The Mighty Pecos River

Summer time has arrived, classes are over for three months, and now I can take over for Les for at least one blog post.  This past semester I had one tiny reprieve from biogeography and that was to take my lovely wife on a canoe and camping trip up the Pecos River in Southern Texas.  Spring break allowed a few days to carry out this fantastic adventure.  It all started months earlier when we found out that Big Bend National Park was booked up for camping over spring break.  What to do?  After some pondering I remembered an old park ranger friend of mine, from Glen Canyon NRA, had worked at a lake in Southern Texas called Amistad NRA so we decided to look into this as our camping option.  Amistad is on the Rio Grand just East of Big Bend NP.  Two other major rivers flow into the Rio Grand at this location the Devils River and the Pecos River.  After talking to my park ranger friend and some colleagues in my department at A&M we decided to rent a canoe and paddle up the Pecos river from the slack water of lake Amistad.  Driving down from Bryan we had a wonderful time seeing the transition from post oak savanna to hill country to high desert on the boarder town of Del Rio, TX.  We picked up our canoe in Del Rio and drove west for a few more miles until we reached the Pecos High Bridge boat launch.

We slipped our trusty canoe into the water loaded with dry-bags full of essential survival equipment (books and beer), positioned the steely Cloud Dancing, and glided into the mighty mouth of the Pecos.  We guided our vessel quietly through the dark cold green waters off to find a camp sight for the night.  Cloud Dancing wasn't too keen on the boat but she did manage to stay relatively calm while we paddled.

 

The Pecos offers little in the way of nice sandbars and ideal camp spots so it's imperative that you stay alert to campsites that are available when you encounter them.  After about 4 miles and 4 hours of paddling we found a nice flat outcrop that looked promising.  We pulled up alongside the shelf and unloaded our cargo.  I thought that it would be good to pull our sturdy vessel ashore and so I attempted to maneuver the canoe to a location that would be more conducive to removing it from the river.  As I pulled away our little Cloud Dancing had the horrible idea that I was about to leave her.  Her instincts kicked in and she leaped from the outcrop (possibly 15 feet.... she should be a dock dog) and overshot the canoe landing half in and half out of the canoe.  I wasn't prepared for this and before I could right the ship Cloud began desperately trying to climb aboard.  It was more than our little vessel could handle and in we all went.  Me (the GPS, Binoculars, permits and whatever else was in my pockets), Cloud Dancing, and the canoe.  Cold water a sinking rental canoe and a panicking dog does not make for the start of a nice evening. Don't worry loyal readers I single handedly rescued both the dog and the canoe. Small adventures, that's what makes camping so much fun.  Alas, I had a warm Tecate waiting for me as I dried off and began to set up camp.

   The next couple of days were very relaxing sitting on the edge of the Pecos reading, drinking cowboy coffee, and wandering through the hinterland of Mexico and Texas.  We encountered a wide verity of wildlife mostly migratory birds, including the Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus), some wonderful millipedes (Narceus americanus), and Cloud found a North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum),
                      
                                    
thank goodness it was high in a tree eating or our dog may have encountered something more painful than the ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) and mesquite (Prosopis pallida).

Two days were reserved for relaxing on the banks of the Pecos and exploring the towering limestone walls.  On the third day we canoed to a fabled canon where the more mechanized forms of travel had problems exploring.

It rained on us continuously but that only seemed to add to the mystique.  It was a fascinating excursion and a perfect end to the our spring break.

 Needless to say, I can't wait to return to Del Rio, The Pecos, and South West Texas.... This is where Texas earns it's reputation, not in Houston or Dallas!  Come visit us and we'll show you what it's all about.

Retrospective Take 1

I think I can admit that I'm definitely not the best blogger. Jeremy was much better than I, but until He finishes his grad school gig, I will do my best. I obviously haven't posted since around Christmas, so....

We spent Christmas in Colorado!

Cloud Dancing had her first experience of snow and loved it! She wanted to be outside laying in it as much as possible.

Jeremy and Justin brewed a Christmas home brew and cooled it down rapidly by shoveling cold snow on it.

We spent a day in Fort Collins with Justin and Missy (it was Missy's birthday!) and Elizabeth minus Chris because He's working for the man aka Schlumberger and was and still is in the midst of training - May is coming soon and training will be over, meaning He and Elizabeth can share the same roof again! I'm excited for you two!

There was lots of beer tasting, eating and great conversation!

I love my Johnson side of the family!
 

 We got back from Colorado, and Newt and Tucker came over to help build a new fence around our backyard. Cloud Dancing lost all rational thinking when there was a squirrel in our neighbor's yard, meaning, her supernatural powers came out and she jumped the cyclone fence that used to be there, landing in our neighbor's backyard with no clue on how to get back into our yard.We had no flexibility on days to build the fence because Jeremy only had a certain number of days for semester break, so they ended up building the fence on the coldest days we had all winter (15 and 18 degree days)! I know it was brutal, but I am super grateful and I must say the fence looks incredible! 

We ventured over to Mississippi the first weekend of February and got to hang out with some wonderful friends! I wish you could pick up and move your friends along with you when you leave a place.

 

Raun tried his hardest to keep a straight face! Not successful at all!

I completed my Healing Touch Level 3 class while we were in Jackson. That is where I began my training, and it has been a wonderful group of people to go through the classes with.

And, we are now consumers of raw milk! Yummy! This is Alice and Cathy. Cathy and I are in Master Gardener class together, which I will mention in another blog. She and I have become friends, and I venture out to their farm every Friday to pick up our gallon of fresh/raw milk for the week!

Yes, We know the cows that our milk comes from :)

Pot and Pan Rack

Thank You Ross! We Love our new pot and pan rack! Our pots lived in 2 cardboard boxes under the table here in Texas the past five months, eagerly awaiting their new place to hang. Ross did a beautiful job! He took the rim of an old wagon wheel from our farm and reclaimed wood from an old building on the farm to construct this work of art that serves a practical purpose in our home. Ross and two of his friends have a metalworking business in Montana called Stronghold. They build climbing boulders as well. If you'd like to see some of their work, check out their website www.strongholdfab.com 

Texas Holiday Memories 2009

This was our first Christmas season in our new home in Texas, so we had FUN starting new traditions, decorating "our first home", and celebrating our Christmas here before venturing to Colorado to celebrate Christmas day with Jeremy's family. We got our very first Christmas tree. The past two years Jeremy and I lived in a small apartment, so we were not allowed to have a tree per the apartment complex. They were considered a fire hazard, so we got our first tree and Jeremy and I set aside an evening to decorate it.

Jeremy and I were each given ornaments by our parents every year growing up, so our tree was a reflection of each of our lives.

We had fun sharing stories and memories with one another as we pulled our ornaments out of the boxes.

Our parents continue to give us shared ornaments, so we had fun hanging those on the tree and acknowledging the symbolism in them of the life we've chosen to share together.

I started our stocking tradition and had fun knitting and felting our stockings. This is Jeremy's.

And this is mine. I found the pattern at a yarn shop in Montana when I was up there for Ross's birthday. I knew right away that it was time for another project.

After having so much fun decorating and getting in the Christmas Spirit, we decided to have his department over for an end of semester/holiday party. We had a wonderful evening of great food, good conversation, and fun games! There was lots of laughter and celebrating as the semester was over and folks could relax into the Christmas Spirit!

Jeremy and I celebrated our own little Christmas the morning before we drove up to Colorado. We decided to make it a theme of stocking gifts , and we could only give each other things that would fit in our new stockings. It was our own little Christmas moment, and it was wonderful!

Cloud Dancing was not forgotten. She loved her new toy!

90 Years and 60 Years - 2 Amazing Women!

My Grandmother is one amazing woman! Grandmother Downs Chappell turned 90 years old on December 5, 2009. The entire family - all children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren made it to Ruston, Louisiana on Saturday, December 5th to celebrate the life of this woman that we each love so much! She is an avid fan of Louisiana Tech University - doesn't miss a home football game or basketball game, and I think she makes it to the baseball games as well. She graduated from there, all 3 of her children graduated from there, and some of her grandchildren graduated from there. By the looks of things, I think some of the great-grandchildren may attend there in the future as well.

There was no better way to celebrate her 90th birthday than to kick it off with a tailgate party in preparation for the last Tech football game of the season! We enjoyed gumbo and cake. We all went up to her box seats during halftime to see the President of the University give her the game ball signed by both the Coach of the football team and the President of Tech. A portion of the band came up and performed a special rendition of "Happy Birthday" for her - it was quite the celebration!

We went on to my aunt and uncle's house for a celebration that evening where the Mayor of Ruston attended and issued her a declaration declaring December 5th to be Juel Downs Chappell Day, and my uncle (who is a state representative) issued her a declaration signed by the governor of Louisiana declaring December 5th to be Juel Downs Chappell Day. It was quite the celebration! And seating was hard to come by, which meant some of us ended up in the stairway.

It was a lot of FUN being together with all of the Family, celebrating my Grandmother!

We continued in our celebration the following day as we honored my Mom! She's not one that likes too much attention, but we couldn't let our time together pass without celebrating her 60th birthday, which was December 9th! This was a big year - Ross turned 30, Mom turned 60, and Grandmother turned 90! We Love You Mom, and we're glad we could celebrate and honor You as well!!!

Christmas With Grandmother Lynn

We went back over to the farm the first weekend of December. Newt, Kristy, and Ross all were still there, and my Grandmother Lynn was wanting to make gumbo with the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. We made plans for Friday evening gumbo with Grandmother. I spent the day with her.

We decided that afternoon to decorate her house with some Christmas touches.

We began realizing that it would be our last evening together until after the holidays. So, we decided to make it our Christmas dinner with Grandmother, and it was a wonderful evening indeed!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving on the farm this year. My Grandfather went back into the hospital 2 days before Thanksgiving, so sadly, He was not able to be with us on the farm to celebrate. It made for a different, more laid back type of day. Everyone broke up into shifts of spending time with Granddaddy in the hospital, so throughout the day, we were all with him at some point. Jeremy and I drove in from Texas, Newt and Kristy drove up from New Orleans, Ross flew in from Montana, and Aunt Pam and Uncle Pete and my cousin Chris flew in from California. My Dad noted that it was the first time to have all of his children together since mine and Jeremy's wedding, which was 2 1/2 years ago. So, it was a pretty significant and special time to all be together. We missed getting a group picture before my cousin Chris flew back West, but this is the rest of us on Saturday night following Thanksgiving when Dad treated us all to Indian food - Yummy! Please continue praying for the Lynn Family and my Grandfather as He continues to remain in the hospital.