Power! -- Tues., May 8

Cotulla, Texas:We have power! Doesn't that sound political or something?

Before Bob went to bed last night, he said, "Why don't you try to get some sleep in the recliner?"

Are you kidding me? We had no power, the lightning and thunder were putting on an awesome display, my eyes were bugged out worrying about if our trailer would get hit with lightning, would the lightning strikes cause a fire, etc., etc., and he thinks I can sleep?? NOT.

Last night the thunder and lightning was pretty intense. One blast of lightning and crack of thunder sounded like it hit right next to the trailer...woke Bob up from a sound sleep. Freaked him out. That was with a 50% chance of T-storms as predicted by NOAA. Tonight and Thursday night are supposed to have a 70% chance of severe thunderstorms. We have lots of windows in our 5th wheel and we can see lightning 360 degrees around us which worries me because that usually indicates tornadoes are a possibility.

Black water tank was emptied and hooked up to our rig this morning. Water is coming tomorrow. Thank you to our company (LOMA) for taking care of us.

Crews were sent home this morning because of lightning. Today has been off and on rain, wind and cooler temperatures (in the 70s).

One of the workers this morning told us that some oil field crews were evacuated into a community center last night about 35 miles west of us in Carrizo Springs because of funnel cloud sightings. A little too close for comfort as tornadoes can go quite a way!

Around 2:00 p.m. we got a different generator, newer and more powerful than our last one. This one could power four 5th wheels and has taller, brighter lights so I can see at night and the trucks can find the gate! Woo hoo.

I forgot to mention wildlife sightings for the past couple of days: When Bob was walking Sunday he saw a hen turkey, a rabbit, four deer and three javelinas.

I got upset when I heard he saw javelina (considering advice from Texans--if you see a javelina shoot it, because they're vicious). Bob said the javelinas were "scaredy cats" and ran away from him. One of the workers yesterday said they must have been females with no young because mothers or males would have come after him. Worrisome!

Yesterday Bob went into Cotulla for groceries. On his way home, he saw five wild turkeys crossing the road.

Every day I see the Gila woodpecker. I found her nest in a hole in a mesquite tree. I don't know how many nestlings she has.

Today is very slow at the gate. My read of "Mockingjay" is almost complete, just a few more pages. Bob is plowing through Lee Child novels, close to finishing his second in three days.

Bob's been teasing me that he's going for a bike ride. Keep in mind we have wet, sloppy, gooey, 1" to 2" deep mud. Don't think he'd get too far. Even if he did, he'd be completely covered in red goo. Maybe that's his idea of fun.

Sun is trying to come out, but we're surrounded by clouds. Tonight should be interesting. But now that we've got "power," I think we'll be okay.

Travel Bug out.