Methinks, each state has it′s designated descriptions of a regional area, as does San Francisco with The Bay Area. When anyone in Texas mentions the valley, all of the locals and most every one else here in Texas understands that this reference is to the Rio Grande River valley that is along the Texas-Mexico border.

Thus, it is in the valley where I begin the quest for wildlife in this quire.

The Path through Texas begins here because this is the state that I enter upon returning from Mexico. The border crossing was horrendous, the worst that I have ever experienced before in my life. Too, methinks this crossing was so bad because we are well within the Last Days from Bible prophecy. I was subjected to four hours of wait time and then another two hours that it took to search through my van.

This long wait for them to finally tell me, your clean, you can go, was something that I do not ever want to go through again in this system. Too, since I live in my van and carry all of what I own, methinks, I will never make another crossing into Mexico on this side of Jehovah′s great day.

Once back in Texas, I stop at the first place that I find so that I can buy something to eat and would you know it, it is the burger place called What. After eating, I turn south from Laredo and drive towards the Valley.

Next, I drive southeast along the Rio Grande river which is the border between Texas and Mexico. As I head south, I stop for meetings in the border towns and find that when I join the friends in the ministry, it it not much different than it was when I was in Mexico in the ministry there.

The English congregation in most of the congregations in Mexico was a foreign language congregation and we needed to search out those who could speak English. Once we found someone who could speak English well, and was not just a student of English, we then began to preach and teach them what the Bible teaches.

Upon my arrival back to the Texas border area, I come to find out the the Spanish speaking population in most all of the border towns was very high in percentage of Spanish to those who speak English. In fact, many of the small towns were estimated to have over ninety percent of the population that spoke Spanish as their mother tongue.

Thus, because of the large population of Spanish Speaking people in the valley area of Texas, many of the English congregations located in those towns were considered to be foreign language congregations and conducted their ministry accordingly.

I was able to fit right in with the friends in these English congregations.

The Texas State Parks are currently 95 in number are like many of the parks across the United States, both National and State, are badly in need of maintenance and repairs. Most Texas state parks were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, and the last major renovation effort came in the 1970s.

Still, many state parks and wildlife management areas are home to endangered species, which areas protect a variety of plants and animals.

Birds on the endangered list include: Attwaters greater prairie chicken, black-capped vireo, eskimo curiew, golden-cheeked warbler, interior least tern, red-cockaded woodpecker, southwestern willow flycatcher and the whooping crane.

Birds that are listed as threatened include: Arizona Botteris sparrow, Bachmans sparrow, bald eagle, cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl, common black hawk, gray hawk, Mexican spotted owl, northern beardless-tyannulet, peregrine falcon, piping plover, reddish egret, rose-throated becard, rufa red know, sooty tern, swallow-tailed kite, Texas Botteris sparrow, western yellow-billed cuckoo, white-faced ibis, white-tailed hawk, wood stork, and zone-tailed hawk.

Mammals on the endangered list include: Finback whale, gray wolf, humpback whale, jaguar, jaguarundi, Mexican long-nosed bat, ocelot, red wolf, west indian manatee.

After leaving Brady, Texas, I begin my drive north through Texas and at ten pm arrive in the Texas panhandle extremely tired.

Little do I know that the next few days are going to prove to be quite a test for me, but as I have so many times found it true, the feather of the brotherhood helps me to make it through the test.

After sleeping in until eight, I rise, drink a cup of hot and then offer to help Ferdinand with his work on the ranch. As we feed the horses, we talk to a neighbor who has stopped by and encourage him with comments about the Bible.

Then, as Ferdinand saddles his horse, he tells me that when you have cattle, you have three types, live cattle, sick cattle and dead cattle. Then he mounts his horse while I get into the pickup and the two of us go out to round up some cattle that have gotten out of the pasture.

It takes sixteen day for the mechanic to finish the engine replacement on the jammer, and upon receiving it back, I am so ready to journey on. It take only three days for me to drive back to Washington and what a beautiful spring this becomes on this drive.