Never Too Old for the Circus

    The circus was in town last week so I talked Stephen and his mom into going. It wasn't a very big circus but it was still pretty cool. I was covering it for the newspaper as well. We sat with some of our friends... well they did. I sat on the ground closer to the ring to get some good shots of the performers while Stephen and his mom sat with the Arnolds.
    A clown came out to perform and started dragging people up on stage. I found it very funny when they grabbed a hold of Stephen. He was a good boy though and performed well. He said not to share these pictures but they were funny and everyone loves funny so here are a few from his performance....
  

     See, I told you that they were funny. Here are some more circus pictures....

Work on the Ranch.... Winter Has Arrived

    I spent the day Friday working at the ranch. I layed more rock on the patio which is now a 12x16. Once it is finished we will have a nice 12x40. Stephen keeps trying to change the dimensions but since this is my project it is going to be completed according to my drawings. While I was laying rock Stephen was checking on a spot to build a road for his parents. We are going to help them to build a house up on the hill just above us.
    His parents came out to see where the road would be so Stephen took them up to show them while I finished up the work I was doing on the patio. I then headed up to help put in a culvert. Once we found the perfect spot we got to work. Bruce even did a ton of work on the road. He raked rocks and helped move dirt and before we knew it we had hand built the road to the half way point of where we will put their house. We had to stop because the cold front that was moving in brought a sand storm with it. I was very proud of how hard Bruce and Virginia worked out there. It was nice and cool and that always helps but all of this is helping Bruce feel better and sleep better. He went to the doctor and has lost 9 pounds since he moved here in October. He is getting out more and doing much more. We are planning a trip this month to take them to New Mexico.... trout fishing!
    Last night winter came knocking, letting us know it is time to pull out the sweaters and warm coats. This morning it was only 20 degrees in town and about 17 at our ranch. We had been on an emergency call in Alpine all day so we didn't even have time to get things prepared. We arrived back in town just in time to go by my office so we could drip the water. It was after 11 when we got into bed. I know that may be early to some but I was dead tired from the lack of sleep for a couple nights before and I was sore from all the work I did on the patio and road. Plus we had to get up early to get everything accomplished that we had on our list for today.
    Tonight is supposed to be below freezing again so we went and bought some hay for the dogs. They have insulated igloos but we want to be sure they won't get too cold. Theo has never had hay in his doghouse before so as soon as I put it in he thought it was a new play toy. He climbed inside and started rolling around in it.... keep in mind this is a 180 lb. dog so the entire igloo was trying to flip from side to side. Then he wouldn't come back out so we had to stuff more hay in around him. Crazy dog. I think they will be more comfortable tonight.
     I have to get my work into my editor tomorrow and then I will spend the day trying to get some things set up at my office. I have an ad coming out in the new calendar so I need to have everything ready. Basketball season also started so I have a lot of new things to cover for the paper. I am excited and remember how much I loved playing basketball in high school. Tomorrow night I will be covering the game in Fort Hancock so Stephen and Bruce will probably go fishing. Fort Hancock has a good fishing area so every time I work over there they fish while I work. It is another good way to get Bruce out and about. He is really enjoying doing the things he used to do before he got the cancer in his leg and started to have heart problems. This time when he went to the doctor they said everything was good. His heart is still in rhythm. We are going to keep doing the things on our bucket list and his.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

     This morning I had to travel to Dell City to do some work for the newspaper so I planned a trip for all of us. Once we got to Dell City we went to get gas at the Napa. Stephen went in to pay and the man inside came out and pumped our gas for us... When was the last time you got that kind of treatment?
     I went to the school to interview the seniors for the Senior Yearbook portion of the newspaper. As soon as I finished we headed up to the highest point in Texas, the Guadalupe Mountains. On the way there we came to an area called Salt Flats. We discovered what could possibly be the last working payphone. Bruce had to check it out...

         We continued on our trip and came to the bottom of El Capitan, the highest point in the state. This was one trip Bruce and Virginia would never forget. We were creating memories together. I was surprised when we stopped to view the valley below and Bruce took off on his own hike to a nearby canyon. The exercise he has gotten from the past few trips has been good for him and he says that after days like that he sleeps all night long. Stephen and I are hoping that living his life like this will really help him get better and have more memories since he really has not done much since he retired.
It was a cool day and with wind in the mountain pass everyone had to thow on  long sleeved shirts and sweaters. Stephen got really cold before he realized that it wasn't going to get warmer.

    

         We traveled all through the Guadalupe Mountains National Park so that Bruce and Virginia could see the beauty of Texas. Even in areas that I thought Bruce could not go, he surprised me. He wants to see the world and the way he is going I think he will. We hiked in so he could see the old stage coach ruins...

                                
         After that hike we traveled a bit further down the road so we could see the old Frijole Ranch. It's natural spring ran through a building where it was used to cool a room for storing food and dairy products. The place was very pretty, a home I would have liked to live in while I was growing up. There was also an old school house where they paid teachers $30.00 per month to teach about 6 students. Can you imagine?
                   

     

     Bruce said his leg was starting to hurt him. He has a lot of scar tissue from when he had to be treated for cancer. Stephen, Virginia and I decided to give him a break and we headed off on a hike of our own. We went into McKintrick Canyon and hiked through an old river bed. Virginia had a great time and I was surprised at how far she hiked. We got some more great pictures and funny memories of her silly mood. When we returned we watched a video with Bruce about the area and learned alot about the things growing in the canyon as well as the geology of it all. It was a great experience.  

       After all of that we had a picnic. The food was very refreshing and energizing. We had bananas, carrot sticks, celery, mexican squash, diced ham, homemade corn/bean dip, totilla chips, boiled eggs, garlic crackers with cream cheese, and the guys had sardines. Blah!

       We took another tour of the mountains by taking the long way home once more so we could capture the amazing views. Here are a few more pictures from the trip.

                  

The Drive Home

     On Saturday we had traveled to Balmorhea to spend the day at the lake. We decided to give Bruce and Virginia a tour of the area by taking the long way home. We know how amazing the Davis Mountains are because we have spent some time there. We wanted them to experience the beauty of the scenic drive home.
     We arrived in Fort Davis and decided to take them to the Davis Mountains State Park. The first thing that we saw once we arrived was this amazing rainbow....

                  
     We wanted to show them the view from the overlook so we took them to the top of the mountains. I caught some amazing images of the rainbow there as well. Here's one of them....

     Bruce loved the view and said that Grandpa and Grandma had come to the Davis Mountains after Grandpa had retired. He was happy to be able to walk in his father's footsteps and to spend this time with Stephen.... Three generations of men having stepped in this same park!

 

 

 

              Bruce had just been fishing in the desert about 30 minutes before and now he was standing in the mountains... still in the desert. He wanted to have a picture with his fishing poles so he would not forget this trip.
         

 

 

                     ..... and since Bruce was having his picture taken Virginia wanted a picture too.

 

 

            She was so afraid of heights that all the way up the mountain she was praying and then she would not get close to the edges for pictures. She enjoyed the views and the cool breezes. We will plan a camping trip as soon as Bruce is able to walk more. We think that, with all the hiking and travel we do with them, they will be healthier and more active. Bruce has already taken his belt up a notch just since moving here in October. I can't wait to see the impact on their lives as they get to see new things. Here are a few more things that they saw...
 

 

 

    
                As the evening set in we headed home. We stopped one last time to see the ruins of the old Kent Public School. There we found some graffiti which reminded Bruce of his brother. (Yes, I do think that Rex loves pudding.) Then we stopped to view a sunset that painted the sky with an array of color. We stopped for supper before heading home; where we all relaxed before Stephen and I headed home. Everyone slept great Saturday night!