This weekend my extended family took everyone to a place called Rancho El Charco to celebrate one of my relative’s birthdays. We only went to the restaurant part of the ranch, but I managed to take a few photos with my iPhone while we were there.

Looking over Walker lake, you could see something was burning down in Mexico.

Rancho El Charco 01

Between the sunset and the calm lake, I was ready to jump in and go for an extended swim. It’s been awhile since I’ve gone scuba diving, too, and a lake like this would be just the thing to get back into the diving scene.

Rancho El Charco 02

There was a waist-high wood fence along the edge of the restaurant to discourage kids (and potential swimmers) from jumping into the lake. Little signs fixed to the fence said for one dollar you could buy a cup of fish food from the bar to feed…

Rancho El Charco 03

The catfish! A lake full of catfish! I only had to shake the cup to start the water churning. These fellows quickly filled up under the pier and were ready for any little morsel we would throw them.

Rancho El Charco 04

All this violence over two cups of food! My wife and brother in law tried to spread out the food, but wherever the little bits landed, a swarm of catfish would swarm up from under the lake and devour whatever was on the surface.

Rancho El Charco 05

As soon as the food supply dried up, the fish took off back into the center of the lake. But knowing there were so many catfish in the lake now, I was ready to go rent a boat and fish for my dinner.

Rancho El Charco 06

As the sun set, the outside lights automatically turned on. The outside patio area was still plenty bright with all the lights, but the lake got very very dark pretty quickly.

Rancho El Charco 08

On the inside part of the restaurant, several bull heads were mounted on the walls. Little brass plaques were mounted beneath each one of them, with a brief story of how they got there.

Rancho El Charco 10

A vicious crockadeer’s head guarded the far end of the bar. (Yes, I just made up the word “crockadeer”. And I just registered crockadeer.com too!)

Rancho El Charco 11

Overall, I had a lot of fun with the family and the birthday celebration was great. But next time I’m bringing a real camera to get better photos.

I saw this at a local stationery store my wife loves to visit this past weekend. Money Soap! It was piled high near the register, but about half of the stack was already gone. You could smell the clean green apple scent before you even picked it up.

Money Soap 1

According to the label, there’s either a $1, $5, $10, $20 or $50 bill inside. So I picked one up and flipped it over.

Money Soap 2

Yep. You can see there’s real money inside! I couldn’t tell the denomination though. But I guess that’s part of the selling point.

Money Soap 3

There was no other markings on the soap aside from what was on the top and what was on the side. My wife saw me turning it over and over and over, trying to find the denomination, so she took one for herself and I got one too.

Opening the Money Soap at home was no help.

Money Soap 4

I could see the bill more clearly, but still had no idea what it was. A $1, a $5, a $10, a $20 or a $50.

Money Soap 5

The way I figure it, this is better than playing the lottery. I know I won at least $1. $1 cash money at that. Plus it’s going to keep me entertained for a lot longer than a scratch card or weekly ticket would. Plus I’m definitely going to have much cleaner hands because I’m washing them more than I need to now.

As soon as I find out what the denomination is, I’ll post a followup.

A few days ago, the skies were a beautiful mix of crimson, orange and dark red with gentle swirls of white and blue mixed in.

I took a few photos around dusk just as the sun was setting below the horizon.

Red Skies 1

Red Skies 2

Red Skies 3

Red Skies 4

My wife and I were out at one of our favorite restaurants a few days ago and saw the moon was shining brightly through the haze of another oncoming cold front. I took a few photos and my wife took a few as well. I like her perspective the best.

A Cold Tree Moon

An old photo I had of a surprisingly clear dusk and a half-moon crossing the blue sky.

Clear Sky Moon

A few weeks ago, a cold front was moving into the area. It dropped the temperatures around here to a pleasant 50 something degrees (10 degrees Celsius) for a short while.

Cold front moving in

This new cold front we just got in actually dropped the temperature down to the low 40s (4.4 Celsius). That’s pretty impressive! It’s actually going to get in the mid thirties tonight. But, of course, tomorrow we’re going back up to the 70s (around 21.1 Celsius).

So there I was at a restaurant this weekend with my wife and in-laws when I came across this little item on the menu…

Small stone menu item

The photo is poor quality because it came from my iPhone, but there is a double asterisk by the item TRIPITAS and a definition underneath saying “please note that TRIPITAS in rare occasions may contain small stones.”

For future reference, Tripitas are “the small intestines of farm animals that have been cleaned, boiled and grilled.”

I did not know that.

We all had Fajitas and cheese enchiladas.

I’m taking an extended Thanksgiving vacation until Monday! Between the self-induced turkey-comas and ODing on fresh pecan pie, enjoying spending time with my wife, and actually having time to unpack, I’ll be plenty busy for the next few days.

Until then, I have this to submit…

Happy Cow

I saw this in the parking lot of Sams recently. That cow is pretty happy for being where he is!

On one of my recent road trips, I stopped on the way back to take some photos of an old gas station I had seen on the side of the highway.

The sign on the building says “Uncle Sams”, but the painted-over red circle badge and red font still visible on the hood of the station’s roof looks like it was once a Texaco gas station. That the the giant Texaco sign in the background with the empty pricing gave it away.

Abandoned Gas Station 01

The pumps were old, rusted, and beautiful. All the accessories and decorations were long gone, and only the bare interior remained.

Abandoned Gas Station 02

A closeup of one of the pumps showed the last purchase made on this pump was for $50.02

Abandoned Gas Station 03

This opened pump was one of my favorite photos. There’s a mix of old and new parts in this one, and it looks like someone had pried the top plate down.

Abandoned Gas Station 04

Backing up a little, you can see how far the roof was leaning back. The impact was only on one column, and the roof was all in one piece. I wonder if this damage is what did in “Uncle Sams” or if it came after the store was already abandoned?

Abandoned Gas Station 05

A photo of the whole station. I can almost see what it was at one point a long time ago. The weeds have made great headway through the concrete, so it has been awhile since anyone has been here.

Abandoned Gas Station 06

This little rusted broken pillar is what was holding up the whole roof.

Abandoned Gas Station 07

This is my second favorite photo. The grass grew up into this last pump and was entwined among the rusting gears and steel.

Abandoned Gas Station 08

Backing up a few steps, you can see the grass had really grown into this last pump.

Abandoned Gas Station 09

If you looked at it from far enough away, it looks like the grass picked this particular pump to reach out to.

Abandoned Gas Station 10

That was it for my quick stop. I think the next big storm will probably knock over that roof, flattening the pumps and maybe part of the store.

As I was driving away, I noticed construction had just started on a freeway overpass for this town. It was just the flattening of the ground, but eventually there’s going to be a business highway and the regular highway passing by. And if it’s like any of the other bypass highways in this part of Texas, these towns I currently drive through on my way North might be in big trouble.

Yesterday I saw this little bee working through a small cluster of flowers late in the afternoon. None of the buds had fully opened, but he was easily reaching inside each one he landed on. I stayed still long enough for him to fly near me and took these photos.

I didn’t see any other bees in the area. This guy was doing it all by himself.

Busy Bee II 1

Busy Bee II 2

Busy Bee II 3

Busy Bee II 4

Busy Bee II 5