The stretch of Highway 95 that runs north out of Elgin and all the way to Temple could easily be called the Central Texas Fertilizer Corridor. There seems to be lots of farming going on, too, but my visual observation clocked a whole lot of manure processing.

I had actually taken a quick drive through Coupland on another recent weekend trip and I really like the looks of the place. You don't get the feel for it if you just drive by on Highway 79, where you'll see just a convenience store and a post office if you hit your brake.

But if you turn off, you'll find a cute (though very small) downtown strip and some historical markers, and a bunch of real estate just waiting to be gentrified. It's less than an hour from downtown Austin, about 30 minutes from the big Dell computers facility I think, and looks like just the sort of town hi-tech folks looking for a place out in the country raise their families. I checked out a big ol' Victorian home, built in 1907, four bedrooms, two bath, two living, two dining, with two two-car garages sitting on five lots for $138,000. It needed a bit of work, but, lordy, that's cheap. Once they get DSL out there.

After Coupland, I passed through Circleville, which is so tiny it didn't make the map. There was a store there called The Circleville Store. I passed by it so fast I didn't catch the name, but I read it on a brochure that I picked up later in Taylor.

Extra Sauce with that, please.

© 2000 E.V. Hobbs