Neandrerthals in West Texas

[Blake M Williams]

Are there any Neanderthals in the Midland Odessa Texas area?

[ken hatch]

Does it help if I grew up in Odessa?:D

[James Waldron]

Does it help if I grew up in Odessa?:D


Obviously not. :eek:

[Nick Stokes]

Obviously not. :eek:

Ain't much out west Texas... make the trip on over to the metroplex area and we can talk.

[David Eisenhauer]

I'm in the greater Austin area and drive through the Midland-Odessa area a few times a year for my "out West" camping runs. Does that count?

[Blake M Williams]

I had a feeling there might not be any traditional woodworkers around here, my hopes are still up though... a little...

[ken hatch]

I had a feeling there might not be any traditional woodworkers around here, my hopes are still up though... a little...

Blake,

I can feel your pain. But even in bigger towns there ain't too many folks working wood by hand. How long have you been in Midland/Odessa? I left as soon as I could get my car packed after H.S..

ken

[Blake M Williams]

Grew up here off and on, just bought a house so might be a while before I pack up and leave lol. I know there are not many hand tool guys but it sure seems like a lot when you use google or get on here.

[Andy Nichols]

"West Texas" is a big area.... I'm in the Hill Country west of San Antonio.


Regards,
Andy

[Stew Denton]

Hi Blake,

I'm up in the panhandle. We are about a 3 hour drive from Lubbock, going north. I met a young fellow at an estate sale here in town a bit over a week ago, that is interested in hand tool woodworking, and we were both in a hurry, so I didn't get his name.....wish I would have. He is the only person I have met out here that is interested in hand tool woodworking.

Stew

[Kevin Hampshire]

Isn't Heritage School of Woodworking right down the road in Waco? Maybe they know folks out your way.

[ken hatch]

Isn't Heritage School of Woodworking right down the road in Waco? Maybe they know folks out your way.

This brings a chuckle. Either you are a West Texan and use to the vast size of Texas, where you think nothing of a 350 mile trip "just down the road apiece". That was a normal fishing trip when I was growing up. Or you have never thought about the size of Texas. Back again to my youth, there was a popular post card that said "The sun has rize and the sun has set and here I is in Texas yet".

Odessa to Waco is 350 miles.
The one most people have done is Orange, TX to Anthony, TX and it is 877 miles (about 14 hours of driving) but Texas is wide as well. From Brownsville, TX to Texline, TX is 922 miles. East-west, north-south, you can almost complete a Saddle Sore 1000 IBA ride in a straight line across Texas. BTW, California folks have some serious miles as well, from San Diego, CA to Brookings, OR is 874 miles. The difference with CA is it isn't miles and miles of "nothing" but then I-5's road condition is about as bad as it gets.

I'll leave Alaska for another time.:)

I'd invite Blake over to my shop but it is 600 miles of desert driving from Odessa to Tucson.

ken

[Chris Fournier]

I like to ride my motorbike out that way every couple of years. When you're from Canada West Texas is very exotic.

[Blake M Williams]

Maybe someday I'll move out to the Hill Country, if nothing else there are trees there. I'm two hours from anything, and 4 hours from anything different. Any and all trips we take are kinda long. lol

[ken hatch]

I like to ride my motorbike out that way every couple of years. When you're from Canada West Texas is very exotic.

Chris with tongue only slightly in cheek I called I-10 TBMRITS (The Best Motorcycle Road In The States). I did many IBA rides using all or most of I-10. To this day I can point out the IBA motels where I have stopped for a couple of minutes rest and it is most of 'em.

Blake, I hope you can. The boss and I talk about doing the same but I expect it is just talk in our case.

ken

[Andy Nichols]

Was stationed at Ft. Bliss for a few years, did some time in Ft. Hood, one kid went to college in Houston, we were married in Terilngua, and inlaws live in north east Texas.....The Hill Country is by far my favorite place to live.

[Kevin Hampshire]

Ken, very familiar. Branch of my family came down long before there was a country or a state. Last I checked, there was still a town from an ancestor. I think they even have a traffic light or two.

[ken hatch]

Kevin,

Same here, my family was in the San Antonio area long before Texas broke from Mexico. My paternal grandparents were the first non native Americans on the family farm. Which was all well and good except with all the vast area of open land to chose from they picked the only square mile of Texas that had no water, oil, or gas under it. Mineral rights don't do a lot for you if there is nothing but dirt under your feet.:)

Over the years I've seen most of the world and lived for extended periods away from Texas but the bottom line is: You can take the boy out of Texas but you can't take Texas out of the boy.

ken

[Malcolm McLeod]

"You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas." - Davy Crockett

...a lucky guy.

[Phil Mueller]

Can't speak from much experience about Texas, other than the great memories of quail hunting on the King ranch. I know, that doesn't narrow it down too far, but it was a nice change from what I was used to in CA and MI. Snake chaps were the order of the day and we ran into a few. As well as deer, coyote, javalena, blue indigo snakes, turkeys, cattle galore, and all sorts of growing things that could cause a world of hurt.

You don't really get a sense of the vastness of Texas, or even a ranch like the King, until you enter the gate and drive for over an hour and you've barely made a dent in the place.

[ken hatch]

Phil,

I tell folks new to the desert that heat kills very quickly and almost every thing in the desert sticks, stings, or bites. Be careful out there...hear.

ken