Week 2 in Rio Grande City, TX

On Sunday of week 2, we finally got the group together after church for a picture.

From the left are Lou Ann and Pat, Jenny and Stan, Avis and Gary, Diane and John, Jan and Jerry and Jodi and Stel.

On Monday it is back to work at Janey's house.

Diane adding spindles to the stairs

While Stel attaches the lattice sections.

After another coat of paint by Jodi, Stel and Diane, the finished product from the side and

from the front.

Janey chats with Jodi while admiring the new look.

With one job completed, we visit four other team members at Esmurelda's house where they have been working for over a week.

Avis is building some new steps in the rear.  

Jan and Jerry have been repairing and replacing missing and damaged siding.

Gary is mudding the ceiling of this bathroom where he and Avis have installed new drywall to close off the ceiling from the rafters.

It's a big room but they are almost finished with the mudding in this area.

Jan got too close to Gary when he was hard at work with the mud.

It's off to a new house for Stel and Jodi. This is Maria's house and she is 87 yrs. young. 

Maria would like a handrail at the front steps so she could get out to care for her flowers more securely.

She would also like a deck over the existing concrete, uneven steps so she could come and go safely.  Stel consults with Avis on construction and materials for shopping.

We begin in the front by adding a post.

By the end of the day, the handrail is complete and a second support is added to help her get back onto the sidewalk.

Final touches by routing the sharp corners of the handrail.

Stel begins cutting boards for the rear deck and

begins to attach the frame to the house,

constructs the frame for the bottom step.

The frame is joined together and deck boards added with posts now installed

the post are cut to fit the handrail.

At the end of the day, the rear deck is complete and Maria and her son Victor proudly pose for pictures.

 As this house is now complete, we visit the other crew at Esmurelda's once again.

Jerry, Avis, Gary and Jan are finishing the front ramp they built for her.

Gary has patched more drywall in the living room.

Lou Ann and Diane are mudding the ceramic tile for the bathroom floor.

Avis has finished the rear steps and

and Pat is cleaning up from mixing the thinset for the tile work.

John, Stan and Jenny have finished the painting of the church.

With another week complete, it's time for some fun.

A few of us went west to Roma to see the area near the river where the Bureau of Land Management has set up a camp for volunteers to draw visitors with the feeding of the birds. 

These felled trees serve as a perfect spot to make food stations for the birds.

This green jay really loves the peanut butter.

This oriole is enjoying an orange.

This downey also likes peanut butter.  Just a small sample of the birds.

A short walk away is the Rio Grande River, again,

and I was able to catch a shot of this beautiful osprey who has just finished his fish dinner.

The area is full of beautiful cactus and other plants in the Nature Reserve along the river.

Another chance to cross into Mexico is over this Dam just north west of Roma.

Another week is over and we look forward to what next week will bring.

Arrival in Rio Grande City, Texas

We arrived in Rio Grande City, Texas on Saturday, 1/26/19. 

St. John United Methodist Church is our host church with

a spacious campground behind the church.

The view out the front of our RV includes several fruit trees and Jodi is helping herself to fresh oranges.

The view further to the rear includes this huge cemetery and

to the right is more.  (Note the hispanic flare.)

On Monday, we go to work.  There are 12 NOMADS on this project so we are split up and sent different directions.

Jodi, Stel and Diane were sent to this house with instructions to shore up the handrails and enclose the railings with lattice to keep children and pets from falling.  The lattice pictured is not attached.

The steps are a little "wobbley"  so we need to shore that up and we need to paint all the non treated lumber to protect it from the elements

The floor of this landing is "spongy".  Diane is investigating adding 2x6's to support it.

This new post is added to support the handrail at the stairway.

Diane and the homeowner are moving a 2x4 support to create a shelf.

Stel is securing it the the outside plate for more support.

Diane is reinforcing the stair post which is sitting on the dirt.

Stel is cutting 1x2's to be used to support the lattice on the railing and posts

and Jodi is helping to attach them.

Stel is adding handrail supports and attaching 1x2's.

Diane is painting stair spindles.

Stel is raising the stair tread so it is even with the porch floor.

No more "toe catcher".

Avis has arrived to help with painting the railings and

Gary helps Jodi paint the lattice.

Stel is measuring and cutting lattice to fit framed sections.

Stel and Diane continue with painting railings and untreated lumber.

Meanwhile, back at the church, several team members are power washing and painting the outside of the church

using lifts, ladders and long paint poles.

The weather has turned cold and rainy so we moved the lattice pieces to the church to paint.

It's tedious work & Stel & Jodi spent all day Thursday painting these 15 sections.

This "quick job" has now extended into next week.  There are 12 NOMADS on this team but workers are spread over 3 or 4 projects so we have no pictures of others at work.

On Friday evening, some gathered at the church for game night.

Saturday, a few of us traveled to Roma, Tx to the Bird Sanctuary Museum.  The area is all restored buildings.  Avis is going to observe the cactus which are growing on the roof of this old building.

Cactus close up.

At the overlook.  Across the river is Mexico.

The international bridge...

to Mexico.

Later, we visited the "Chili Cook Off" with Pastor Emerson (left) in downtown Rio Grande City.

Stel greets a genuine Cowboy.

NOMADS Jerry, Jan and Gary resting at the event.  A great way to end the week.