We spent nearly two weeks visiting Travis' cousins, Novella and Vern. They live 10 miles east of Dickens TX just 1/4 mile from where Travis was born. It is way out in the boonies. We had an absolute blast with them. They are really from Stockton CA, but moved down there to help her mother who is 96 and now is in a private care home in Spur TX. We visited her and Travis took his guitar and sang her some songs. She had remembered us and enjoyed that. While there Travis and Vern went hunting from a pickup (since Travis doesn't walk much with his bad back) and saw deer, wild hogs, a porcupine and he shot a diamond back rattlesnake. That thrilled him. He saved the rattles for posterity. I'll post a picture of the snake. We also went sight seeing in the big towns of Dickens and Spur and at the Pitchfork Land and Cattle Co. (where Travis' dad worked when he was a young man) and the 6666 Cattle Ranch. Both the ranches are right around where Novella and Vern live and both are huge. They do cowboying from horses mostly and have lots of them. Novella and Vern have a bunch of cats, all tailless Manx variety. I had never seen one live before. Just heard about them and seen a picture or two.
