The Corner House 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!

... the worst day to be a tourist, as all of the galleries and shops are closed. It didn't matter. I enjoyed myself by walking around and hanging out at "the" local coffee shop. I discovered that there would be a live band playing later that night. I first hung out at the hotel's patio and bar, which turns out is "the" bar/nightlife in town. Marfa has a population of about 800 residents, which gives you an idea of what's there. It felt significantly smaller ...

... fun testing the off road capabilities of the van. This is not gnarly technical 4 wheel'n, but it is pretty rough with large rocks, sandy washes, and plenty of steep ups and downs. I love camping in the back country! No one around for miles and miles and utterly quiet and peaceful. In fact, it was way quiet, almost like a black hole of silence. No birds chirping or coyotes barking. I took a great hike out to a remote ...

... whatcha' drivin', how ya likin' our breeze?" Charlie from Stockton, Virgil from Amarillo and Charles (the injured Vietnam Vet and now the knife and saw sharpening guy in town) walked us around their fine establishment explaining how some of the artifacts ended up here and who shot what. The area is overrun with wild pigs that are chewing up everything - ranchers will give you the bullets and pay you $20 to hunt on their place. "Wanna come shootin' pigs with us?" Virgil knew ...

... In the morning we headed for Big Bend, a national park right on the border with Mexico where the Rio Grande makes... a big bend. The park is largely comprised of Chihuahuan desert landscape - cacti, little desert flowers, scattered shrubs and dry, dusty earth. In its centre, are the Chisos Mountains where black bears and mountail lions live. In fact, one of the most popular hiking trails in the mountains was currently closed because of a high number of bear ...

In our continuing effort to avoid Hurricane Ike, we decided to stop for the night in a little town called Marfa in west Texas. Famous (well sort of) for its artists community and some 1980s artist named Donald Judd--who neither of us had ever heard of--it has a few nice hotels and a lot of art galleries and small cafes. When we arrived, we realized that this was a town with a strange vibe. Most of the buildings looked historic but not particularly ...

... are very far away. It is hard to be here and not believe that there are other life forms out there and one day, someone from here might actually find them. Next stop, SE New Mexico and a visit to White Sands and a friend in Taos. We are beginning to plan our trip a bit more as the price of fuel mounts. Trying to figure out how to see some wonderful places and visit some folks but not drive too far to do it. We will see.

... feet long. Anything longer is not allowed because they will not be able to negotiate the steep switchbacks. It was harry enough with just the truck. We drove around different areas of the park and visited some of the old ranches that are still standing, thanks to the help of the park service. This area looks so harsh you wonder how anyone could survive, but from what we understand, cattle thrive and the ranchers were quite successful.

... we met other travelers as well as a gentleman who hadn't had a bath in 10 days (his words). It was unfortunate that we arrived just as he was departing. The next morning we crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico by foot and hiked into Santa Elena Canyon (I'll post the photos next update) which placed us in the southern most tip of the park. Afterwards, we drove on the Camino del Rio, a gorgeous road that hugs the mountains on one side and ...