The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I'm going to start with "The Ugly"... but I promise I will get to the good and the bad!

Early this past week, the weatherman started talking about the change coming and that rain was predicted. We both thought "oh well, a little rain, what is all the fuss about" and were we wrong! On Thursday about dinnertime, it started raining and it came down fast and furious. As we played bingo at the clubhouse, the roof was leaking in several places and one fellow said it might be a "14 bucket" rain (seems that is the most leaks they have had).

By the time we got home about 9:00, we thought the worst was past, but when we went to bed a while later, the thunder started and lightning and rain that sounded like golf balls landing on the roof. It was stuffy in the house so put on a small fan and it drowned out the noise. I got up once during the night and thought I saw a lake outside the door, but figured I was imagining things. But I wasn't! This was just outside our door. And this was out the other side.

And this was looking the other way out the door!

And the water had actually gone down quite a bit by the time I took these pictures. We are still cleaning debris off the big rug that was under the chairs. I have a coffee pot that I use to water my plants - on Friday, it measured how much rain we got... 12 INCHES in 24 HOURS

When it let up a bit during the day, I took a drive downtown to see what it looked like and when the rains started again - another 3-5 were predicted, I headed home. Since everything was saturated at the park, the road was flooded when I came in - luckily there is a hilltop road that the Jeep could take. This is what I saw when I got home.

Needless to say, we stayed in the rest of the day!

Now, on the THE BAD. When we were house bound on Friday, I had read about a special event held once a year at The King Ranch. In case you don't know, The King Ranch is one of the largest ranches in the world and they have over a million acres on which they raise cotton and other crops, and breed horses and cattle. Anyway, on Saturday, they had the 19th annual Ranch Hands Breakfast so we decided to head over that way for the breakfast and then take the tour. They had only a couple of inches of rain so we figured it was safe. Turns out this is a really big deal; last year, they served 4000 people!

Now I thought breakfast was pretty good... Mike didn't really agree as beans for breakfast with biscuits and gravy doesn't appeal to him. Yes, they did have eggs with salsa and tortillas so he didn't starve. With coffee and orange juice, it was worth the $6 a piece... besides, there was entertainment.

I was pretty impressed with the cattle roping although the guy that was suppose to rope the legs wasn't successful too often.

Cowboys weaving... a strange picture...

Get a load of the "instrument" the guy on the left is playing.

When we had done all we wanted to do at the breakfast, we headed for the visitor center for a tour. We couldn't get on one until 1:00 so we went into town to kill some time at the King Ranch Museum. For $2, we got to see lots of pictures of the ranch during the years since the mid 1800's when it was begun and we got to see this really cool hunting car. There are holders for shotguns on each side of the car, a cooler in the back, special places for extra fuel and ammunition built in and on the front (sorry you can't see it real good, but I wasn't suppose to be taking pictures in the museum) there are braces where a chair would go so hunters can sit up there and shoot from the hood.

And the "running w" brand is everywhere on the car - that is the brand of The King Ranch.

OK, so you are thinking, what is so bad about this... THE TOUR! For $8 we were suppose to see a sample of the world famous ranch in the comfort of a small tour bus for 90 minutes. It really lasted about 65 minutes but I was sure not complaining about that. Roger, the old duffer who was the bus driver, held his microphone in place with a coat hanger he had shaped to go around his neck... should have been a sign.

I am not kidding you when I tell you what he pointed out (in a sing song voice that kindergarten teachers are encouraged not to use) in the 10 mile trip... yes, that is right, 10 miles of a million acres, go figure. First, we saw where round bales had been stacked (there weren't any there now) and then we saw dried up ponds where cattle used to be able to get water and where deer used to drink. Then we saw, and I am not lying, the telephone poles that no longer had cross bars on the top, so the poor crows hand no place to sit... Oh yes, we also saw cement feeders that were used "a while back" but they didn't work so were no longer used, just left sit in the field. When he stopped to point out cows (he didn't stop for the horses), he stopped so that he could see, but no one else on the bus could see. I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

I really wanted to see the house that was built in the 1950's as the movie at the museum made it sound really neat. I had even asked the gal from whom I bought the tickets if we would get the full tour since it was such a busy day... well, this is as close as we got. The family was there for the breakfast and we couldn't go on the closer road because of their privacy. Now this gate is cool - it is known as a Texas gate and I couldn't get a better picture because of how he stopped. But anyway, it has a sailboat look to it and the other side looks the same. When a pickup with a big old cow catcher on the front comes to the gate, they just nudge it and it swings open, but don't hit it too hard or the other side swings around and whacks your back bumper... hope you get the idea, that was not a very good description. But, trust me, it was cool.

When the tour was over, I expressed my concerns to the people in the visitor center who basicaly told me "too bad".

Now, for THE GOOD. On the way home, we drove to Mustang Island again and drove for about 10 miles on the beach. My new goal is to capture birds in flight - it is not an easy task.

This guy was so focused on a lady who had just caught a fish; it was like he knew she was going to give it to him...

and when she did...

I still have not really figured out where his other leg is.

Then some more good. Today we went to a fishing pier near us and although the fish weren't biting, the dolphins were swimming and playing and that was very entertaining. Tomorrow, we are off to Padre Island National Seashore.

P.S. Rain is in the forecast for Tuesday...