The Ranch - The Tour (Part One)

Our weekend wanderings put us just miles from the US border to Mexico on The Ranch. This was only the Girls and my second trip there and we wanted the full tour this time out. So we loaded everyone in the 'Burban and Manly Man (my new name for Jeff after this weekend because at the Ranch he's definitely rough and rugged - it's rather appealing) set out on the Ranch roads. Mind you, these are not typical roads. Most are just paths through cactus and brush - yes, you can get thorns in your tires (don't ask how I know this). Some of the roads are dirt or caliche (which is like a mineral cement). When caliche is dry it is hard as cement, but when it is wet - it's not pretty let's put it that way.

I love this picture of the cactus and brush along the fence that borders the Ranch.

Almost everything on the Ranch is parched, dry and brittle - especially in the winter.
Here's Manly Man driving us, giving the full Ranch tour. He's getting the music just right for our tour.

Once "Is Anyone Going to San Antone" was playing we set off along one of the main Ranch roads. It was very overcast that day due to a cold front. The wind blew so unbelievably hard that morning and ripped our awning right off the camper - along with the jalapeno lights (a little bit of the redneck riveria).

We arrive at a blind where Jeff took the girls hunting earlier that morning. I stayed snuggled up in the warm camper with my little side-kick and heater, Abbey. They all get up at 4:30am for the morning hunts to pick their blind assignments. That's not my idea of fun, but the girls enjoyed spending time with their Dad. Melissa shot a gun for the first time - she missed her target but that's okay. They enjoyed the wildlife viewing the most (lots of deer, pigs and a few rabbits).





The girls that didn't get to go hunting that morning had fun climbing the ladder to take a peek inside the blind. The guys keep themselves quite comfortable actually.







Back on the "road" again.



This side of the Ranch has a new fence. See the bend in the fence near the pole? That's where the folks from Mexico have gone over it as they enter our country. I can't even fathom what they must go through and what life must be like to want something so bad as to walk through the cactus and brush all that way to a new life.


There is more of the Ranch to come!

~Lisa