Git Along Little Dogie....

I'm one of those people who likes to take a different route coming back from the grocery than the way I drove getting there.  I'm also one of the those people who will stop to see things.  "Things" could be a new building under construction, a car... the likes that I've never seen before, that's parked along the street, or maybe I see an unusual cloud formation or perhaps a rainbow... something just begging me to stop and appreciate its beauty.

Sometimes I drive by things that catch my interest, but I just don't take the time to stop.  Usually, after so many times driving past I can't stand it any longer and finally take the time to check it out.

I don't know if I'm curious or just plain nosy.

The gate we're at is located 5 miles from the little town of Asherton...  about 15 miles from Carrizo Springs.  If I were in Ohio, I'd call it a county road, but I think here in Texas, these are called Farm Roads.  It connects to a State Route (Rt 190).  There's not much out here...  there's an old ranch house just south of us but nobody lives in it.  It might be the only house on this road.  This all is part of a ranch  but it appears to be overgrazed and sure doesn't look like it could sustain very many head per acre.

Maybe that's another good reason to have oil wells on your property these days.

I go into town a few times each week... to the laundromat, the post office, the grocery store, church...  and each time I pass this...

This loading chute and corral looked to me like "days gone by"

Part of the old wild west that is no more.

So, I was really surprised today when I saw this as I was heading to the post office....

 WOW!  A double-decker transport truck...  All lined up at the loading ramp!

And in the corral...

 A whole herd of cattle!

Where have they been?  We live just down the road and never see more than a head or two at a time.

And just in front of the corral...

 Real Texas Cowboys...  with ropes, horses and all!

I asked if I could take photos and el jefe gave me the okay.

 All the cattle had been herded into a huge corral.  Then the cowboys moved them (waving arms wildly and a lot of yelling) into a smaller corral...  allowing only a certain amount of cattle to go in.  

That man is not holding a gun... that's a cattle prod.  I suppose you could liken it to a stun gun - it emits enough electricity to persuade a critter to go where you want it to.  And...  this modern-day cowboy has a cell phone glued to his left ear.  I think he spent most of the time I watched talking on that phone.

After separating and counting the cattle that group was hustled into the "in" door, through the chute and up the loading ramp into the truck.   

 These guys didn't look huge...  but they weren't "veal" size either...  I have no idea where they were being transported or why.

This load is full....  

There was another truck just like it waiting in the parking pull-over just across the road.  You can see the remaining cattle in the background.

These were laying on the ground outside one of the pick-up trucks in the parking area...

 I looked around but sure didn't see anybody barefoot or wearing unusual footwear.

Again...  my curious mind sure had some questions....

I watched for quite a while...  it looked like the first load was ready to pull out...

The remaining cattle were soon to be loaded into the second truck.

These big guys look like they are taking a break before going to work again...

I'm glad I happened to be heading to the post office this  morning...  otherwise I might have just kept putting off that stop to see what that loading ramp was all about.

Seems the "old" wild west is still alive and very active!

And so, my curiosity was satisfied and...  this is "The End"

That's All For Today!