Blowin' in the Wind -- Mon., Feb. 25

Our strong winds at the RV park Olympics yesterday afternoon were just the tip of the iceberg. (Oh wait...that's a mixed metaphor.) Today, the winds whipped up into a frenzy. This morning I woke up to the sound of something hitting the top of the RV and making a racket up there. It sounded like it hit, then scraped across and fell off because the noise was quickly gone. I don't think it did any damage, probably a small branch off the tree.

The RV was rockin'. Winds gusted up to 50 mph in San Antonio; outlying areas had gusts to 62 mph. On the news tonight were reports of metal roofs coming off a few buildings, trees uprooted and fires here and there. When the winds were going strong, you could hear the roar.

Amarillo, Texas, up in the panhandle, had a blizzard today that broke records from 50 years ago. They had snow and 75 mph winds. I'm glad that stayed to the north. Hopefully no RVers got caught in that storm.

Speaking of RVers...While sitting in the 5th wheel, I watched as groups of RVers piled into the park today, six at one time, three at another, two more sitting out in front of the building. RV park workers knew they were coming and were out front directing people which lane to go down so they could get everyone in off the main street. I can't imagine being out traveling in an RV in this wind. I bet they were happy to come (in from the storm) to our little enclave.

If anything lightweight was left outside today it probably ended up along a fence or at someone else's campsite. I found a pot holder on our patio. Underneath our neighbor's 5er is a small, rectangular red reflector light cover. It's not from our or our neighbor's rig, doesn't match. I saw outdoor rugs blown into heaps.

I ventured out to the post office and Walmart this afternoon. A few smaller branches were on the side streets, no big trees like the ones we saw on the news. Flags were standing straight out and my hair was blowin' in the wind!

When I went to the laundry room, I had to make sure to have a tight grip on all the laundry in the basket so it didn't fly across the RV park. For once there was no one else in the laundry room this Monday afternoon. Usually I'm fighting for machines on a Monday. Why is it that people do their laundry on a Monday? I know my Mom always did. Is Monday designated laundry chore day? I've tried to vary the days that I do laundry, but today we needed clean clothes, so Monday it was.

San Antonio art along the Museum Reach of the Riverwalk was damaged in the wind. Underneath one of the freeway overpasses hangs an art display of fish. A number of the fish broke due to the wind. We've seen them during the day. However, I've always wanted to see them at night when they light up. Here are pictures from a previous blog of the fish I'm talking about...

The photo below is of a plaque along the Riverwalk showing what the fish look like at night when they're illuminated. I hope they can repair the fish because I'd really like to see them at night.

The winds are supposed to die down tonight. Tomorrow should be a much calmer day. I plan to relax because it seems like all we've been doing for the last week is go, go, go.

On another note, The Mamas and Papas sang these lyrics, "Monday, Monday, can't trust that day. Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way. Oh, Monday mornin' you gave me no warning of what was to be..." (oh wait, there was a warning with a branch on the roof); scratch that.

I leave you with Bob Dylan's lyrics to "Blowin' in the Wind." Such a great song and it certainly came to mind today.

How many roads most a man walk down
Before you call him a man ?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand ?
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea ?
Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free ?
Yes, how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn't see ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky ?
Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry ?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Travel Bug has not been blown away. Have a good Tuesday everyone.

A Change of Scenery -- Mon., May 21

Carrizo Springs and Cotulla, Texas:

This morning I was able to get some pics of the sable antelope. I saw them just across the road, grabbed the camera, walked out the gate and took a few shots. They were spooked, but I caught some of them running away. I got a couple of pretty good shots of the bucks. You can click on the photos to make them bigger.

Today I took the Escape pod and made a get-away to Carrizo Springs to do laundry. My mental jury is out on whether it is worth an 80-mile roundtrip to go to a newer, nicer laundromat that charges almost double what the Cotulla laundromat charges. Certainly it doesn't makes sense budget-wise. Peace-of-mind-wise: um, maybe, maybe not.

What made the trip worth it was seeing another small Texas town. Carrizo Springs was settled in 1865 because local springs provided plenty of water for farming. Their artesian wells are known for pure, clean water. Today, the population of the town is around 5,000. (Cotulla's population is around 3,000.)

After laundry, I drove around town to see what was there. Kit told me there was a a very old, very small Walmart, which I found. I bought two new throw rugs for the 5er (since two of my old ones disintegrated in the washing machine today).

Walmart: check. Fill up with gas: check. Car wash: check. Next on the list: bakery. 

Anyone who knows me knows I am a fool for bakeries and the goodies lurking within. The Just Crumbs Bakery is a small storefront in old town Carrizo Springs, kitty corner from the H-E-B grocery store. When I saw the "Hours" sign in the bakery door, I figured they would be sold out of all their good stuff by 11:30 a.m. as they had opened at 5:30 a.m. Upon walking in, the display cases were almost empty.  : (  


However, it was lunch time and the Turtle Brownies looked fresh out of the oven. Two brownies just jumped in my bag somehow along with two Lemon Breeze cookies. 


After the bakery stop, to satisfy my curiosity, I drove around the back streets of town and literally drove right up to Our Lady of the Guadalupe Catholic Church, built in 1949. Two pictures later, I continued on my way.

My time in Carrizo Springs was complete. I drove 50 miles back to Cotulla, checked for mail and headed back to the 5er. 

While driving back on the road to our rig, about a 1/4 mile down from us, I saw the herd of sable antelope on the ranch (down the fenceline a few hundred feet from the road). I stopped the car, rolled down the window, zoomed in the camera and voila!, here's the results:

Sable antelope herd

By the time I made it home, my growling stomach indicated I better have some lunch. After eating a tuna with avocado sandwich and fresh red pepper slices, a turtle brownie was calling my name from its Styrofoam container, "Susan, it's time for your treat. Let me out of here." 

I opened the box and took a whiff. Mmmmmmmm...the scent of chocolate. Heavenly deliciousness delighted my taste buds. The chocolate chips and caramel in the middle of the brownie were still warm and ooey-gooey, melty and oh so yummy. This, in my mind, made the trip to Carrizo Springs worth it.


A little later in the afternoon, Bob and I ate our Lemon Breeze cookies. Think lemon, white chocolate chips, coconut, and chewy. Both of us enjoyed the cookie break.


Later in the evening, as I talked to Mom on the phone, Bob finally ate his Turtle Brownie. He was sitting in the recliner, blissful, giving me two thumbs up on his brownie dining experience.

Another gate guarding day complete. You know, when I thought about blogging during our stint gate guarding I thought I'd blog maybe every few days because I didn't think much would be happening. Guess I was wrong.  I've written almost every day we've been out here. 

Water, Water Everywhere -- Thurs., May 10

Cotulla, Texas:

Wednesday, April 9: Before I start on my main theme, I'd like to give a shout out to Kit--she and her husband, Jerry, are gate guards down the road a piece from us. I have been reading her blog http://www.kitandjerry.com/  for a few months to get a feel for gate guarding.

As I was headed into town to check mail and do laundry, I stopped and sat a spell with Kit. I enjoyed meeting her and chatting a few minutes.

She has the greatest bird feeder set up. While we were sitting there, a big green jay was hunkered down filling his bird belly with seeds. She gets cardinals, woodpeckers, wrens and even a hooded oriole. No hummingbirds so far.

One of my missions in town was to check our mail at the post office. I wasn't sure what time it closed, so I had to get a move on to get there before 5:00 p.m.

"Water, water every where; nor any drop to drink," The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"When it Rains, it Pours," Morton Salt slogan

"Here Comes the Rain Again," The Eurhythmics

Do you get where I'm going with this? Water has been a big part of my life the last two days. Here's what's been going on.

Laundry day. Typically I don't mind doing the laundry. It's relaxing to sit in the laundromat and read a book or magazine while the machines spin round and round and the smell of fabric softener wafts through the air. Not yesterday.

I had no idea where the laundromat was. There are two in Cotulla. I stopped at the post office, but it closed at 4:30 p.m. A woman was in checking her P.O. Box so I asked where to find the laundromat. She gave me quick directions.

Went to Garcia's Laundry. It's one block off the main street behind Garcia Grocery. Not impressed.

Found two hypodermic needles on washing machines. Ants running all around on counters, washing machines, floors.

Change machine hasn't worked for a long time. You can get change at Garcia Grocery when they're open. Washers $1.25, dryers $.25 for 8 minutes. I would not recommend going to this laundry at night.

Today a local older lady was there. She gave me the scoop on what a bad town Cotulla is. She usually does her laundry in the morning. She advised the non-locals in the laundry to NEVER leave your clothes or belongings unattended. She said it doesn't matter what shape your clothes are in, if you leave them unattended they will get stolen. Someone stole the wheeled carts from the laundry...they had to buy new carts. She said used condoms were found in the laundromat and someone had been doing it there. The owner had to get bleach solution and clean up after them. This lady also told me there is another laundromat in Cotulla but it is worse than this one, dirtier.

My experience with the washers was this...I did five loads. Three machines worked. One machine had a short in it. I thought it wasn't working, but then I slammed the lid and it started up. The other machine worked, but a word of caution. Before you put any money in the machine, close the lid and make sure the washer wasn't emptied on the SPIN cycle. I had the washer all loaded up, put my money in and closed the lid. The person before me had emptied the machine on the spin cycle. That meant my clothes spun, but didn't wash, then the machine shut down and ate up the $1.25 I had put in it. I had to put in another $1.25 to actually wash my clothes. I went up to Garcia's store and explained the situation. I was refunded $1.25.

Needless to say, I did not sit down and enjoy my book. I did our laundry as quick as I could and couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Fast forward to Thursday, May 10...we've been on the gate for one week. It has not been boring! My water, water every where saga continues...

Weather forecast for last night was 70% chance of heavy rain and thunderstorms. By the time I went to bed at 3:00 a.m., the forecast had been revised to 80% chance of severe thunderstorms and heavy rain after 7:00 a.m.

After reading the forecast, I went to bed around 4:00 a.m. At 7:00 a.m., I was awakened to the sound of a massive downpour pounding on our roof. The motions sensors were sensing/dinging and Bob was getting a workout. He took quite a few pictures of the commotion this morning:

The rain caused a river outside our 5er.

Looking out the back window toward our generator and Pad B.

Bob's theme song this morning: "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head."

Remember the pictures I posted a couple of days ago of Harvey Smith Rd.? Those were taken on a typical hot, dusty day. Here are the same north and south views of Harvey Smith Rd. after a downpour.

Looking north

Looking south

After the rain frogs appeared like magic. They're all over the place.

These beetles eat dead moths.

The "river" flowing past our rig this morning.

Looking "upriver" from our 5er.

The view from the back side with generator.

Voila! Instant lake. Just add water.

I was awakened by a nasty attack of vertigo around 8:00 a.m. Was sick for over an hour. Went back to sleep until noon. I heard thunder as sleep background noise. Sometime in my sleep mode Bob told me I should get up and look out the window at the river flowing past our trailer. No thanks, Bob, I don't feel well. Think I'll keep sleeping. He got photos...lots of water everywhere.

Just before I woke up I had an extensive dream about tornadoes surrounding us. We were in an area like Kansas or Oklahoma, many rolling hills with fields, very few trees. We could see big tornado funnels in the distance and had to snag our cats before we left the place we were staying. In my dream we were trying to catch our cats we had in Hawaii--Captain and Rama--who somehow ended up in Kansas or Oklahoma with us. That's when I woke up.

This morning, the workers at Pad A who were putting controls on the well had to go home. Later in the day, a Chesapeake rep came through to check on Pad A and said he couldn't get on site, the whole pad was a lake.

Not to be outdone, Pad B was also a lake and it's an elevated pad! Water was draining out the culverts, off the Pad, like little muddy waterfalls.

Pad B's new lake.

Um, I think someone forgot a culvert. The edge of the road is eroding.

Yep, this culvert works.

So do these culverts. They're draining the pad in our direction.

This afternoon, Bob headed into town to get our mail. He was going to stop by and meet Kit and Jerry. However, I was surprised to see him return relatively quickly. He said the roads were flooded. He went through a few spots, but gave up when he came to one low spot that was too deep to cross. (Thank you for stopping, Bob!)

Our forecast this morning included tornado warnings, tornado watches, severe thunderstorm activity and flash flood warnings, maybe hail too. Sheesh! We also had sun and wind.

I'm sitting here now looking out the window at thunderheads to the east, south and west. I'm thinking more tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings will be in effect tonight. I may be the one getting soaked checking people in and out tonight.

The site was very busy this morning, then the drilling pipe broke. That put a halt to almost all activity. The eight sand trucks that checked in this morning between 6:00 and 11:00 a.m. are still waiting to drop off their loads . (It's now 6:00 p.m.)

The on-site foreman had trouble coming to the Pad from Cotulla...said he knocked a hole in the pan underneath his big pick-up. He had to stop and take the pan off.

The wind has picked up quite a bit this evening. Could be an interesting night!

I'll keep you posted.

Update at 3:15 a.m. Friday, May 11: Whew that was close. The majority of the storm bypassed us to the north, but we got a good lightning show out of it. Only had to use the umbrella once, but it wasn't a downpour. The trailing edge of the storm went right over us about 8:10 p.m. After that it has been clear. Our chance of rain decreases dramatically.

The next time I have a good internet connection, I will post photos of some dramatic cloud formations, a grackle and the kitties on a new post. Now I must head to bed for some zzzzz's.