Beautiful west Texas ...

We've really been enjoying the weather here.  Especially when our friends & family back home tell us what was going on there last week!  Now I hear rain is coming to our part of Indiana and hoping our road doesn't get flooded at the wrong time!  LOL!

We have been enjoying checking out this small town.  There's a neat strip of shops in an old motor court that is fun to go to.  And there's a wonderful market with a deli and super coffee (I enjoy the flavor of the day!).  Also we both like checking out the thrift store ran by the local Humane Society; always something new there.  I've found a couple little treasures there already.  (I have to remember that we don't have as much room in the back of the car as we did when we drove the pickup truck.)  And we usually get to the library at least once a week; there's a great used book shop there and W. has read about half a dozen large-print books from there.  We like the drug store with the old-fashioned soda fountain.  I actually had a chocolate malt last week!  Haven't had one of those in years!  (W. had a cherry float!)  There's a broom shop, a hat shop (cowboy style), and a nice large antique mall next to an ice cream shop in a caboose.  We've enjoyed going out to the Ft. Davis State Park and eating Sunday brunch in the lodge dining room.

We haven't gone out farther afield as much this year as in prior years.  For one thing, I haven't been feeling as good as I'd like, and for another, we've been near this part of TX before and have seen some of this area before.  But that was in 2011; we've forgotten some of it and other things have changed.  But the beautiful scenery here about hasn't changed at all!  Anyway, here's what we've been doing lately...

This interesting mountain with a volcanic caldera on the top side is easily visible from the loop road through the Davis Mountains.

I was sitting in the car, waiting for W. to get something at the Stone Village Market, when I really paid attention to the doorway in front of me. It's the employee entrance to the store.  It says "Ojinaga Brain Depository Co. S.A." on the top and at the bottom says "After 5:00 p.m. slip brain through slot".  Someone has a sense of humor!

This type of rock formation is very prevalent in the area.  Awesome!

We drove out a neat road recently just north of here between Ft. Davis and Balmorhea.  It ran about 15 miles and dead-ended at the Boy Scout Ranch.  Cool place!  The coral was full of horses and one lone longhorn bull.  Lucky boy scouts around here.  The drive was AWESOME!  Lots of open range with cattle along and on the road ...

And this one mama was out by herself, right along the road, and had just given birth to this little guy.  Still tired and wet!

Another day we drove to Fort Stockton.  This is the Annie Riggs Museum in the old hotel building.  It was VERY interesting (but then, we both enjoy history).  It's right across from the Pecos County Courthouse.  When we left there we drove their in-town historic route which included a spring/pool, the old fort (Fort Stockton), the first church west of the Pecos River, and an old mercantile.  

Here's Annie herself. Quite the pioneer woman!  Besides managing the hotel she raised 11 children!  And it sounded like her husband was quite a handful, too!

Each old hotel room had a display.  It was quite extensive and really enjoyable.

Well, I'll stop there and come back later to fill you in on what else we've seen and done.  As a real plus we found a wonderful church family here.  Very welcoming!  Wendell went down last Tuesday and helped with what they call Tuesday School.  They feed the jr.-sr. high school students each week.  And have an opportunity to give about a 5-minute devotion, too.  More on that later.

God has been good to us here.  Our time her is slipping by quickly and will miss being here but it will be good to come home, too.