interesting article about the history of the house, plus some photos of it and the intersection

In PDF format

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09/16/09

Added a new post about the locations

Cast Away Locations in Google Maps

Arrington Ranch House

Recognize this sign, specifically the angel wings?

If you're a movie buff you've probably recognized it from Cast Away, the 2000 release starring Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt. Hanks plays a FedEx globetrotting troubleshooter who, after a plane crash, is stranded on a small island.

The angel wing motif was the trademark of the artist character who lived at this ranch and who sent and received pkgs. from FedEx. She was a metal sculptor and her husband was in Russia, their relationship a very tiny but interesting detail of the plot.

This is another shot of the gate and the barn where she worked on her pieces.

The house was featured again near the end of the movie, in the scene where Tom Hanks stood on the porch and knocked on the door. When no one answered, he left the package--which had the angel wings on it, and which also was featured throughout another large part of the movie-- and a note saying the package had saved his life.

I don't think anyone was there; it's now a bed and breakfast but there were no cars or other vehicles other than the farm trucks and tractor in front of the barn.

I did take a photo of this new marker:

Why is it that Texas signs look like Texas belt buckles (or vice versa) and are as big, bright and shiny as our womenfolk's hair-dos? Just like the stars, deep in the heart, I guess. I took two shots of this new sign and both had the reflection of a big doofus in them, I haven't yet figured out just what causes that.

At the IMDB Cast Away listing, there are quite a few message threads about this movie; some, like far too many one sees on the 'net, are full of inane comments, but there are other posts that speak of how profoundly the movie affected them (as it did me) or asking questions about the movie such as "where was the island?" as well as "where is the farm house?"

One guy who posted on the IMDB site has a website with some very nice photos including many I did not get, such as the interior of the house, a close-up shot of the note Hanks' character leaves at the end and autographed later by the actor. The note is on Arrington Ranch stationery, by-the-way.

(the site loads slow, even for me with a fairly fast connection; it's also in a "turn the page" style slideshow, a little tricky at first. It's a great site, though, sure worth a look if you're interested in seeing more of this particular bit of movie trivia)

I didn't go on to the intersection where Hanks' character was standing at the end of the film, but I stood in the middle of the dirt road in front of the house and took a couple of shots. The next shot is looking North, back the way I had come from Hwy 60, the turn off being 12 miles or so east of Miami in Hemphill County, another dozen or so miles to the northeast lies the larger town of Canadian.

This is looking South, showing a bit of how the terrain is at that particular spot, gentle rolling hills, great pasture land. We've had twice the normal amount of rain and the fields are fairly green and lush but this day was so hot the moisture was being sucked out of every living thing, including myself.

I'm not for sure what the attraction would be to stay out there; the road is fairly busy, what with a fair amount of oil field activity and even though I'm "oil field trash" and know you have to break some eggs to make an omelet, the unsightly scars left on this beautiful landscape by the fresh caliche roads and well locations, tank batteries and other production equipment pretty much spoils the view and beauty. I could make out the tops of three drilling rigs from the next hill over, so at least this area is benefitting from a robust economy.

Still, the house IS picturesque and has quite a bit of interesting history. It wouldn't be hard to imagine living there a hundred years ago. This shot doesn't do justice to the beautiful southwestern sky as it filled up with enormous thunderheads with tops reaching up to 30-40,000 feet. The rain would be welcome sight, but tornados often come during these exact same conditions and from this direction. I'm sure they have a basement or storm cellar and back when it was built it probably had a root cellar or some underground, cool place to store canned items and smoked and/or salted meat. You couldn't miss it, turn right at the outhouse.

I'm not sure what there would be to DO out there, either. (I kept thinking that getting to sit on the front porch in the shade and snap green beans might have been the highlight of a day back then) I hadn't been out there in a long time, not since I was helping to drill wells back in the late 70's and early 80's, but even without the ugly signs of progress, there's not much to see out there, just those rolling hills broken by some gullies and wash-outs that collectively don't quite deserve the name "canyon". If you wanted to brave the rattlesnakes, you could probably find some wild plums to pick, but I can't think of any other recreation out there unless it would be stealing oil field equipment or rustling cattle.

(Edit to add: I shouldn't be so harsh about there being "nothing to do" out there. To be honest, there's all sorts of wildlife to see such as antelope, deer, raccoons, many species of birds, etc. You'd still need to keep the rattlesnakes in mind if you go traipsin' off down in those gullies )

There's certainly no 7-11's within a dozen miles nor is there cable TV and I'm not so sure about land line phone service. The closest place to buy a beer would be just across the state line in Oklahoma, probably another 30 miles, or back to Pampa, over 30 miles back the other direction.

What one did while staying there would depend upon whom one was staying there with, I suppose. That's probably also the reason, that being not much to do, that old ranch families had so many children.

You can read more about the B&B on the Arrington Ranch website. The Trip Advisor website has a review on the lodgings.

(back when I was roughnecking around the area, I worked with some local boys named "Farrington" and they were always going around adding an "F" to all the Arrington signs. That's been years and years...and years and years ago, the statute of limitations has run out)

The sky was threatening some severe weather, so I headed back into Miami. Not too far out of town a van got right on my tail and wouldn't back off. The speed limits drop severely as you drive into Miami and I certainly wasn't going to get a ticket being the first one in a close convoy not of my making just to satisfy someone's impatience.

He stayed almost on my bumper right into town, right into the 35mph limit and first chance I got I grabbed my camera to take a photograph; I had to turn it around and look at the LCD window in my rear view mirror and still try to keep an eye on the road.

Seeing my camera, he eased off; guess he thought I was doing it to turn him in, and I would've if he'd been more aggressive and not backed off, but I took it because I couldn't believe what sort of truck it was...and you'll prob. have to click the pic. in order to make out the company logo on the front of the delivery van:

If you can't make it out, here's a cropped bit of the original photo above, at the highest resolution.

Yup, was a FedEx truck.

Wonder if that was Tom Hanks driving?

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For those of you who have found this post via a Google search, you *may* be interested in a followup post on the intersection that leads to the ranch house. It was shown at the first of the movie, and a longer scene at the crossroads ended the film.

Cast Away Crossroads

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1/12/09

Interesting article about the history of the house, plus some photos of it and the intersection

In PDF format

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09/16/09

Added a new post about the locations

Cast Away Locations in Google Maps

Your Vote DOES Count!

I've pretty much voted Republican since I became of voting age and when I didn't like the candidate that particular party put forth, I would either leave that selection blank or vote Libertarian. I have voted for a Dem. representative a few years back, an incumbent that was doing a decent job. I also used to vote for a few local offices held by "Democrats"; they usually ran unopposed. (it's a small town)

It was the election of '92 and while I had voted for Bush (sr) in '88, his "Read my lips..." fiasco made me turn away from him on his re-election. I was also disappointed he (Bush) kept Dan Quayle as his V.P. I didn't want to vote for Clinton because his sexual escapades were beginning to come to light. (I was just jealous.....just kidding.) Even though Perot was a Texan, I didn't think much of his candidacy and his reliance on charts and graphs to "prove" his points. (Shades of Al Gore!) I also didn't like his accent. -grin-

So, I cast my ballot for the Libertarian candidate, even though I knew nothing about him. (I like the Libertarian party's platform, but I'm not convinced it is realistic) I vote Libertarian a LOT for the state races, especially against an incumbent. I simply don't like someone staying in office too long.

I vote in Precinct 10, and when the results were published in the newspaper, I could see my vote REALLY counted, it was out there in black and white for all to see!

Silly Squirrel Story

I belong to an MSN photography Group, the highest ranked one in the category. In this recent thread

(edit to add: link removed because it is no longer valid as MSN Groups were discontinued several years ago) is a pretty good shot of a squirrel that made me think of how my folks loved to watch the squirrels in their back yard, putting out peanuts and not even caring (too much) that the tree rodents cute, loveable creatures also ate their birdfeeder empty. I believe my big sister has problems with that and has tried all the gadgets/gimmicks to keep them out of her bird feeders.

It also reminded me of a friend of my dad's; they had a lovely, shady place right on the creek and the century old cottonwoods were full of squirrels. We were down there late one summer afternoon and our family friend was showing my pop how the squirrels would come when he called them. He took a nut from his shirt pocket and tapped on the tree, making some "tik-tik" sounding call.

Sure 'nuff, here came a squirrel from a hole in the trunk of the tree; this man backed up to the tree and the squirrel jumped to his shoulder and took the nut from his hand. I was about ten yrs. old or so, and I thought it was SOOOOOO cool looking, that squirrel sitting there munching away on the nut held between its two tiny paws. It ate the meat, cast away the bits of shell after it was done, then to my amazement, climbed face down into the guy's pocket and nabbed another nut! Again, it perched nonchalantly on his shoulder and ate.

"I got almost all of 'em like this 'un here." said dad's friend, and at the same time, rubbed his nose with his forefinger, making an audible inhaling "Sniff". It was an odd mannerism he had, one my dad always said prefaced a bald-faced lie.

I think there was some validity to my dad's theory- after all, most Texans, myself included, are known to sometimes stretch the truth...but maybe not THIS time, because the squirrel, apparently frightened by the sudden movement of the finger, PLUS the "sniff" (which, come to think of it, would be more like a backwards "snort") sound rewarded my dad's friend with a quick, hard bite on his earlobe, which then sprang off his shoulder and scampered back up the tree.

Let me tell you something and take it to heart: If I ever obeyed anything that my dad told me, it was to respect my elders, the "seen, not heard" type of child and not speak unless... yada yada yada. It's not a bad thing, and I don't resent it. I still try to respect my elders, but there's getting to be fewer and fewer of them.

The thing I remember most about this long ago scene is not the squirrel bite, nor our family friend's reaction, but my own. I KNEW I shouldn't laugh, but Lord help me, I was having trouble. I alternated between my face splitting open like a watermelon in the August sun and doing my best to show the proper amount of concern, lest I embarrass the adult. After all, the ear was bleeding "like a stuck hog" and blood was staining his shirt. I'm sure it hurt, but the expression on his face wasn't one of pain, but something like the shock of betrayal.

MY ears were hurting trying to hold back my grin. You know what I'm talking about, it's almost like a funky little earache, you know you can't laugh, it's like you get a small shot of helium gas in those lymph glands, the mumps ones, they start to tingle. It's a warning sign you're about to explode with laughter. You want to laugh SO bad. It's like when someone farts in church, y'know?

When my dad started laughing like an idiot, I figured it was safe for me to laugh, too.

They're yellow, I'm sure of that...

I *think* these are Engelmann daisies, according to a Texas wildflower website.

Scientific Name: (Engelmannia pinnatifida)
Definition: Part of the Sunflower Family (Asteraceae), the Engelmann daisy is a favorite for grazing with livestock and much of the plant has been eaten out of the grasslands, prairies and savannah that makes up so much of Texas. Grows upright to spreading with stems stout and woody, one to several. Flower heads 1-2" across, usually 8 petals. Flowers found few to several ending in clusters. Grows in all parts of state except Northeast. Blooms February - November.

On the other hand, they may very well be:

Damianita

Scientific Name: (Chrysactinia mexicana)
Definition: Damianita is a strongly scented, leafy shrub growing 1 - 2 feet. Flowers are golden yellow, 1 inch across on slender stems at the end of branches. Blooms June - October.

Both look very much alike to me, but it has more petals than what the first one described.

Taken on a dirt road just off of Hwy 60 in front of the Arrington ranch house (now a bed and breakfast). Some of the scenes from the Tom Hanks movie Cast Away were filmed there. (photos of that to follow!)