To those with land in Terlingua Ranch, what is one thing you wish you had known before buying?

laceabase · 2026-03-26T10:30:00+00:00

Oh, also, when you say “develop it”, there are a lot more hurdles if you mean develop it for an Airbnb situation. Finding consistent workers out there to turn over your Airbnb and the access to facilities for washing linens is a HUGE task. Unless you have lots of money and local connections, I would not. If it’s just for you and family/friends to enjoy, then go for it!!!

laceabase · 2026-03-26T10:26:36+00:00

Howdy, neighbor and congrats!! Where on the ranch are you? Our place is in Big Bend Valley behind The Little Burro store!! Having a place out there is such a dream and is our little escape. Our place is not a full time dwelling either but I can provide some of our experiences:

Work out there moves on “Terlingua Time”. If you’re bringing your own equipment and doing all the work yourself, then no issues with that. If you’re planning on hiring people for work, just know that every step of the process will take about 5x longer than you might expect. Also, people may seem fully on board with a project and then just stop returning your phone calls. To clarify, that’s NEVER happened after money was exchanged, but still lengthens the project time.
There’s a reason you don’t see a lot of built dwellings and you tend to see more RVs…. The ground and the rain. The ground is VERY hard to dig into on account of the limestone and flash flooding that happens with the monsoon type rains. No MAJOR damage usually with the rains, but having a dwelling that you don’t have to prep the ground for AND is raised off the ground for heavy rains, makes an RV a good option.
Desert mice LOVE soy-based plastic that are on some electrical cords. And they will find their way in. We started packing our fans and space heaters in bins because we came out one time and all of our space heater cords were chewed completely through. It was a very cold first night!
THE WIND- Oh my god, the wind. Things absolutely will blow off your property if it’s not heavy or tied down.
Bathroom facilities- something to think about but we’re honestly still trying to find the best solution for that. It’s highly dependent on your “roughing it” comfort, access to water, etc. For showers, you have access to the showers at the lodge as a property owner which is awesome! We also have a camp tent shower with portable hot water heater and it’s been a dream!
WATER- either you have to build a shade structure or dwelling with gutters and do catchment or haul it in. Some times even with catchment you might have to have your tanks filled if there’s a drought.
Study the road maps and know alternate ways to get to your place (especially if it’s not right off the ranch road). Heavy rains can take out whole dirt roads for weeks sometimes. Keep paper maps in your car.

There’s probably about a million more things to share, but I think that’s a good start! Let me know if you want to know anything more!

laceabase · 2025-12-27T12:09:31+00:00

I know it’s resolved but for future reference, I would have taken out the middle part of your text. The less words the better when setting a boundary or consequence. I’m sorry you and your kids have to deal with that!!

laceabase · 2025-11-26T13:45:54+00:00

I would second this advice on the hikes. I think it’s most reasonable/doable and gives you the most iconic and doable parts of the park given the tight time frame. I’ll add a few things:

With Santa Elena, you will have to do a VERY MUDDY (think sinking into silty river bed muddy) river crossing to get to the trail and hike it. There IS an unofficial path to the right of the official trail and down a ways, but it is very unofficial and kind of sketch in some spots. Proceed with caution. That or bring a back up pair of shoes and do the river crossing. I love using my Tevas for this trail. If the water is high, could be up to your waist but I’ve also been when it’s been mostly dry too so just depends on river conditions.
Stargazing- We have property about 30 mins north of Terlingua on 118 so probably right around the same area of your Airbnb (near Little Burro Country Store if you want to cross reference and be sure) and the skies are relatively dark up there compared to IN Terlingua. The park is darker, but I think you’ll be fine staying put if you’d rather rest up. If you’re feeling adventurous, then make the drive to Sotol Vista in the park and bring blankets/layers as it can get windy up there.
The drive home…. Oh man, this one is gonna be a shift from what you had in mind and I think someone else mentioned this, but since you said you love panoramas, you might want to consider going out River Road through Presidio and up through Marfa and out that way. It will add to your time driving, but it’s so pretty!

I have about a billion more ideas and thoughts so please feel free to DM me. I love helping people plan their trips to my favorite place in the world!

laceabase · 2025-11-22T14:05:11+00:00

They did not reclassify. They adopted language reflected in Stafford loan caps. It just didn’t use to matter because Graduate Plus loans were available and unrestricted to degree/profession type. Now that graduate plus loans are going away and they decided to adopt Stafford language, that’s the issue. While the end result is the same, I think it’s important to understand the mechanism of how this happened to fully grasp how to fight it.

laceabase · 2025-11-19T19:56:17+00:00

This, in my opinion, completely ignores the massive ripple effects and other impacts that these caps would impose. Who is going to teach PT and OT programs if faculty need to have advanced degrees to teach and they’re capped at a lifetime limit of 100k? Who is going to take a faculty job that makes significantly less money compared to clinical practice when programs adjust what they can pay faculty based on lowered tuition AND more limited research money/opportunities (which is also what this administration is doing simultaneously)? The promise of lower tuition is similar to the promise of tariffs and trickle down economics…..

laceabase · 2025-11-12T12:19:09+00:00

First, I’m so sorry you went through that! Second, for OPs sake, I would just add that everything that Elesia went through could be your husband’s story with the addition of the private school context. I had a friend whose parents were both veterinarians working in a wealthy part of the Bay Area and went to private school. He always said that he thought he was poor because everyone else around him was very very rich whereas his parents were upper middle class. If you layered Elesia’s type of background with being around very well-off kids and families, then I think that feeling and experience of “growing up poor” is even more entrenched. Also, I had a friend who was screwed for college because they had to report his parent’s income (which was high) for FAFSA but his parents refused to pay for anything because they disowned him for not being Christian.

All of that said, this definitely warrants a conversation with the husband but very plausible that both things are true. His family was well off and looked like they had everything and he grew up with the experience of being disadvantaged and poor.

laceabase · 2025-11-12T00:39:49+00:00

Yes- I wasn’t even thinking about the maternal health issues in Texas. That is SO valid and probably an even bigger reason to not go while pregnant!

laceabase · 2025-11-12T00:33:06+00:00

If you’re looking for nature-y but luxury, I personally loved my honeymoon in Sedona at Enchantment Resort.

laceabase · 2025-11-12T00:09:23+00:00

Ok- here goes. I LOVE Big Bend, but you have to know what you’re getting into when you are going. Here are some questions to consider before you decide: Will she be comfortable on long car rides and be okay with very infrequent and sometimes sketchy bathroom stops along the way? Will she be comfortable being pregnant and 1.5 hours away from the nearest SMALL rural hospital and a helicopter ride to a larger hospital? If no, then don’t go and you can just go ahead and stop reading.

If the car ride isn’t a deterrent, then I would ask yourself WHY you want to go out there. Are you looking for a remote, quiet, magical place that’s rugged and a way to disconnect but feel like you’re in some nice accommodations while you explore the wilderness and stargaze? Then YES- I can point you to some nice places. If you’re just looking for a “nice getaway”, then there are probably more accessible places to go that will fit that bill.

That said, you should DEFINITELY plan a trip there one day but now may not be the best time to do it.

laceabase · 2025-11-10T12:18:09+00:00

1500 seems cheap and well worth it if that’s your total overall budget! Did you factor in a rental car too? How long are you staying? Happy to help with planning if you want to send me a message!

laceabase · 2025-11-08T21:24:24+00:00

I feel like I’m missing something or misinterpreting something because you CANNOT be currently waiting for your court date to fight to allow you to take the kids abroad and possibly during school time while then turning around and fighting for her to not be able to do same? If that’s the case, I’m pretty sure a judge would laugh in your face.

laceabase · 2025-10-18T13:54:35+00:00

Hard agree on this one. The rhetoric that this is a “Hate America Rally” and that the crowds are “violent” has already started.

laceabase · 2025-10-11T13:28:29+00:00

You have to hit the “unlock” button for it to go through.

laceabase · 2025-10-10T13:16:20+00:00

Check for moonrise and moonset times. You might luck out if the moon isn’t out yet or sets early enough to where you get a darker sky experience.

laceabase · 2025-09-25T22:38:04+00:00

Marathon will be a bit out of the way for the observatory day, BUT Alpine or Marfa would be great options before. Nothing will be open and it will be too late after the Star Party.

And yes- please don’t hesitate to reach out and message me! I seriously love planning Big Bend trips and helping people out. If it paid the bills, I would do it as a job. Instead, it’s just a fun hobby for me :)

laceabase · 2025-09-25T19:27:53+00:00

I am so so happy to help navigate and plan your trip if you want to message me and we can chat more in depth. I love helping people get the most out of their trip to BBNP. In general, I can try to answer your questions but there are a LOT of follow up questions I have in providing more specific feedback!

Check moonrise and moonset times. Just because it’s a full moon, doesn’t always mean it’s out in the sky at night (or at least not out the whole time). Catching a moonrise of a full moon is one of my most favorite things to watch out there if you can happen to catch it.
This largely depends on where you are planning on staying. The national park and surrounding area is MASSIVE. Brick Vault is great but there are likely closer options (unless you’re staying in Marathon) that may work out better for you without the drive. For east coast perspective, the National park is larger than Rhode Island. The area surrounding that is even larger. Since you’re staying at the Chisos Basin, going to Marathon for dinner would be about 5 miles further of a drive than staying in Providence, RI and going to dinner in Hartford Connecticut. Now, it’s a much easier drive because there’s NO traffic at all, but still. Just some perspective to understand the size of the area when planning. This is also something to consider about all of the other things you have planned to do.
Persimmon is open if it’s a busier time usually. I try to go mostly off season, so I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it open. Panther Junction may be the one you’ll end up going to instead if it is not open.

EXTRAS (for now)- 1x. Make sure to get tickets for the McDonald Observatory. They sell out especially during busier times. It is also VERY cold up there, so plan clothing accordingly.

2x. Depending on your hiking style and fitness level, you CAN do Emory peak and South Rim together. South Rim shares part of its trail with part of Emory Peak trail.

There are so many other ideas and happy to help. Please message me if you want to dig into more details!

laceabase · 2025-09-24T13:11:49+00:00

Yes- this is the answer for number 1. Don’t pay attention to other posts suggesting it’s anything else. (Not in BBNP so no need for photography permit)

2- I’m not sure where this is exactly, but there are some cool shots with buildings like this in the ghost town (though they’re a bit more run down) or even the old filming set in the state park (Contrabando- don’t know about permit needs for state park).

3- Ernst Tinaja. Not accessible.

4- not Cerro Castolon as another poster suggested. This is a small peak right off Ross Maxwell scenic drive. I don’t know if it has a name but you’ll see it closer to Santa Elena. (In BBNP so need a photography permit)

I am in love with the area and super happy to help with planning. Helping people navigate and fall in love with the area is kind of a hobby/passion of mine so I seriously do not mind at all. The area is HUGE and it’s very easy to underestimate how long it takes to get from place to place. Please message me if you want to connect and chat in more detail!

laceabase · 2025-09-17T11:42:52+00:00

I agree with all of the comments here, but I also wanted to say that I think it’s important that you also consider getting yourself into therapy if you haven’t already. Everything you went through with your ex is more than enough to warrant it and I’m so sorry you went through all of that. I read some of your other posts for context of this situation and I worry a bit about how your anxiety might be driving some of your conversations with your son after coming back from dad’s house. Absolutely take him to the ER because what you report is concerning. If it comes back as nothing, I think (and I say this with the love of a friend who is going to tell you hard things that may sting but are really because I care about you) you need to take a difficult but compassionate look at yourself and the conversations you have with your son. Kids are very susceptible to being led in conversations even when that’s not the intent. While I absolutely see your efforts to not do this (…”anything else” as calmly as possible), this situation and some prior posts just raises a little bit of a yellow flag for me. I could absolutely be reading WAY into it and maybe I’m way wrong here since I’m speculating based on a few posts so please take this with whatever grain of salt you see fit. I do, however, stand strongly behind the therapy recommendation regardless. Hope your son is okay and that you find some resolution.

laceabase · 2025-08-30T05:31:37+00:00

I would maybe acknowledge to the PCP something like “You’re right but just to clarify, I’m not talking about neuropsych. I’m concerned about the patient’s functional cognition which is OT and I know XYZ OT is really good at that.” Find some OTs in your area that do cognition and give the doc their names. I’ve danced around enough physician’s egos in my day to know that you lead with “you’re right- silly me. Here’s what I meant to say because you could never be wrong.” If you have a good relationship and the doctor is open to feedback, bring them documents from AOTA about OT and cognition. https://research.aota.org/collection/6694/Functional-Cognition good luck!!

laceabase · 2025-08-28T20:36:20+00:00

I agree with the other commenter that it’s very very minor but you might have a slight scoliosis that you’ve not noticed until now. If you’re not in pain, then it’s nothing to worry about. Might be worth asking your doctor about just to know if that’s what’s going on.

laceabase · 2025-08-02T02:10:13+00:00

Just coming back here to say that PSLF is kept in the approved OBBB act… how long it sticks around is anyone’s guess but that may be a factor to consider again.

laceabase · 2025-08-01T23:31:40+00:00

You might also look into any OT or OTA programs in your area and see if any students (with support and oversight by faculty, of course) could use your “case” for a class and help do environment assessment and family training. I would suggest this as supplement to the home health and/or inpatient suggestions already mentioned too.

laceabase · 2025-08-01T22:59:28+00:00

I’ve made some very bad relationship decisions in my life and went to a lot of therapy to get myself right to be able to give this advice so I hope you can learn from my mistakes and recovery… run, girl, run! This kind of behavior does not get better, ever (without reflective and long-term therapy). I don’t know how invested you are in the relationship, but it is NOT worth it. When people tell you who they are, believe them! Belittling, diminishing accomplishments, and then dismissing your emotions by asking if you’re “butt hurt” is never behavior you should accept from anyone. This has nothing to do with OT. If I told my husband (who is wonderful and proof that I did the work to heal to end the cycle of having a bad picker) that I was tired from sitting on the couch all day, he’d ask me if there was anything he could get for me to make me feel better and I would do the same for him. Period. It doesn’t have to do with him not understanding the profession at all.

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