For the second time in my life, I found myself in Laredo. The first time didn't bring me anywhere near downtown (I helped a friend deliver a car to a monastery for his parents). Of course, I should have expected that it would almost feel like a small town in Mexico here. Then, of course, … Continue reading 188. Laredo, Webb County →

More aptly titled Colombia, Nuevo Leon. Nuevo Leon only touches Texas on a little finger of land at the Colombia Solidarity International Bridge. That bridge is part of a greater system of bridges that moves pedestrians, vehicles, and commercial and industrial traffic between Mexico and the United States. There's one little catch, though… There's only … Continue reading An Illegal Border Crossing? →

I had previously assumed that Cotulla was some older Mexican settlement that had been here since the days before the sky was blue and water was wet. Imagine my surprise to learn it was named after a Polish immigrant, soldier, and rancher, who donated land for the railroad. Receiving a railroad depot and a post … Continue reading 187. Cotulla, La Salle County →

There were two big takeaways from this trip: 1. Fun as it sometimes was to have them around, the girls are not made for trips like this.  I already suspected this would be the case, but this was confirmation.  I've always suspected that they pretend to find interesting what interests me because they love me.  … Continue reading Lessons? →

We've been through Pal-Es-TINE many times both directions, too.  Yes, the locals call it Pal-Es-TEEN, as does everybody surrounding them.  Yes, I use the same name as the alternate state for the Arabs of Israel.  Yes, I am that guy (not to be confused with That Guy).  I believe that all people are that way about … Continue reading 186. Palestine, Anderson County →

I pulled into town late in the day with two little ones in the back.  I had hoped that we could get going early and hit six or seven on the way down like on the the way up, but prying grandchildren away from grandparents is harder than dissolving gold in acid.  Our stocks of … Continue reading 185. Henderson, Rusk County →

On the way back from Gilmer, I stopped for an extra cache.  I had been given a couple of trackables that the owner requested only be placed in rural caches to move.  So while I was up there in the pines, I stopped at a cache that hadn't been logged in over a year and … Continue reading A Promise To Fulfill →