Library and Lights

Saturday, April 25, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Someone here in the RV Park told us there was toilet paper, paper towels and Kleenex at Family Dollar, so we ran over there real quick to pick some up.  They had plenty.

On our way home from Family Dollar, I took a picture of Old Gringo Coffee and Cocktails.  If you buy food from them you can get toilet paper or paper towels also.

We received the masks that Jess made for us.  They are very nice.  We will need to get some elastic to put on them, so they will stay on our face.  Thank you very much Jess!  :)

Today Mike saw on the Alpine Library's website that Don, the Director, wrote up an article about him and Alan and the work they have done.  It is a very nice article.  :)

APL's new storage facility Two of APL's wonderful volunteers, Mike Brown (left) and Alan Wallace, have been helping prepare our new storage area for use. Although they haven't been able to do much since the middle of March, they are getting closer to completion of the project. Mike and his wife arrived in Alpine in January (I think, seems like a year ago). Mike came by the library and asked if we had any projects he could work on. We have kept him busy up to the time we started sheltering in place! The couple planned to stay through the first week of April. However, as we know, COVID-19 changed many people's plans and now they will be here until the end of May? During his time at APL, Mike has installed shelves, done some plumbing and electrical work, spent time in Re-Reads, worked on the roof, installed insulation, put up drywall, and painted. Alan, a long-time Alpine resident, volunteered to help with the work on the roof, insulation, drywall, and paint. Alan also put skirting around the storage building. Both of these guys have put in many hours and lots of blood, sweat, and tears. We appreciate all the work they've done to help make APL a better place. We'll miss Mike when he leaves. Of course, we'll still have Alan around to torture!

This evening we rode over to the Marfa Lights Viewing center to see if we could see the lights tonight.  This was our third try.  :)  On the way over the sunset behind the mountains was beautiful.

Then once we got there I took a picture of the moon, Venus and the sunset.  Which was beautiful!

After the group of people next to us left because they weren't seeing any lights, the lights showed up.  :)  This is the best picture I got with my phone.  They were very bright and a lot bigger; then they disappear and reappear in another spot.  It was very cool!  Next time I am going to take my good camera.  The lights off to the far right are from the cars on a highway.

We were getting cold, so around 10:30 we headed out.  As we were leaving I tried to take a picture of the moon setting in the west.  The picture does not do it justice.  :)

It was another wonderful day!

Announcement

Thursday, April 16, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Today, Tony and Miranda posted a birth announcement on Facebook to let everyone know they will be having a baby in October.  Here is their announcement!

It was another wonderful day!

Happy Easter!

Sunday, April 12, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Happy Easter!

All churches in Alpine are still closed, so services can only be viewed online.  I really missing going to Mass.

This afternoon we had a video call via Zoom with my mom and dad.  The hardest part of the whole call was getting my mom and dad connected, but we finally had success thanks to my nephew, Ben.  It was great to see everyone that made it on the call.  :)

For our Easter dinner, we fixed BBQ pork ribs, baked potatoes, and deviled eggs.  Everything turned out great.

It was another wonderful day!

Gracie

Friday, April 10, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Each time Gracie lays outside she collects all kinds of grass debris.  :)

I try to brush it off when she comes in, but it does not work so well.  Then if I step on any of that grass with my bare feet in the trailer it really hurts!

Gracie loves to go to the Paw Park.  This afternoon, Mike took a video of me letting her go to the Paw Park.  :)  As soon as you unleash her, she takes off for the dog park.

It was another wonderful day!

Fuel Prices

Thursday, April 9, 2020 - Alpine, TX

The last time we filled the tank on the Suburban was March 14.  Mike checked the fuel gauge and we still have 5/8th of a tank.  Sheltering in place is causing a lot of people to use a lot less fuel.  They are also saying pollution is going down.  The average price of gas is going way down; oil has dropped to $20/barrel.  The national average price of regular gas is $1.90, with the cheapest price being in Wisconsin at $1.37.  Gas here in Alpine is still $2.39/gal, but it was $2.59 when we filled up on March 14th.

We took another picture of the empty road, but this time we took the picture just past the hospital.  The lights down on the left are from the airport and Aline Small Animal Clinic.

On the way back I took a picture of the RV park sign.

The only part you can read is RV.  :)

Each time we come back Mike notes the smell of the tree that has flowers that look similar to lilacs.  It smells worse every day.

It was another wonderful day!

Empty Roads

Tuesday, April 7, 2020 - Alpine, TX

For our night time walk, we have been walking down to the hospital.  The roads have been very, very empty.

Looking down the road you can see the US District Court House.  The next building we think is the federal jail, but there aren't any signs on the building, so we are not sure.  The bright lights further down on the right side of the picture are for the hospital.  There aren't any cars for as far as you can see......and this road is straight for several miles.

On the way back to the RV park, we could smell the stinky flower bush while still down by the jail.

It was another wonderful day!

Happy Anniversary

Monday, April 6, 2020 - Alpine, TX

My cousin, Susan Forrest, placed this sign in my Mom and Dad's yard for people to sign!  Today is their 67th wedding anniversary!  Unfortunately, I was not able to sign it.  Susan and Doug practiced social distancing while taking the picture.  :)

My mom is crying.  :)

Mike and I; Jess, Mike and kids; and Tony and Miranda called Mom and Dad on a conference call to wish them a Happy Anniversary.  They told us that several people stopped by to wave and sign their names.  Patsy and Rick dropped off Applebee's for them for dinner.

It was another wonderful day!

More Flowers

Sunday, April 5, 2020 - Alpine, TX

I got a couple more pictures of the beautiful flowers in the area.

It was another wonderful day!

Foggy Day

Saturday, April 4, 2020 - Alpine, TX

It was very foggy on the mountain this morning.

This what we can normally see:

This is what we can see today:

Next to the shower house, there was this beautiful cactus.

After we took Gracie for a walk we ran into town to pick up a couple of donuts from Baker's Dozen for breakfast.  While we were there, I saw this cute donut seed package hanging on the wall.  Looks like Cheerio's to me.  :)

Today, we would have been leaving Lost Alaskan RV Park and headed north, but due to the Coronavirus we will be here for a while longer.  As of right now we think it will be the end of May before we leave.

On our walk tonight we walked up to the front of the RV Park and I took a picture of these flowers on a bush.  Reminded me of a Lilac bush, but it does not smell as good......actually kind of stinks.  We can smell it a long ways off.

It was another wonderful day!

Alex's Birthday

Friday, April 3, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Happy Birthday Alex!

We were not able to be with Alex today for his ninth birthday, so we called and sang him "Happy Birthday" on video chat.  After singing to him, we took a picture.  :)  He is soooo photogenic.

It was another wonderful day!

Library Closes

Tuesday, March 31, 2020 - Alpine, TX

We are now under a "Shelter-in-place" order, which goes into effect tonight at 11:59pm.  This means Mike will no longer be working at the library, Meals-ON-Wheels, or the Food Bank.  He has been helping out at the Library by putting up drywall in a shed, building shelves, fixing plumbing, working on the roof, repairing lights, switches, faucets, etc.  He has enjoyed working there.  Now he will just be at home.  :)

It was another wonderful day!

Lazy Day

Sunday, March 29, 2020 - Alpine, TX

We did not do much today.  Once again church services were cancelled.  This afternoon, Mike cleaned and re-jetted his carburetor and replaced the fuel line on his motorcycle.  After it was all put back together, he took it for a ride.  He was very happy with the results, but says it doesn't wheelie as well as it used to.  :( :(  I hate it when he says that!!  He needs to get a smaller motorcycle.....maybe something like a Cushman scooter or like my little Kymco Spade 150.

It was another wonderful day!

Flowers

Saturday, March 28, 2020 - Alpine, TX

This morning we ran by the store to pick up a few things.  The toilet paper aisle is still very empty!

This afternoon, I wanted to go out for drive to get a couple of pictures of flowers blooming in the desert.  :)  These pictures were taken alongside the road south of Alpine on TX-118.

It was another wonderful day!

DQ

Wednesday, March 25, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Tonight, cabin fever overpowered us and we went to DQ.  On the way there I took at picture of how empty the roads were.  It is kind of eerie.

Only the drive-thru was open at DQ.  We took our order and sat at a picnic table across the parking lot from Dairy Queen.  It was really nice to get out.

After finishing our dessert we drove around town, most of the hotels were open, but most were long term residents, law enforcement/CBP, and essential personnel.  The Hampton Inn was completely closed and all of the bars and stores were closed.  We are praying all of the small businesses can make it through this pandemic.

It was another wonderful day!

Park Emptying Out

Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - Alpine, TX

RV's have been leaving and no new ones have been coming in.  The park is starting to look very empty.

Normally you can't see the building in the center of the picture because of all of the RV's in the way.

There are still no confirmed cases of CV-19 in the four-county area (Brewster/Presidio/Pecos/Jeff Davis).

It was another wonderful day!

My Office

Monday, March 23, 2020 - Alpine, TX

The weather has warmed up, so I have moved my office outside.

Or at least as long as I can sit in the shade.  :)  It gets very warm when sitting in the sun.

Today Brewster County announced further restrictions on the RV Parks.  Anyone that did not check in prior to March 9 will need to leave by Thursday, March 26th.  Fortunately we have been here since January 5 and are considered "long term" residents.

It was another wonderful day!

No Church Services

Sunday, March 22, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Today, church services were cancelled due to the Coronavirus, so we slept in a little.  Since we are in a shelter-in-place order, we just hung around the trailer.  We spent most of the afternoon sitting outside reading.  It was a pleasant day and very relaxing.

It was another wonderful day!

Grocery Run

Saturday, March 21, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Today, we went to the grocery store to pick up a few things.  The store still has some big empty spaces on the shelves in the toilet paper aisle, but it is nowhere near as empty as it was the other day.  I have seen pictures of stores with lots of empty shelves in the cities.  I am really glad we are in a small town right now.

It was another wonderful day!

County Closes Down

Friday, March 20, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Today Brewster County Emergency Management Texas announced that it will close all of the hotels, motels, campgrounds, BNB's, etc effective Monday at noon.  All RV parks must vacate all of the short term and out of town residents by Monday at noon.  Fortunately, when we arrived we signed a monthly lease, so we will not have to vacate.  We will shelter-in-place here at Lost Alaskan RV Park until we are either forced to leave or until it is safe to leave.

It was another wonderful day!

UFO?

Thursday, March 19, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Tonight while walking Gracie I was looking up at the stars like I always do and I saw 2 very fast moving objects going in opposite directions.  They were way too high to be jets.  Then one just stopped, then it disappeared.  The other one just disappeared.  

I will leave it up to you as to what you think it might be, but I think I just had my first UFO sighting.  :)

Comment from Mike:  Or it could have been the bottle of "Alien" wine from the Pecos Winery that she finished off just before going on the walk.  (Just kidding)  :)

It was another wonderful day!

The Black Bear Restaurant

Saturday, March 14, 2020 - Alpine, TX

For lunch today we went to Black Bear Restaurant in Fort Davis State Park.  We knew we would come back.  :)

I caught Mike in the middle of a bite, but it is the only picture I have of the inside of the restaurant.  :)

The food was very good and we really enjoyed it.  We think the Coronavirus pandemic is why the restaurant is so empty.

This evening we headed for the Marfa Lights Viewing Center again to hopefully see some lights.  The sunset on the way to the viewing center was beautiful.  The pictures don't do it justice.

Gracie enjoyed walking around, but eventually wanted to sit in my lap.  :)  She is looking up at the people sitting on the wall above us.

We stayed for a while and did not see any unexplained lights, but we did see lots of stars.  These 2 pictures don't do the beauty of the night sky any justice.

It was another wonderful day!

Toilet Paper Anyone?

Friday, March 13, 2020 - Alpine, TX

This evening Mike and I headed for the grocery store to pick up our groceries for the week.  We saw first hand all of the hoarding going on.  This is the toilet paper/paper towel/Kleenex aisle.  It's pretty much cleaned out.

There were a couple of packages of toilet paper left when I took this picture, but when we headed to the checkout counter there weren't any left.  The meats and eggs were also slim pickings.  But for the most part we were able to get everything on our list.

It was another wonderful day!

COVID-19

Wednesday, March 11, 2020 - Alpine, TX

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is spreading around the world.  This is a virus that started in China and it is rapidly spreading around the world.  It is very contagious and, in severe cases, can cause difficulty breathing, pneumonia, and death.  Schools and businesses across the country are closing in order to slow the spread of the virus.

As cities and towns are shutting down and the CDC is talking about social distancing, we have heard people worldwide are panic buying toilet paper!  I did look on-line to find out why and this was something I found on https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/this-is-why-everyone-is-hoarding-toilet-paper/

"Panic-buying during a crisis is nothing new. Midwesterners joke about everyone making Apocalypse French Toast before a blizzard, because store shelves mysteriously empty of bread, eggs, and milk. On the coast, peanut butter is the must-have item every hurricane season. In part, it’s reasonable to want to be prepared, says Yarrow, but panic-buying is partly an attempt to gain a sense of control when the world feels uncertain and dangerous."

They went on to say:

"It’s easy to see the logic—even if it’s irrational—behind frantic stashing of soap or hand sanitizer. But why toilet paper?

Yarrow says that is a bit unusual. "I don't think most people think about toilet paper during panic-buying times like hurricanes and so on. This is kind of a first," she told Ars. The run on toilet paper (sorry, not sorry) is what happens when social media-driven communication meets human instinct in the middle of a crisis."

It was another wonderful day?!

Brick Vault Brewery & BBQ

Saturday, March 7, 2020 - Alpine, TX

We heard there was a good BBQ place (Brick Vault Brewery & Barbecue) in Marathon, TX, so we decided to go there for lunch.

The food was very good.  We did try a couple of times while we were here to take a couple of selfies.  After five or six tries, we finally got one without our hands in the way.  Obviously, we are not very good at taking selfies. :)

Once we finished our lunch, we walked around town for a little while.  We found out the old Gage Hotel, which was built back in the late 1920's by Alfred Gage, but is now owned by a Houston businessman, JP Bryan.  He has restored the hotel and poured a lot of money into the town.  Some people are happy about it and others are not.  

After walking around town we drove out to a county park south of Marathon.  It is a very nice park with a small pond.

In driving back to alpine from Marathon, we passed the small building you see in the picture.  Unlike the Prada store front in Marfa,  the Target store (complete with grocery cart) in Marathon was done by persons unknown.  It is a tiny cinderblock building with Target's lettering and the bullseye logo.

It was another wonderful day!