Adventures in the Wild West

Our adventure begins on the Friday after Thanksgiving...

Unable to resist the Siren song of Black Friday, Jeff began his shopping around 6:00 am. Of course, his only destination was HEB, and his only goal was to buy milk, so we could hit the road. So, with the milk purchased and the Thanksgiving leftovers packed up, we headed west. Our first stop was Evridge's furniture store in Brady, where we purchased a sofa and the coolest chair ever. They will be delivered on Tuesday, so check back later for pictures. Having done that, we made our way to our ultimate destination: the family ranch. We got there in time to don our camo, set out some live traps and track down a javelina for Weston to take a shot at. He hit the pig, but it ran off in the brush where we couldn't find it.

tiny hunter

camo boys

baiting Grandpa's trap

the mighty trapper

getting it set

unsuspecting javelina

taking aim

Saturday was Weston's birthday, so we let him set the program for the day. His first priority was to check the traps. Sure enough, he had caught a coon, which was probably the best birthday present he could have gotten. After checking the traps, we decided to head for the house for breakfast. With temperatures dropping and moisture levels rising, we urged my father-in-law to get us home quickly, especially since we were all piled up in the open-air Ranger. He found a relatively smooth patch of dirt road and hit the gas. With two adults and a kid in the front seat and three adults, each with a child on her lap in the back seat, we were probably overloaded. My attention was turned to keeping myself and my seat partner warm and dry, and the next thing I knew, Max and I were sailing through the air and landing in the brush. My knee was hurting, but my main concern was for Max. The rest of the group was there with us almost instantly, and my father-in-law took quite a tongue lashing from a scared-but-not-seriously-injured Max about driving too fast. While Jeff checked Max for broken bones, my sister-in-law was checking on me. After I caught my breath, I was ready to get up. She and Jeff flanked me and helped me up, which I declared made me feel dizzy. And then the world went black. I passed out right there in the middle of the pasture and woke up 10 seconds later, completely confused about where I was or what I was doing and wondering why on earth my stomach was so cold. (Jeff had raised my shirt a little hoping the cool air would revive me, which I guess it did). It was a crazy experience. They finally got Max and me loaded back up in the Ranger, and I then spent the rest of the day with my left knee iced and elevated. And we did go on to have a nice little birthday celebration for Weston.

before the accident, with my little camo buddy 

Weston's birthday coon

birthday breakfast

deer hunting toy

Weston loves longnecks

Sunday was uneventful. It was cold, so we spent most of the day inside, playing games and drinking warm drinks. The kids went out hunting with Dad and Grandpa, but didn't see much. At 6:00 am on Monday morning, Ruth entering our bedroom, saying she had just thrown up upstairs. She then went on to throw up several more times in our bathroom. Just as I got her settled on the couch, Max entered the room, following her example. Max was back in the game very quickly and spent much of the day playing outside. By the afternoon, Ruth was feeling better, too.

log rolling 

fun in the sandbox

feeling good and looking good

Tuesday was Ruth's half-birthday, so it was her turn in the limelight. She went walking with her aunt, and found a lucky horseshoe, and while hunting with her dad, she shot a little six-point buck. While she was walking and Clay was napping, and with the rest of the group otherwise occupied, Jeff and I got out the hand guns for a little target practice. After practicing for a little while, I finally got a bullseye, which I was very proud of. I have shot the guns before, but this was the first time I really felt confident about what I was doing, and it made a difference.

a-hunting we will go

lucky girl

happiness is walking a dirt road with your brother

bullseye

playing with the spent casings

half-birthday buck

horse lights for the half-birthday girl

beautiful west Texas sky

On Wednesday, Weston followed Ruth's hunting example and bagged a six-point of his own. He was so very proud of himself. Needless to say, we should have plenty of meat to eat for a while. During lunch, Jeff and the biggest kids were entertaining themselves by working math problems. Ruth and Weston were enjoying it so much, they didn't want to stop, so after lunch Ruth started giving Weston lessons in division. It was so cute to watch. Later in the day, we decided to see if we could spot the little elk family that has taken up residence on the ranch. Last year, my father-in-law had shot a bull elk, thinking there weren't any cows around. But, it has since been discovered that there is, in fact, a cow, and she now has a calf. They are all usually pretty elusive, but we managed to see all three of them within an hour. They are such beautiful creatures and seem to know instinctively that they are more majestic than the other deer on the ranch. There is a strict no-kill policy on them right now to see if they will continue to breed, so the only shooting we did was with the camera.

hunting with Grandpa

Weston's buck

division lessons

division

mama elk

big daddy

The big event for Thursday was a trip into Marathon. We shopped in both of the stores in town, before having drinks at the White Buffalo bar and dinner at the 12 Gage restaurant, both inside the historic Gage Hotel.

Gage Hotel 

Gage decor

unlikely bar patrons

12 Gage

Inside the 12 Gage

Friday was cold and wet, so we spent a bit more time inside. However, the kids still found some time to play outside and even help Grandpa with some backhoe work.

reading with Mimi 

backhoe business

good helpers

On Saturday, the tummy bug caught up with me, so I spent most of the day in bed or curled up on the couch, sleeping and reading. I felt pretty lousy, but I did manage to finish an excellent book, which I highly recommend: Unbroken. It's the amazing, true story of Louis Zamperini, a one-time Olympian and WWII soldier and POW. You must put this book on your to-read list--near the top.

This morning, we gathered up all the traps and buttoned up the hunting cabin. We stopped by Granny Wanda's on our way through town and then pointed our little convoy toward home, stopping twice for lunch (at my boys' request) and once at the deer processing place. Even with the few illnesses and accidents, we had a wonderful time out west.

all hunted out 

visiting Granny Wanda

Watts out west