Things to See in Big Bend

Juan de Leon grave, BBNP

Ernst Tinaja, BBNP

Museum of the Big Bend, SRSU, Alpine

Cattail Falls, BBNP

Chimneys, BBNP

Gilberto Luna's Jacal, BBNP

Santa Elena Canyon, BBNP

Tuff Canyon, BBNP

Dark December

Sorry for the long gap in entries ... we are just feeling overwhelmed lately.

But it is good to be busy, and we are happy to be moving forward on many projects at once.

The shooting yesterday at Sandy Hook Elementary reminds us that every moment is precious, and every day a gift. We hope that everyone is holding their loved ones a little closer.

Before the massacre in Connecticut, we celebrated Sara's birthday at Big Bend National Park. We visited Boquillas Canyon, near the border village of the same name (and the embattled border crossing -- will it ever open?).

Perhaps this brief serenade by Victor will lift your spirits:

Fall Behind

It's been an interesting past few weeks since the last blog entry.  Sorry for the long gap, there's just been so much going on here that writing got bumped to the bottom of the To-Do List.

The abundance of flowers continues, even though we haven't had any recent, significant rain.  The ocotillo left is one of the few we have spotted blooming, and since the photo was taken, almost all the ocotillo have changed to autumn colors or lost their leaves entirely.

We are still enjoying lots of fresh chicken from the harvest in August. Our two favorite ways to cook the birds are oven-roasted ("naked" roast chicken!) and tequila-lime marinated.

We have also started a container garden growing carrots, spinach, cabbage, cilantro, and basil. The community garden is also very active right now, with lots of edibles growing in the yard. We stopped by the Terlingua Farmers' Market last week and got to see all the wonderful vendors and farm-fresh food for sale.  It is still fairly early, though, and there will be even more vegetables available in a few weeks. We would love to have enough eggs to sell there (once the girls finally start laying!) and Casey's pater wants to buy drought-tolerant tree seedlings to re-sell.

We are really excited to see what we can harvest in two to three months! The growing season here in the desert is the opposite of what we are used to in the Northeast, and we have never done a container garden before. Containers have the benefit of reserving moisture better, but the disadvantage of being more sensitive to temperature fluctuations. We have already had some near-freezing temperatures this November, and we brought each container inside overnight to protect the seedlings from cold (only hope and prayer protects them from the cats & dogs!). Today seems to be the start of a warming trend, so we hope we can safely leave the containers outside overnight again! 

We also recently bought an annual pass for the Big Bend National Park (why did we wait this long?!) and have been attempting a new hike each week.  We completed the Grapevine Hills trail and the Lost Mine trail, just the two of us, and then this week we took Casey's parents Kathie and Bob (along with Gigabyte) down the Window trail and around the old Sam Nail Ranch. 

On the list for future hikes are the Ernst Tinaja, Santa Elena Canyon, and many more...

Another project that has been taking up a lot of time and effort is closing off the Workshop. As of tonight, the remainder of the back wall is all framed out and waiting for metal sheathing. We coated the wall with a special cement product called "Quikwall," which is a super-strong, fiberglass-reinforced surface bonding cement. The product is intended for dry stacked block walls with mostly hollow cores, but also has many other uses.  The Quikwall went on easily and finished nicely, with a smooth, stucco-y look. 

OK, it's not all-natural, traditional goat poo plaster ... but we don't have the goats yet and this was much easier and faster. 

Anyway, aside from these developments, there have been a lot of exciting things going on in the world.  For one, the Superstorm Sandy hit the Jersey Shore, where Sara's maternal family lives.  Everyone came through the storm OK, but there was a lot of damage and the electricity was out for several days.  Luckily, none of the many trees that fell landed on their homes or vehicles, but there was an obvious (and in some cases, desperate) need for portable solar systems. 

And Alpine threw a big, annual bash called ArtWalk, where people and artists came from all over to have a good time with food, friends, and art.  We made it just in time to catch the parade, which featured a multi-person rattlesnake skeleton cycle (with red-stocking tongue!) and spinning butterfly cycles. 

Paisano Peak: 5451ft

Hiked to the top of Paisano Peak today -- 5451ft above sea level!  The 360 deg. views were amazing.  We could see into Mexico, the Sierra de Caballo Muerto, the Nat'l park, the Solitario, and north to Alpine, Cathedral Mtn, Marathon, and Iron Mtn. 

Even higher than the summit of the West Corazón!  Sprocket tried to commit suicide down the sheer cliff face on the SE side, but we talked him out of it.

...But the camera was DEAD, so we'll have to go back and do it again!

Also, it should be renamed Thorn Mtn.
Seriously.

Mountain Climb

Our solar installation in the Solitario is moving along.  We are currently waiting on parts, but there is still much to do with what we have.

Our group has some experience with wireless technology, and when you have a large area to cover with electronics that becomes useful. My parents' new property does not have internet service, but we do. So our solution is to wirelessly (WiFi) transmit internet to their house.

The distance between the two homes is only a mile, which would not be a problem if we were making a point to point connection, but there is a hill between the properties. WiFi is usually transmitted line-of-sight, meaning if you cannot see the source of your signal, you probably can't receive the signal no mater how powerful it may be. Arick has recently been modifying wireless routers for use as WiFi repeaters, meaning that it simply takes a signal and repeats it. So, voila! The perfect device to put on the hill between the two homes.

We built version 1.0 with a 15 watt solar panel a 20 amp-hour AGM battery. We put the router in a five-gallon bucket for weatherproofing. We have set our repeater up and it works, but it still needs a few more design tweaks before it will be perfect. Right now the signal on the other end is a little weak, so we are raising the antenna five feet.

Recently, we all went for hike up the mountain on the new property and it was quite the journey. We chose to ascend the steep side. There was plenty of lechugilla in our path, but some carefully steps protected our shins. Also, we followed Sprocket's lead, since he usually knows the best path to climb.

At the top of the mountain (technically the foothill of the West Corazon) we found a spacious ridge with all kinds of geological features and foliage. But some of the most amazing sights were the 360 degree views.

We descended the other side of the mountain which was more gradual, and for much of the way we were able to use a solid limestone water runoff that was carved into the mountain. Beautiful and functional.

Yesterday we visited our friend Dennis to see how the results of our solar consulting turned out. The amended setup was a success! Dennis added three 200 watt Sun Electric panels and a MorningStar charge controller.

After that, Sara and I did a run to Alpine for food, building supplies, and Sprocket's booster shots. We got supplies to finish our workshop/shed and lots of materials for Tim's job.