ROAD TRIP: A BBM Game

[Meryl]

Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico

[Lynne]

Zephyr, TX

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/ZZ/hlz3.html

This is one hard-luck town...

"The town was supposedly named in 1850 by land surveyors who were trapped there by a blue norther. Their ironic name for the fierce wind stuck, and the town was named Zephyr...In 1909 a tornado demolished the town, leaving more than twenty people dead and many injured. Rebuilding followed...Cotton was the mainstay of the economy until the boll weevilqv devastation and market conditions led to the closing of the last gin in Zephyr in the early 1940s...The population was 198 in 1980 and 1990, when the town had two businesses.

What is a blue norther, you ask??

"BLUE NORTHER. The term blue norther denotes a weather phenomenon common to large areas of the world's temperate zones–a rapidly moving autumnal cold front that causes temperatures to drop quickly and that often brings with it precipitation followed by a period of blue skies and cold weather. What is peculiar to Texas is the term itself. The derivation of blue norther is unclear; at least three folk attributions exist. The term refers, some say, to a norther that sweeps "out of the Panhandle under a blue-black sky"–that is, to a cold front named for the appearance of its leading edge. Another account states that the term refers to the appearance of the sky after the front has blown through, as the mid-nineteenth-century variant "blew-tailed norther" illustrates. Yet another derives the term from the fact that one supposedly turns blue from the cold brought by the front. Variants include blue whistler, used by J. Frank Dobie, and, in Oklahoma, blue darter and blue blizzard. Though the latter two phrases are found out-of-state, blue norther itself is a pure Texasism. The dramatic effects of the blue norther have been noted and exaggerated since Spanish times in Texas. But that the blue norther is unique to Texas is folklore."

[Ellemeno]

Roalina, Mexico

According to www.islamicfinder.org, there are no mosques in Roalina.

[jpwagoneer1964]

Arvada, Wy

One of the two bars in Arvada:

Spotted Horse Bar
307-736-2252 • 7021 US Highway 14-16, Arvada,WY

[Lynne]

Agua Prieta, Mexico

...chosen because it reminded me of our favorite cinematographer, Prieto

http://www.gotosonora.com/agua-prieta-son-mx.htm

It is a border town east of Nogales.

[belbbmfan]

Alix, Alberta

The village of Alix features several recreation facilities, including a nine-hole golf course, the Alix Lake Recreation Area, a curling rink and nearby hiking trails. Discover local history at the Alix Wagon Wheel Regional Museum. Alix is located between Lacombe and Stettler.

[MaineWriter]

Xaaxkax, Mexico

A town that begins with an X and end with an X. Top that!

Leslie

[belbbmfan]

Xaaxkax, Mexico

A town that begins with an X and end with an X. Top that!

Leslie

i'll try:

Ximojay, Mexico

[jpwagoneer1964]

Yanthe, Mx

[MaineWriter]

Exile, TX

History in a Cedar Shingle

An Exile post office was in operation in 1890 on the ranch of W. C. Lee. Lee was the postmaster of the town that was jokingly named for its isolation and distance from civilization.

In 1896 the combination church-school had an enrollment of fifty-six students with one teacher. The church moved south to the Heard community school where it was known as the Dry Frio Baptist Church. All that remains of Exile today is the cemetery.

Leslie