Gilhooly Ranch

Ever since spending time on my grandparents' ranch in South Texas, I wanted to own land. I really wanted thousands of acres, like my grandparents, but that was a bit beyond the budget.

I wasn't really expecting to become a rancher, but a quarter-acre lot with a house in the city is not really a piece of Texas.

Somewhere near the middle of this map lies forty acres of dust and (probably) fossils which is a large back yard by Texas standards and a massive area in most other States. It is in far West Texas, known for wide-open spaces and tourists dying of heat stroke.

I'm waiting for the official survey so the map is currently approximated, and covers more than the ranch itself. There are not a lot of surveyors available in the county, so there is quite a wait. In fact, I have to call the surveyor again to see if he's ever planning to give me a bid.

The closest town is Sierra Blanca which isn't really a town, it's an unincorporated area (like D'Hanis) but it is the county seat of Hudspeth County.

It's interesting that a place too small to be a town has at least three Facebook groups dedicated to it. It's also interesting that a common complaint seems to be city folk coming out and bitching about the country. I will do my best to not be one of those people.

I could purchase a Yurt and move out there, as long as I could get Internet, electricity and water. I might also need a new wife.

It took a lot of downloads and a lot of sorting, but I think I have identified my neighbors in the section. So, now I have to see if there is any way to get access to a road and then see if a survey can be done. This has been a painful process since the State and County maps only go to the section level (640 acres) and the section we are in contains 16 40-acre plots.

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