Rain Rain Go Away

Wednesday February 3: Must go back to Saturday morning. Took the laundry up just before daybreak and on the way down the hill and into our camping area spooked two Axis deer. They across the road and then up into the hill. Latter we were walking Lilly with us up to the laundry to move the clothes into the dryer when she spotted something in a pile of brush beside a camp site. She pulled and tugged toward it and we thought at first it was a bird in the brush. As we got nearer we could see it was an Axis fawn. It was smaller than Lilly and looked as if it had been dropped not to long before. It could not hold its head steady and was all curled up. We left it and went up to the laundry and on the way back checked and it appeared to be in some distress. Its head was now way back and it did not appear to move much. Knowing nature takes care of things we left it alone. Later in the morning when we brought the laundry back, I pulled in to the spot and I could see that it was still there. Sunday morning on our way out to church we checked again and it was gone. Looking closer at the spot it did not appear that another animal had gotten to it so perhaps the mother returned.

Monday was somewhat of a lost day, at least in the morning…..more fog and drizzle. We did manage to go over to that bath house and do some work and then moved on to a short job. Several of the bath houses had the metal roofs replaced and needed trim repainted. We finished that up so now all the painting is in two bath houses close together.

Tuesday was the BIG day. The weather cooperated and we got started about 9, planning on just the four of us, to work on the one bath house. Our plan was to work until about 1 and then head for……Chicken Earl’s! We were moving along fine until another couple arrived and that put 6 of us working on one bath house. We did finish all we could do and headed back about noon. After shedding our painting duds we hopped in the Ram and headed for town. Words can not describe this place, or the food. It was threatening rain again, but we set on the old booth seats and devoured the best fried chicken ever. Next week we will take our camera and get some pictures. Chicken dinner comes with real mashed potatoes and gravy and choice of green or pinto beans. We talked to “Chicken Earl” for a few minutes. He’s originally from “LA” as in Lower Alabama and the lady, assume it’s his wife, is from Illinois. He said he fries all the chicken in cast iron pots and showed us one of the big deep skillet type pots he uses. Dinners are served in divided Styrofoam containers and you get your usual plastic fort/knife pack with salt and pepper and one napkin. But if you are ‘eating in’ she pulls off four or five paper towels for you too. Pictures to follow next week.

During the night Tuesday it started to rain and it is supposed to rain right through until late Thursday or early Friday. This is the southern edge of the storm bringing lots of snow to the mid west. So much for painting! Later today we will drive into town and check some things out. There is a bank building that is supposed to have some nice paintings and we can check out some of the shops, other than Wal-Mart and H.E.B.

Trip to town was very interesting. The bank is really something. It was built in the early 70’s long before direct deposit and on-line banking. Dolph Briscoe was a founder of the bank and went on to be Governor of Texas in the 70’s. There must have been room for 25 tellers. Every wall has beautiful western art work including several Rembrandt sketches, all of which are part of the personal collection of the Briscoe’s. Also because the John Nance Garner Museum building is closed for remodeling, the lobby area and other open areas in the back had displays from the museum. The folks were very friendly and accepting of our wondering and looking. We ended Wednesday with the usual pot-luck and game night in the Group Shelter.

Thursday was another damp day around Garner. We did a little caulking and helped 88 year old Burton change out a spot light. That was about all that we could do. On our after dinner walk, Lilly and I found a dead Axis fawn. It was several sites away from where we had seen a fawn last week. It was very near the electrical pedestal and out in the open.

The “Rock House” is the afternoon destination for the ladies Friday. One of the female staff is having a jewelry party at a large rock house her husband’s family owns. In the morning the ladies did a little painting and Bill and I worked on caulking the next bath house.

This is a view of the Rock House from a distance.

Below are several more pictures of the party place. It was started in the late ‘30’s and added to over the years. It grew from a small ranch to a “U” shaped stone house with six bedrooms.

This deer was taken in Texas! In the early 50’s rancher’s imported deer from all over the world for hunting ranches and they did not count on the deer being able to leap normal fences. Now there are “exotic” deer all over the hill country.

Below is Tracy, who hosted the party. She is a full blood Cherokee from Kansas.

The Rock House Ranch started out as 20,000 acres but it is now down to only 13,000. To get to the ranch you must drive through a section of the Frio River and if the water is too deep, it’s not accessible. Tracy said that her husband used to like the high water as it meant he could not get to school.

We spent four hours painting today, even though it is Saturday. We did not get in a “full” week because of the weather and it looks like we may have a few wet days this coming week. After painting we were set to go looking for a Geo Cache or two in the park when a couple we had worked with here five years ago were visiting Jo and Burton next door. We spent the next several hours visiting and sharing stories and getting re-acquainted. We did finally make it to look for the three Geo-Caches. Guess I will have to explain what that is all about some time. Anyway after hiking and climbing we found three here in the park, then had a fire and sat out in the cool air and had a good long visit with Jo and Burton. He’s 88 and Jo is 87 and he is the park volunteer electrician. They had plenty of stories about their life in early Texas and all of the things they’ve done and places they have been. He is a World War II veteran, having enlisted in the Navy on December 8, 1941.

The fire is dying down and it’s time to prepare for tomorrow and our last week here at Garner.