It's a partly sunny and breezy late Friday afternoon, with the temperature about 75° on October 11, 2013. I'm alone driving down a country road somewhere in North Texas, on my way back home from meeting a friend for lunch in Wylie. I set the cruise control on the vehicle at 45 MPH and programmed the GPS device for directions to Grand Prairie. Texas. About a 50 minute drive from where I currently am. The driver's door window is rolled all the way down with my left arm resting on the window ledge and my elbow outside catching the country air and bringing it inside across my face. Moseying along, while enjoying the North Texas rural scenery, I was unaware that another spontaneous adventure is about to occur.
Passing some land on my left side, surrounded by overgrown trees, I noticed a fairly large and weather beaten sign. The sign, standing on a couple pickets is about four foot tall and placed in front of barbed wired fence. I assumed it's a for sale sign but wasn't sure. Between the overgrown grass and the wildly growing bush directly behind the sign, it was barely visible. As I passed the sign, I noticed a paved entrance to the property. I Looked down the asphalt driveway, and caught a glimpse of a white building that appeared to be a two story ranch house. The house sat back on the property 200 to 300 feet from the road. Between the road and the house is a lot of unkempt landscape, which was hiding the structure. I didn't think much of it until about until I was a quarter of a mile passed the property. That's when I heard this little invisible guy on my shoulder say "It's time to explore Steve."
I looked in my rearview mirror to see if anyone was following me. There wasn't any traffic behind me, nor is there any oncoming traffic either. So, did a quick U-turn and drove back to the ranch. I turned right into the driveway pretty quick so that nobody would see me. I was almost sure I shouldn't be here and was trespassing but I didn't see any warning signs. When I drove in I looked at that sign again. Sure enough it said For Sale. I thought that's good. Because if anyone did approach me while I was here, I would just tell them I'm interested in buying it and was surveying the property. As I continued driving towards the white building, I could see there was a red painted gate to my left, lying on the ground. To my right side of the red gate was swung all the way open. I slowly drove up the driveway a little nervous, anxious and scared all at the same time. As I got closer to the dilapidated building I could tell it was a two story house at one time. I could see right through it. All the windows with their frames had been removed. The front door is also missing from what used to be somebody's nice home. But now, there wasn't anything left of this house, except the shell with white painted aluminum siding on the outside.
No kidding, at this point, visions of zombies, and headless cadaver remains entered my mind. I thought even though it's the middle of the afternoon, maybe I better turn around and come back another time with someone, or with something to defend myself just in case there's trouble lying ahead. But that little invisible guy I heard earlier popped up. Once again yelling me it's time to explore. I thought "Oh God! Reeally? Wearing shorts, a t-shirt and ankle high leather boots with white crew-cut socks on my feet, I wasn't dressed very good for exploring this place.
I began to contemplate as I continued creeping up the driveway in my vehicle. Rubbernecking and constantly being aware of my surroundings as I did. The surreal feeling of not knowing, by chance, what lies in front of me was actually adrenalizing. As I approached the house, I could see the pavement went off to the right and through a hedge line of overgrown shrubs and trees. I followed the pavement to the right. That's when I saw another house on the property. This house, also deplorable and in the same dilapidated condition as the first house, sits in front of me about 75 feet. I decided to park Popeye right there, equal distance from the two unsightly houses and out of sight from anybody passing by on the road. I lit up a cigarette to calm my nerves. Then I grabbed my camera, got out of the vehicle and checked to see if I had the key in my pocket, before locking the door. I decided to explore the house behind me first. Walking to the backyard I noticed a barn way back, towards the south and a good quarter mile from the abandoned ranch houses.
There was a trail going to the barn but it was blocked by a gate that was closed and chained with a lock.
I had to walk through knee high grass and weeds to get to the back entry way to the Eastern house. Once I got to an area in the backyard that was void of any tall grassy weeds, I paused to look down at my shoes to see if I had accumulated any of the seeds from the sticker weeds. Sure enough, despite marching in a zigzag motion to avoid them, I had a gazillion of the little boogers stuck on my socks and shoelaces, Oh well, all this meant was I was officially into my rural adventure. I looked up and towards the back side of the wood framed house. It appeared there was nothing worth anything left to it. You name it and it was gone. Except, I noticed a horseshoe nailed above where a back door used to be. I pulled the horseshoe off easily. After rubbing off the spider nest on the back of the horseshoe, I stuck it in my back pocket for good luck as I entered the old building looking up at the hanging ceiling tiles. It looked the same on the interior as it did on the exterior. Nothing was inside except ceiling tiles that had fallen and a few light switches. The wiring, light fixtures and everything worth taking was already gone. Still curious about the place and thinking the second floor would be an advantage point for surveying the land, I walked up the stairs. Looking outside from the back room I could see a shed that was well hidden with tall bushes and trees covering all sides of it. It was along the east property borderline and appeared to be partially collapsed. I could see the barn way back in BFE and a tank to the west that was practically dried up. I took no photos of the ranch house because it was too ugly and a sight for sore eyes. Thinking I could get some nice shots of the dilapidated shed, I headed that way, once again dodging the tall flowering weeds with seeds that stuck to me.
Approaching the shed I heard a gunshot coming from the direction of the barn. I hoped that wasn't a warning shot intended for an accidental trespasser. Then I remembered it is dove hunting season. I heard another gunshot and quickly ducked under the collapsed awning of the shed. Inside the shed there are several horse stalls that reminded me of that television show Mr. Ed. I began reciting the lyrics to the show's theme song. A horse is a horse of course unless of course the horse is the talking horse Mr. Ed... I walked around inside taking a few pictures before a big ol' yellow jacket came buzzing by me and chased me out of there.
I remembered when I was a kid being chased by a bunch of those big bees behind my grandparents' house in Port Clinton, Ohio. I wanted no part of them except to know where the nest was so I could stay clear.
That's when I noticed a bunch insects swarming around a blooming Roosevelt Weed with stems about ten feet tall swaying in the breeze. At first I thought they were birds. Then I thought it was more of the large bees. I realized they were too big to be bees. So I thought they were moths. I walked toward the bush and when I got closer I saw a moth fly by me. I followed it until it landed on one of the blooms so I could get a shot of it.
As I was snapping photos of the pretty moth a beautiful Monarch Butterfly landed nearby. I thought how cool is this and pointed my camera at the butterfly. Before I could get a shot of the butterfly another one landed near me and on the bush. I looked up at the swarming insects above and realized these were no ordinary insects. No, no, no. Not a bunch of ugly moths either. These insects were the most beautiful of all insects. Known as the king of butterflies.
There were at least a hundred Monarch butterflies within ten feet of me. I was aware the Monarch's annual flight through North Texas this time of year. I've seen them before scattered here and there for a week or so on their way to hibernate in Mexico for the winter. But never have I seen so many of the insects in one place, or would I ever expect to see so many. My presence didn't seem to bother them as I snapped over 100 pictures of the butterflies drinking the sweet nectar from the Roosevelt Weed blooms.
This was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen. It made the stop well worth the time spent here. Witnessing this event suddenly made those bothersome stickers all over my socks and shoes become not so troubling. I got as many pictures as I could, because I know I would only like a few of them and most of the photos would be deleted. I couldn't wait to get home to view them. But, I had more exploring to do. So I headed to the gate, blocking the trail, back to the barn.
I got to the gate and saw it was chained shut with a huge lock and chain. I thought about hopping over it but first I pulled on the gate to see if it would open far enough for me to squeeze through. When I grabbed the right side of the gate and pulled it towards me the chain fell right off. Walking towards the barn on the trail I noticed a lot of milkweed plants and grasshoppers everywhere. I heard a couple more gunshots from a distance and figured it was bird hunters. So that didn't bother me anymore. My new scare was coming from the grasshoppers. They were everywhere. As I got near the barn I noticed a mesquite tree that had been sawed down at one time. I walked over to the tree thinking of getting a picture. That's when I saw two grasshoppers on the tree fucking. I snapped a photo of them during their private time, but wanted a better shot. So I got closer.
When I got closer they jumped to the other side of the tree and out of my sight. So I went to the other side they were on but they hopped back out of sight again. We went back and forth like this several times before they decided I ruined the encounter for them, so they flew off in seperate directions. I was thinking I must've caught them cheating, thats why they flew in seperate directions. I continued walking toward the barn dodging grasshoppers. I got there and decided to walk through it. Then around the outside of it. Just looking and snapping a few shots of nothing very interesting so I decided to leave. The funny thing about this adventure is, I didn't see the No Trespassing sign on the front gate until I was driving out.
I doubt the butterflies are still there but they might be. If you want to go see this for yourself or think about it next October or want to buy the ranch, the physical address is 2401 Sachse Rd. Wylie, Texas.
Passing some land on my left side, surrounded by overgrown trees, I noticed a fairly large and weather beaten sign. The sign, standing on a couple pickets is about four foot tall and placed in front of barbed wired fence. I assumed it's a for sale sign but wasn't sure. Between the overgrown grass and the wildly growing bush directly behind the sign, it was barely visible. As I passed the sign, I noticed a paved entrance to the property. I Looked down the asphalt driveway, and caught a glimpse of a white building that appeared to be a two story ranch house. The house sat back on the property 200 to 300 feet from the road. Between the road and the house is a lot of unkempt landscape, which was hiding the structure. I didn't think much of it until about until I was a quarter of a mile passed the property. That's when I heard this little invisible guy on my shoulder say "It's time to explore Steve."
 |
| I included this screenshot from Google Maps to better show the whole Ranch |
No kidding, at this point, visions of zombies, and headless cadaver remains entered my mind. I thought even though it's the middle of the afternoon, maybe I better turn around and come back another time with someone, or with something to defend myself just in case there's trouble lying ahead. But that little invisible guy I heard earlier popped up. Once again yelling me it's time to explore. I thought "Oh God! Reeally? Wearing shorts, a t-shirt and ankle high leather boots with white crew-cut socks on my feet, I wasn't dressed very good for exploring this place.
I began to contemplate as I continued creeping up the driveway in my vehicle. Rubbernecking and constantly being aware of my surroundings as I did. The surreal feeling of not knowing, by chance, what lies in front of me was actually adrenalizing. As I approached the house, I could see the pavement went off to the right and through a hedge line of overgrown shrubs and trees. I followed the pavement to the right. That's when I saw another house on the property. This house, also deplorable and in the same dilapidated condition as the first house, sits in front of me about 75 feet. I decided to park Popeye right there, equal distance from the two unsightly houses and out of sight from anybody passing by on the road. I lit up a cigarette to calm my nerves. Then I grabbed my camera, got out of the vehicle and checked to see if I had the key in my pocket, before locking the door. I decided to explore the house behind me first. Walking to the backyard I noticed a barn way back, towards the south and a good quarter mile from the abandoned ranch houses.
I had to walk through knee high grass and weeds to get to the back entry way to the Eastern house. Once I got to an area in the backyard that was void of any tall grassy weeds, I paused to look down at my shoes to see if I had accumulated any of the seeds from the sticker weeds. Sure enough, despite marching in a zigzag motion to avoid them, I had a gazillion of the little boogers stuck on my socks and shoelaces, Oh well, all this meant was I was officially into my rural adventure. I looked up and towards the back side of the wood framed house. It appeared there was nothing worth anything left to it. You name it and it was gone. Except, I noticed a horseshoe nailed above where a back door used to be. I pulled the horseshoe off easily. After rubbing off the spider nest on the back of the horseshoe, I stuck it in my back pocket for good luck as I entered the old building looking up at the hanging ceiling tiles. It looked the same on the interior as it did on the exterior. Nothing was inside except ceiling tiles that had fallen and a few light switches. The wiring, light fixtures and everything worth taking was already gone. Still curious about the place and thinking the second floor would be an advantage point for surveying the land, I walked up the stairs. Looking outside from the back room I could see a shed that was well hidden with tall bushes and trees covering all sides of it. It was along the east property borderline and appeared to be partially collapsed. I could see the barn way back in BFE and a tank to the west that was practically dried up. I took no photos of the ranch house because it was too ugly and a sight for sore eyes. Thinking I could get some nice shots of the dilapidated shed, I headed that way, once again dodging the tall flowering weeds with seeds that stuck to me.
Approaching the shed I heard a gunshot coming from the direction of the barn. I hoped that wasn't a warning shot intended for an accidental trespasser. Then I remembered it is dove hunting season. I heard another gunshot and quickly ducked under the collapsed awning of the shed. Inside the shed there are several horse stalls that reminded me of that television show Mr. Ed. I began reciting the lyrics to the show's theme song. A horse is a horse of course unless of course the horse is the talking horse Mr. Ed... I walked around inside taking a few pictures before a big ol' yellow jacket came buzzing by me and chased me out of there.
I remembered when I was a kid being chased by a bunch of those big bees behind my grandparents' house in Port Clinton, Ohio. I wanted no part of them except to know where the nest was so I could stay clear.
That's when I noticed a bunch insects swarming around a blooming Roosevelt Weed with stems about ten feet tall swaying in the breeze. At first I thought they were birds. Then I thought it was more of the large bees. I realized they were too big to be bees. So I thought they were moths. I walked toward the bush and when I got closer I saw a moth fly by me. I followed it until it landed on one of the blooms so I could get a shot of it.
As I was snapping photos of the pretty moth a beautiful Monarch Butterfly landed nearby. I thought how cool is this and pointed my camera at the butterfly. Before I could get a shot of the butterfly another one landed near me and on the bush. I looked up at the swarming insects above and realized these were no ordinary insects. No, no, no. Not a bunch of ugly moths either. These insects were the most beautiful of all insects. Known as the king of butterflies.
There were at least a hundred Monarch butterflies within ten feet of me. I was aware the Monarch's annual flight through North Texas this time of year. I've seen them before scattered here and there for a week or so on their way to hibernate in Mexico for the winter. But never have I seen so many of the insects in one place, or would I ever expect to see so many. My presence didn't seem to bother them as I snapped over 100 pictures of the butterflies drinking the sweet nectar from the Roosevelt Weed blooms.
This was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen. It made the stop well worth the time spent here. Witnessing this event suddenly made those bothersome stickers all over my socks and shoes become not so troubling. I got as many pictures as I could, because I know I would only like a few of them and most of the photos would be deleted. I couldn't wait to get home to view them. But, I had more exploring to do. So I headed to the gate, blocking the trail, back to the barn.
I got to the gate and saw it was chained shut with a huge lock and chain. I thought about hopping over it but first I pulled on the gate to see if it would open far enough for me to squeeze through. When I grabbed the right side of the gate and pulled it towards me the chain fell right off. Walking towards the barn on the trail I noticed a lot of milkweed plants and grasshoppers everywhere. I heard a couple more gunshots from a distance and figured it was bird hunters. So that didn't bother me anymore. My new scare was coming from the grasshoppers. They were everywhere. As I got near the barn I noticed a mesquite tree that had been sawed down at one time. I walked over to the tree thinking of getting a picture. That's when I saw two grasshoppers on the tree fucking. I snapped a photo of them during their private time, but wanted a better shot. So I got closer.
When I got closer they jumped to the other side of the tree and out of my sight. So I went to the other side they were on but they hopped back out of sight again. We went back and forth like this several times before they decided I ruined the encounter for them, so they flew off in seperate directions. I was thinking I must've caught them cheating, thats why they flew in seperate directions. I continued walking toward the barn dodging grasshoppers. I got there and decided to walk through it. Then around the outside of it. Just looking and snapping a few shots of nothing very interesting so I decided to leave. The funny thing about this adventure is, I didn't see the No Trespassing sign on the front gate until I was driving out.
I doubt the butterflies are still there but they might be. If you want to go see this for yourself or think about it next October or want to buy the ranch, the physical address is 2401 Sachse Rd. Wylie, Texas.
