At Ethan's - Alpine, TX

Beautiful sunrise over the mountains north of Fort Davis. I visit the impressive MacDonald observatory from the outside on the way and enjoy the changing colors. On the way up the hill I catch another sighting of a Bobcat. He stood still in the tall grass, and I instantly made out the characteristic ears and the dark spotted coat. I stopped and he knew he was made and took off in a long jump. Never seen one and now twice in a week.

I meet up with Ethan, lots to talk about, it's show and tell time, how he built his house and all about Alpine. I'm amazed how roomy the house is at 2000sq ft. I also get to realize again that he has a load of things to take care of and how he gets sucked into all the 'house projects'. Which is exactly what I don't want.

Ethan has some tumbleweeds to burn so we set to the task. Of course we didn't ask for permission from the town so in no time a helicopter flies over and the cops are right on us to extinguish it. Border patrol last night and cops this morning, I probably have a record for unauthorized burning in the town of Alpine Texas.

I pick up some peppermint from the town park and plant it in the corner of Ethan's back yard. Should be a good spot for it. I also get to see my first ever Pecan tree, my favorite nut.

Ethan and I played music for an hour and covered some of the great songs in our book. The accoustics are superb in his high ceiling house. Fun to hang here. Alpine is a lot like Gunnison, I can see how he feels comfortable here. We're playing lots of loud music during dinner, TYA one of my faves.Read more