Our Winter Texas Home

When Darlene and I were invited by Abiding Savior Lutheran Church to be their Winter Texan Pastor it seemed like a great opportunity. We though we would try it out and see if we like Zapata and the congregation.



As the winter progressed, we realized what a great blessing the Lord had provided for us.


When the congregation wanted me to continue as pastor into he future. Darlene and I agreed that we wanted to come back to Zapata again next year and for many years to come. It seems to us to be the perfect arrangement for a full-timing RV pastor. A place to stay and enjoy doing ministry in the winter and 6 months to Mosey around the country enjoying God’s remarkable creation.

That's the place          all COE land behind

To be as comfortable as possible, we purchased a lot just adjacent to Lakefront Lodge. We enjoy the fellowship and activities and location of Lakefront, so the site seems perfect for us.

original lot         shed on the right

It includes all the hookups for two RVs, a “guest cabin”, and a shed with laundry facilities and storage for tools, etc.  The lot backs up on Core of Engineers land, so it will never see construction. And when the water levels in the lake are at normal levels, we have lake-front property.

Caliche truck.             took 3 loads

We knew right away we wanted to make some improvements: build up a flatter spot for our RV parking and build a “cover” to protect the RV from the brutal Texas sun and hail stones. Soon after the purchase was completed, the improvement plan was started.


Caliche was hauled in to flatten the parking spot, materials for the “cover” were delivered and the team constructed our winter cover.

Tractor to spread the caliche

Guest cabin with deck on the left     us on the new level pad

On the new pad     corner of shed & guest cabin behind

Materials for cover arrive

The support poles are installed

Roof trusses welded into position

roof trusses complete

Ready for metal roofing

Roofing going on

Rear gable & sides being readied for metal

Cover is complete.

We had the pleasure of parking under our new cover for one night before it was time for us to leave Zapata and start the Mosey’n Millers summer adventures.

Rocky is a metal sculpture as seen from our deck

A bobcat uses the trail from our place to Falcon Lake

Come on back to follow us as we head northwest, loop around and return to Zapata in late fall.