hanging with the Roberts

ranch visit numero tres. this was a three day stay chock full of off roading, cave exploring, indian arrowhead and artifact hunting, a desperate search for a swimming hole, the pure desert night sky, the almost unbearable heat, and the Roberts, plus Paul and myself.

Ocotillo Ranch

if i had kids of my own i'd have all boys...probably four or more...but this one i want in particular. 

Zane is the coolest.

branded, but a little skiddish

Survival Men portrait

Zane-o and Clint-o

in  search of water

The Rock House

little rock climber to be, or super model, which ever comes first

Makayla

360

portrait by Makayla, who also took most of the landscape shots

i've never seen a solid orange dragon fly

this WWII vw thing is indestructible...there isn't a terrain it can't go over...badass and fun to ride in

dinner

the caves have faces

perfect camo

collecting medicinals

purple sage: Cenizo

don't know what these are. have to look them up.

there was some strange activity in the atmosphere that day...this rainbow came out of a ball in the sky, like a spotlight

later that night

Stovall Ranch

ranch stop numero dos. totally different from Shack's ranch, Stovall's is more valley like with mesas in the distance. we also didn't get here until dusk. both are beautiful in different ways.

Stovall Ranch

original water mark from 1917

Shackelford Ranch

the biggest misconception about west texas, or any part of texas for that matter, is the wide open space. you can see for miles and miles, which makes you feel like you're in the great wide open...uncharted territory...enough ground to wonder around on and never run into another soul...adventure (!!!)...but the truth of the matter is that 97% of this land is private property. and from where i live i have to drive 1 1/2 hours before i get to land that does not have fenced boundaries i.e. Big Bend National Park. so the only way to "roam around" is to know someone who owns a ranch and to be invited to said ranch. although i do not know the exact acreage or square miles of these ranches, it is safe to say that each is 1000s and 1000s of acres. not kidding. like 16000 acres, or 30000 acres. i've heard of such chunks. after living here for 1 1/2 years i finally got myself to some ranch land...in fact, i have been to 3 different ranches in 3 weeks! after driving over an hour on hard top road, we drove another hour or so on an "off road" before we made it. here is the first...

Shackelford Ranch

on top of 4800 ft. mountain + view from porch = Mexico !

this house is totally off grid: enough solar to run a fridge and few hours of tv, other sources of light are gas lamps