As we all well know by now, Texas was suddenly hit with extreme winter weather conditions and we got to experience the southern edge of this unprecedented (that’s my first use of this overused word in this whole blog, it’s allowed) weather system. We escaped Del Rio after one night in a hotel. The decision to leave rather than sticking it out in our sad little hotel was a good one. Nearly all the businesses in Del Rio were closed and most places were without electricity. We paid cash to top of the gas (computers were down and the only open gas station could only accept cash, always carry a little cash!) and headed northwest into the unknown. It was a slow-going drive for most of the day. There was ice and small snow drifts covering the road and most people in these parts do not have the training or practice with these kind of inclement driving conditions. We saw a few semis off the side of the road that had either wrecked or abandoned their post (and were hopefully somewhere warm). As we made our way into Alpine, our only medium-sized town stop along the route we realized just how bad things were. Lines for gas and propane were long and supplies were short, luckily we didn’t need any groceries because the scene there would likely mimic what we all experienced at the beginning of the pandemic last year with hoarding and empty shelves. We filled our propane at the third place we tried then made our way south towards Terlingua.

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As we drove south things gradually calmed down. The snow was already quickly melting and our hipcamp host gave us a better route to his location that would help us avoid driving through a lot of mud. By the end of the day we were tired but dry. One more cold night then we could get back to “normal”, or at least that’s what the weather reports were assuring us. The following day as things thawed out we actually anticipated having a few plumbing issues that, despite preparing for the storm, were still caused by the hard freezing temps. Our kitchen faucet sustained damage and our pipe for water intake were the problem areas so Zach made the 60 mile drive back up to Alpine for parts while the kids and I stayed home. I’ve said it before when things have gotten this cold, sometimes we can outrun it by location, but other times you just have to weather the storm and then plan for damage control on the other side. Fortunately, these were relatively easy fixes that only cost a day’s work.

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The Eco-Ranch

Our hipcamp hosts, Robert and Debbie have been homesteading this land for the last eleven years. They started building an earthship with tires but after Robert sustained an injury, they shifted their constuction to glass bottles. The end result is beautiful, glimmering walls that reflect the south Texas sun. However, the aesthetic beauty is just one small part of what makes this place amazing. This family’s specialty is poultry; with over 100 ducks, chickens, turkeys, and geese all serving a bigger purpose to help these people live self sufficiently and sustainably. They also have about a dozen goats that gladly greeted us and tried to nibble our clothes. Debbie toured us around and had specific stories to share about nearly every animal, which given the shear quantity was quite the feat. These animals are both their family and their sustenance. After a long visit with all the friendly animals we stepped through a door to the hydroponic greenhouse. This was the room dreams are made of (at least for me)! We learned all about their pond system with fish whose waste turned to nitrates in huge elevated barrels which then fed the hydroponic tables. Even in the dead of winter plenty of greens were growing and even with the cold spell and single degree temperatures they experienced during the storm plenty was still living and thriving in this one little room. We will definitely be applying this year round growing knowledge wherever we end up buying land and homesteading. We can be pretty self-sufficient in our little trailer on the road but something we’ve really missed this year is gardening and growing our own food.

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The following day with everything repaired and temps warming up, we finally made it to Big Bend National Park. Hard to believe, but the last National Park we’d been to was Saguaro in Arizona back in December. We were out of practice for a long hike so we instead opted for the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and a handful of shorter hikes to maximize our sightseeing. Our favorite stops for the day were the Burro Mesa Pouroff a short and easy hike to a geological feature. And the Santa Elena hike, with a little elevation gain and beautiful stroll along the Rio Grande. The canyon wall was spectacular. On our drive out of the park we spotted two javelina and all throughout the day we saw numerous birds from hawk and golden eagle, to smaller wintering species. This desert climate is green, alive, and thriving, especially after the much needed moisture. We got back to the ranch just as the sun was setting, eager to return to the park the following days.

Well, winter had a second punch that quickly derailed those plans.

We went to bed with increasing winds and some drizzling rain. I remember hearing the rain a couple of time during the night thinking, at least it’s just rain. Come morning however, we were blanketed with another couple of inches of cold and blowing snow that continued falling until about mid-day. We contemplated doing a supply run back to Alpine for water and produce – the two things that are the hardest to keep in plentiful supply when we’re this remote. Then we’d extend our stay at the ranch for a few more days to see more at Big Bend. But with no phone service or the slightest idea of what we’d be getting into we instead opted to stay home and leave on Friday as we originally planned. The kids were of course the most disappointed in this reality and it was one of the harder choices we’ve had to make lately since we all would have liked more time in this area. We booked a recovery week back at the Tumble In in Marfa where we are currently regrouping and watching the snow melt/mud dry with a few more amenities.

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