The news from Dilley, Texas

It's been a long time in coming, but here's the latest addition to our series of blogs. We were in one location for a long time and nothing much was happening in our lives so there was little to report; then there was an issue with our main computer and it ended up in the repair shop for over a month. Couple that with other equipment issues and just plain procrastination and you should have a pretty good explanation for the delay in posting.

Tilden, Texas was our primary location since September, 2012. Oh, there was a break for a couple of months to visit Port Aransas, Texas for some R&R on the beach, then right back to Tilden. Much to our surprise, and dismay, the oil company decided to close that gate and there was no other gate to relocate us to. We then took a couple days off and went back to Port Aransas. We applied to a different guard company and got immediate placement to Faith Ranch, south of Carizzo Springs, Texas, which is quite near the Mexican border. Only stayed there a week and then got moved to Dilley, Texas and that's where we are now and probably will be for an extended period of time. We're all moved in and settled and finally have Direct TV working; computer working (fairly well). Somewhat remote, but not as far as we've been at other times. About 20 miles to decent shopping, and a Wal-Mart.

 Our resident deer at Tilden. Momma and her twins were frequent visitors.

 Roseate Spoonbill at Port Aransas.

 

 Gray Heron and Egret at Pioneer Park, Port Aransas.

 

 Gray Heron.

 

 What would you guess these guys are doing? Never expected to get a power surge, but we did and it did a lot of damage. Lucky we didn't get fried. Think I'll invest in a surge protector.

 

 Power inlet plug on the RV. The plug fused to the socket and had to be removed as one piece.

 

 Gate to Faith Ranch. That's our RV on the left.

 Count them if you wish. Each sign is an oil well. I counted 92. Faith Ranch is huge, taking up parts of three counties.

 

 This is a Pyrrhuloxia, more commonly known as a gray cardinal, eating berries right outside our dining room window.

 

 Pat walking among the cattle on Calvert Ranch near Dilley, Texas, our present location.

 

Rainbow right over our house following a late afternoon rainstorm.

 

 

That's all for today. If things keep working as they are supposed to we'll try to blog a little more often.

More of our Tilden surroundings

Posting some addition photos today of our Tilden surroundings. This is Texas brush country - some rolling hills, sandy, semi-arid, and lots of wildlife. Not much for population, however. We have no neighbors within walking distance. Mostly, our only human contact is with workers coming to the oilwell or when we go to town for shopping.

Scissor-tail Flycatcher. Lots of these around, and they are really good at catching bugs.

Green Jay. Had never seen one of these until being here.

Prickly Pear in bloom.

This is where we are. You can see, it's quite rural, but we have all the comforts of home in the city.

Another Prickly Pear.

If you ever see Prickly Pear Honey in a store, this is where/how it begins.

Just an example of brush country. Beyond the Prickly Pear, uphill, you can see an oil well pump.

Our gate.

Walking along the road to our oil well I saw a hole surrounded by ants. These are Texas ants, for sure. The hole is about one inch; the ants about 1/2 inch long.

Several rabbits live in the brush surrounding our home. Annie wants to either play with them, chase them, or eat them. We aren't sure. She is determined (fixated) on watching them through the fence. The rabbits show no fear to either Annie or us.

 

With this we'll close for now. Keeping an eye open for deer, wild pigs, wild turkeys. All of those also come by frequently.

Return to Tilden TX

We're back in Tilden at the same post we had before taking our break on Mustang Island. Yes, it's somewhat remote, clearly off-the-grid, but a pleasant place to be. We'll be here for the next 8 months.

One last look at the Gulf of Mexico from Mustang Island beach. Won't be back here until Jan. 2014.

Fresh seaweed on the beach. Our gnome saying farewell to the beach.

Pat and our gnome.

 Our summer garden at Tilden. It's all containerized and/or raised bed and went from seeds to sprouts in only 3 days. The tomatoes are pre-starts.

 

Molly and Annie usually get along this well.

Wild turkeys are in abundance, as they were last year. This Tom is "hunting".

This guy visits us most nights. So far he's been very well-behaved.

Cardinals, Green Jays, Roadrunners, Doves, are the most prevelant birds at this site. I'm working at getting a photo of a Green Jay. Have you ever seen one?

 

 

It's mostly work for us at this time, and work pretty much means being here. There are no heavy, physical duties. Just logging trucks in and out. As you may recall, we can't ever leave the site together as one of us has to be at the gate at all times. If nothing else, this job has finally gotten Pat to drive our one-ton dually. Not that she likes doing it, but she can and does make a laundry/Wal-Mart run a couple times a month. I'm still trying, with no success, to get her to tow the 5th wheel. I'm not holding my breath until she does.

Time's up - So-long Mustang Island; Hello back-to-work

Can't believe we've been on Mustang Island for over 2-1/2 months, but that's the case. On Wednesday (4-17) we say farewell to Port Aransas and the Gulf of Mexico and head inland to Tilden, and back to work.
These photos reflect some of the more recent highlights of our stay in Port Aransas, Texas.

Annie and Molly sniffing a visitor to our yard at Pioneer Park.

Our visitor was a shy little thing.

Our daughter, Angel and her friend Pete Mogren came to the island to visit for a week. Here they are all fitted out for an outing on the National Seashore of North Padre Island, just south of Mustang Island.

Angel and Pete at the Texas State Aquarium

One of the woodcarvings I did while at Pioneer Park. I call this "possum in the headlights".

Another woodcarving completed while at Pioneer Park. Woodcarving (for Dave) and jewelry/yarn/quilting crafts (for Pat) comprise the main reason for us to stay in this park.

There is a pond/wetland right in the middle of Pioneer Park. Lots of birds visit here daily, and some live here all the time.

Just a few days before leaving Mustang Island we had a cleaning team stop by to wash and wax our RV. Some days there is a salty fog from the Gulf that makes its way over the dunes and engulfs the park. A wash and wax takes care of that stuff.

Some of the woodcarvers at work (play?) in the rec hall at Pioneer Park.

Some weeks earlier we made a couple of trips to Progreso, Mexico for shopping.

At the Grand Opry in Refugio, Texas. It's country music, for sure, but this is where the idea for the 'possum in the headlights came from. Refugio is pronounced Refurrio. Go figure, and good luck learning the language. Near as we can figure there are NO rules.

 

 

That's all for now. We're in packing mode and will be on the road, once again, on Wednesday.

More Island Fun

In our travels, I have from time to time mentioned that there are Belt Sander Races in Port Aransas (Mustang Island) TX. Sometimes I think my comment is not believed. Well, here is picture proof of it.

 

 

The race circuit is in the back yard of The Gaff, a bar and pizza joint on Beach Street in Port Aransas. The track is 75' long and has two lanes for side by side racing of competitor's belt sanders. See, you can't make stuff like this up out of thin air. I'm guessing there were 200 to 300 spectators.

When the race official activates the light bar, it goes from red to yellow, to green. On green, the belt sanders are sent on their way to the finish line.

This is great redneck-type fun and some participants really get into it.

The guy in blue is the driver for Team Viagra 2. Their motto is "Go Hard, Or Go Home". Note that these belt sanders are not exactly like your father's belt sander.

And with all the spring winds we've had on Mustang Island the kite fliers have been out in big numbers. Like the belt sanders, these kites are not your cheapie throw-aways. It's said the difference between boys and men is the price of the mens' toys. So true.

The big crush of spring break visitors is now over. This is a view of the beach at Pioneer Park, where we are staying, on Saturday at the end of the first week of spring break. Traffic was moving slowly, to say the least.

 

We'll be leaving Mustang Island on/about April 7.

Still Enjoying Mustang Island

Our two months on Mustang Island is now down to about two weeks. It's been a great time, in spite of February being less than stellar weather. Lots of wind, some rain, and some cloudy days, but still t-shirt and shorts weather for the most part and far better than spending winter just about anyplace else in the country. One of the wonderful things about the island is that there is always something going on. I'll post a number of photos from some of the events we have attended while here.

Mardi Gras parade in Port Aransas. A good excuse for people to act crazy (and drink too much).

That's not your ordinary kind of hood ornament. It's one of the souped-up  Belt Sander  Racers. This event takes place every two weeks in one of the local drinking/eating establishments. You have to see it to believe it. Stuff like this you can't just make up.

Would you, or would you let your daughter, ride in a parade like this?

More of the same.

I don't know what it is with the bead necklaces, but it seems to be an important part of Mardi Gras.

Pat adding to her collection of beads.

And this is not all of them. Pat says our Grandgirls will ultimately get all the beads.

Son Steve came for a week. One of our day trips was to the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi.

Pat making her way through one of the passageways on the Lexington.

Steve playing tourist.

A nutria, swimming below the boardwalk at the Birding/Wildlife Refuge.

Part of the Oysterfest Parade in Fulton TX.

After the parade, we went to Charlotte Plummer's for lunch.

Pat's arm stamp at Oysterfest.

One of the vendors at Oysterfest. This is Jimmie N. Luckey, who specializes in fishing jewelry. He has an Ebay store, if you are interested. Jimmies Fishing Jewelry.

We are suckers for the funnel cake. Oil oozes out of our pores for days afterwards.

Molly, Pat, and Annie on the beach at Port Aransas.

Our house sign had faded and peeled so I repainted it and added extra signs for Molly and Annie.

Our last big event is Spring Break. It's still on-going, so I'll do another post about that later.