Habitat for Humanity Build #16: Fredericksburg, Texas

We were excited ... a Habitat for Humanity Care-a-Vanner build in the beautiful and still unexplored Hill Country of Texas in early November!

It will be sunny and warm!

... or not!

A series of frosty mornings and rainy days slowed the build schedule slightly, but it could not put a damper on the smiles of Chris, Veronica, and their four children as they watched the walls of their future home go up.

And their smiles were contagious.

Taking advantage of the few sunny days, we were able to ...

study plans,

assemble,

and raise walls.

It was once again a learning experience for me, but I was happy to be able to apply a lot of the ''framing skills'' that I picked up in Las Cruces. 

Like operating the chop saw,

handling the nail gun,

and making ''works of art'' out of
insulating foam.

But my greatest feat was organizing the local affiliate's tool trailer.
Look how pretty it is!

Living in a small van, I have gotten pretty good at ... ''a place for everything and everything in its place''!

But quite a few of my ''jobs'' didn't actually require all that much skill ... I was pretty awesome at holding up the walls until they got nailed into place,

... and being Doug's personal assistant who kept track of the pieces of wood after he cut them.

We made great progress in between the rain showers and the freezing temps. For despite the harsh temps, the sharing of building skills and smiles amongst all the Care-a-Vanners warmed us all.

Once again, a talented group of Care-a-Vanners was able to work together to raise walls and raise hope for a brighter future for another deserving family.

Caleb (14 months), me, future homeowners Chris and Veronica,
Ian (12), Lexi (7),  and Gabriel (4)

At our final get-together, we were each presented with a beautiful granite cross like the one I am holding. It was handmade by future homeowner Chris and given to each of us as a ''thank you''.

It will be cherished as a beautiful reminder of the warm blessing of friendship that welcomes us during each of our Habitat for Humanity builds.

Back to the Basics of Love in Luckenbach, Texas

It's November ... We are in southern Texas ... And yes, we are wearing our down-filled winter jackets.

Layered up for a day at the Habitat build site.
Thankfully, working under the Texas sunshine quickly warmed us up!

A couple of strong cold fronts producing rain and freezing temps over the past two weeks have not only shortened some of our Habitat build days, but also prompted Doug to figure out how to ''winterize'' Baby Beest. On the bright side, it also gave us extra time to check out the Hill Country around Fredericksburg, Texas.

Fredericksburg, we found out, is the hometown of this handsome and skilled Fleet admiral Chester W Nimitz. Nimitz lead the Allied air, land, and sea forces in the Pacific during World War II, so it is no surprise that the National Museum of the Pacific War is located here. We visited this all-encompassing museum one rainy afternoon with our friends, Joanne and Gary. The tremendous amount of ''history'' overwhelmed our non-history loving partners, Joanne and Doug a bit. Gary and I, however, were easily drawn into the stories of the personalities, strategies, and battles that eventually brought about an Allied victory. 

Joanne was very patient as we delved into
the battles of Midway, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima.

During this Veteran's Day week, it is important to remember and celebrate the ''uncommon valor'' that is seen in every one of our country's dedicated veterans!

One other local site caught my eye and made me think ... where had I heard the name of that town before??? 

Being a fan of classic rock of the 70s and 80s, I recalled a country crossover hit by that name. See if you remember ...

This #1 Country Hit from 1977 pushed Luckenbach, Texas, a tiny ''widening in the road'' located 13 miles from Fredericksburg, into the national limelight. A virtual ghost town, this 9,000 acre community was bought by two investors in 1970. The property had two buildings ... a combo post office/general store/saloon and a dance hall which the new owners used to host many unique musical events.

The success of Waylon Jennings' song secured Luckenbach a place in country music history and made it a tourist destination where ''Everybody's Somebody in Luckenbach''.

So, ''Let's go to Luckenbach Texas'',

to check out if they are selling anything
that we can't live without,

 or just stretch out and relax by the
warm fireplace,

and enjoy some impromptu
country music performances.

We are happy that we could ''Get Back to the Basics of Love'' when we were faced with another cold, rainy afternoon. Because ''in Luckenbach, Texas there ain't nobody feelin' no pain'' when hanging out with good friends!

A Quick Visit to Big Bend National Park

Deep in southwest Texas lies a well-known but rarely visited national park. Big Bend may seem like it is located in the middle of nowhere, but the hundreds of miles of natural beauty of this national treasure provides a great reward to anyone who takes the time to explore it.

We had four days to travel from our Habitat build in Las Cruces, New Mexico to our next Habitat build in Fredericksburg, Texas. This would be another test of our ''no reservations and no specific destination'' van lifestyle. Why not get off the main interstate and experience a whole new level of exploring? Glad we took a few days for a quick visit to Big Bend National Park!

The beauty goes on for
hundreds of miles!

Big Bend encompasses the Chisos Mountain Range, a good portion of the Chihuahuan Desert, and 118 miles of the Rio Grande River. With over 800,000 acres, it is larger than the state of Rhode Island. And with only a little over 400,000 visitors each year, Big Bend hosts less tourists in a year than the Balloon Fiesta did during its nine day stretch. It is home for more than 1200 species of plants and 450 species of birds. The uniqueness of the ever-changing scenery, fauna, and flora kept us engaged during our long drive through the park. Keep your eyes sharp ... you may even see a tarantula crossing the road, just as Doug claims he saw!

Our home base for two days was the exclusive Chisos Basin Campground. I emphasize ''exclusive'' because we could have never hung out here during our Wildebeest days. There is a sign at the beginning of the six mile road leading into the basin warning against driving any vehicle over 25 feet long. The roads were definitely twisty and narrow, but Baby Beest handled it like a pro. Our reward ... a cozy campsite surrounded by the Chisos Mountains. The view of the bright Milky Way and thousands of stars in the night sky proved to us that Big Bend has definitely earned its certified ''dark-sky park'' status.

The next day we took a hike along Big Bend's popular Window Trail. This 4.4 mile round-trip trail started out near our campsite and lead us past a variety of vegetation and rock formations.

Agave and prickly pear cacti

Lizards cooling themselves in the shade

An agave century plant

Fall foliage along the creek bed

Our reward came as we approached the end of this out-and-back trail. Walking along the rocky stream bed of Oak Creek, we approached ''The Window''.

The view of the distant desert floor and mountain peaks was perfectly framed by the rocky cliffs ... giving us a magnificent window view of the rest of the park.

The next day we checked out of our scenic campsite and took a ride through the desert on the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.

Our destination ... Santa Elena Canyon, beautifully formed by the Rio Grande River.

Our mission ... to hike the short nature trail that would lead us a short ways into the canyon's shady depths.

Our main obstacle ... the murky, muddy, and fast-flowing Rio Grande River that was not going to allow us to cross over into Mexico today.

Our heros ... the group of youngsters who decided to take off their shoes, grab a hiking stick and attempt to cross over to the flooded trail bed to reach the the nature trail on the American side of the river.

From that distant southwest edge of Big Bend, we began our drive out of the park and on to our next destination. But along the way, we were again treated to endless beauty that added interest to our long drive ... like one of our favorite desert plants, the ocotillo.

... or the rock formations. What do you think these look like?

Three days in Big Bend National Park gave us a much appreciated rest after our Las Cruces Habitat build. But, as you can imagine, our quick visit was not long enough to see and do all that there is to see and do. Big Bend is a huge, diverse national park in the middle of nowhere ... and we will be back!

Habitat for Humanity Build #15: Las Cruces, New Mexico

Lessons learned from the talented Habitat crew!

As we returned to Las Cruces, New Mexico to participate in another Habitat for Humanity build, I was once again so impressed by the knowledge and skill of the local volunteers and my fellow Care-a-Vanners. This mighty team of volunteers built and raised walls under the guidance of our skillful and ever-patient construction supervisor, Meghan.

Three years ago when Doug and I participated in another Habitat build in Las Cruces, we met Meghan who was also a care-a-vanner. Her desire to ''jump right in'' and learn all that there is to know about building a house really impressed me. And so, it was of no surprise for me to see her shine in her new position as the construction site supervisor. Over the next seven months, she will guide numerous volunteers and future homeowners in the construction of five new houses for the Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity.

When we arrived, House #1 consisted just of exterior walls on a concrete slab. House #2 was just a concrete slab, and Houses 3, 4, and 5 were still awaiting their foundation and stone ''fence''. Seeing the smile on Doug's face, I knew that learning to frame was in my future. I am grateful for the many lessons that were going to come my way and for all the folks who taught this old dog many new tricks.

Smile! You learned a new skill today!

This lesson was taught to me by future homeowner Stacie, who shared a big smile as she learned to use the chop saw for the first time.

If you keep your eye on the nail, chances are good that you will hit it on the head!

Taught (and retaught) by my patient husband. He and I were both impressed that this lesson also may have helped me with my pickleball-whacking skills which resulted in a rare win against Joanne and Gary (or it was just my lucky day).

A plumb wall is a perfect wall!

And a perfect wall leads to a happy construction supervisor who won't have to figure out how to straighten it later on. And believe me, Meghan would figure out how ... she is that good!

Measure twice; cut once

or

Three heads are better than one

It is wonderful how the teams of local volunteers, future homeowners, and the care-a-vanners worked together over the two weeks to create the exterior and interior walls on the first two homes.

There is power in numbers

These seven powerful women worked together to help ''raise the roof'' as we hauled and handed up the trusses for house #1. What we lacked in height, we made up in sheer determination! After we were through, house #1 really started to look like a home.

But one of the greatest lessons came from Construction Supervisor Meghan's dog, Abby ...

Be Faithful!

Abby showed up every day with her owner to encourage all the hard working, skillful, and generous volunteers who are helping to build ''forever homes'' for her canine companions and their deserving families ...

for Katie and Roberto
and their three children,

for Stacie and her daughter,

and for Kristine and Richard
and their five children.

There are always new lessons to be learned at each Habitat build. And the #1 lesson is that by faithfully building a home for a deserving family, we will help spread ...

Peace to all who enter here!