Hampton Inn Alpine

We went to the McDonald Obseratory, it was near Fort Davis, Texas. It is on top of a big mountain. We left at 11:30am and got there at 1:45 pm. The tour started at 2pm and ended at 4:30pm. We toured two big telescopes and watched how they moved. The biggest telescope is the 3rd largest in the world. We ate dinner in Fort Davis - a BBQ again ...

We went to Fort Davis, established in 1854. It is one of the nations best preseved frontier forts. We stopped at a snake place to see snakes. Mamaw did not come in. We went shopping. After that, we went to Marfia again and we saw more lights this time. The nights are darker here so I can see a lot more stars then back in Zanesville. I even saw the Milky Way!

... desert parks throughout the Southwest, but this place is unique and beautiful. I would love to come back here in the spring and see all the cactus and flowers in bloom! Well, time to head North and check out New Mexico (North). Happy Trails, ~JQ P.S. On the way out of the park, I passed through the tiny village of Marfa, Texas. This is pretty much frack'n no-where, so I was shocked and tickled to see this great piece of road art.

... bit, you gotta get help right away, they can kill ya, sonny." A number of out-of-towners join in because they like the sport or they want the meat!!!!! Amazingly, this bar is not even two years old. The German owner asked his patrons to dress it up by scratching their brands into the bar, hanging stuff on the walls, building a hitching post, littering the entrance with animal skulls and broken pottery, etc, etc. Then he left the doors open for a couple days to get dust on ...

... out, this time hoping to stay the night in Terlingua, on the edge of the park (would be a better contender for the "gateway to big bend" title). But both Terlingua and Terlingua Ghost Town were uninspiring places and accommodation unexplainably pricey, so we returned to Alpine and tried another local offering of food and board: the Oak Tree Inn (very nice) and next door Penny's diner which had an interesting but perfectly edible interpretation of spaghetti and meatballs.

... For those of us who are not engineers, it is a marvel of mirrors, motors, degrees, computers, air foils and elevators all put together just to let one Astronomer at a time, take pictures of the heavens as they were a very long time ago (light years or something like that...see we can learn a little bit....very little). The pictures on the other hand are beautiful and make one feel very close to those things ...

2/21/08 We left S. Padre Island and started driving northwest along the Rio Grande"wild and scenic" river. We drove through cool sounding counties like "Hidalgo", "Jim Hogg", and "Dimmit". The Rio Grande ranges in size from very wide, to something you can step over. We also encountered several Homeland Security checkpoints manned be personnel of Mexican descent. That would be tough turning away your brothers, sisters, aunts and ...

... mcdonaldobservatory.org for all the details. The town of Fort Davis sits on a plateau at over 1500 metres. It's the highest town in Texas and the road to the Observatory is the highest (paved) in Texas. Fort Davis was established in 1854 as a military post. The town still has numerous historical buildings. The fort is one of the best examples of a restored frontier fort in the USA. The last half ...

... on the border of Mexico where we stayed 2 nights and did a few hikes to the various attractions. One hike through a canyon had us standing on the US side next to a collection plate while on the Mexican side Victor the Mexican high up on a rock serenaded us with some Spanish songs Amplified by the canyon walls. It was a great experience and he earned 50 cents for his 2 songs, cheap I know but it was ...

Big Bend Naitional Park is in remote southwest Texas - NOT close to anything. A full day's drive from El Paso got me there just in time for a good's nite rest at the Park Lodge - pictured on the right with fog rolling in. The Park is a full 7-10 hour drive from Austin or ...