On toward El Paso.  90 slices through a long wide valley through ranch country

Marfa Burrito

It would have gone a bit more smoothly if either of us spoke a bit more Spanish but we ended up with a couple of great burritos for lunch. For me, egg and chorizo all scrambled together and wrapped in that perfectly textured soft shell.  For Kent, their Primo burrito with beans, potato, onion, tomato, salsa and cheese.   It was worth the clumsy ordering process.

The 1886 courthouse. It is not ornate but it shows off impressive workmanship and attention to detail.   The dome provides a nice high perch for a panoramic view of the desert.  The weather didn’t cooperate here either but it was still worth the trip up.

The historic Paisano Hotel

The 1930 main lobby shows off lots of tile and brass hardware detail are so Mexican/southwest. It was and still is an impressive sight.

What did we save for next time?   The Grilled Cheese Parlour.  They are only open Fiday and Saturday nights 9:30PM til “late”.  I’m going to try one of their goat chees sandwiches!

Marfa lights!   On the horizon lights appeared, winked, double even tripled then disappeared.  It went on for over an hour; sometimes lots of activity sometimes just a single flicker.  I have no idea what it really is that we saw but it was cool

Repurposed gas stations, aircraft hangers, as well as retired army bunkers and barracks house studios and gallery space in Marfa TX. Works range from huge outdoor pieces to paintings and jewelry.  In “The Wrong Store” I found some weirdly mesmerizing folk art.  Portraits of presidents created by Ike Morgan.  He, by the way, is a permanent resident of the Austin State Hospital for the criminally insane.  Hmmm.

We may have wandered a bit out of our element when we took in a Donald Judd art installation at the Chinati foundation. A series of concrete “drainage tile’ looking groupings are positioned in a long row across an open desert meadow.  It’s about the work being the art in its surroundings (an installation).   I’m not sure what I got out of it but it did encourage me to check out something new to me.

Another installation, the Prada store along the roadside just west of Valentine TX .  It is a glass fronted room the size of a big closet with a sealed door.  Inside, shelves and display blocks hold Prada shoes and bags.  That’s it.

I think I might benefit from a little modern art appreciation/understanding classes?

Northbound on 67. The clouds are thickening.  There are actually thunderstorms in the forecast.  What is the plan for tonight?  Watching for the mysterious Marfa Lights, only seen on clear nights!  Instead, we are bundling up for a cold windy night with temperatures in the 30s.  Tomorrow night’s forecast isn’t much better but we will hang around one more day just in case things improve on the lights watching front.   Tuesdays are pretty dead in Marfa so we need another day to check out the local attractions anyway.

It is a wonderful description of the course of the Rio Grande as it wanders though this arid region.  The banks and flood plains are home to towering cottonwoods and river cane waving in the wind.  Wide meandering sections filled with plant life and critters are set apart by multicolored, narrow, steep walled canyons.  What a world of contrasts.

We explored the hoodoo trail with badlands like formations created by waters rearranging bentonite clay layers. We twisted our way between the towering walls of “Closed Canyon”.  It is so narrow that sunlight virtually never reaches the floor.  Turn after turn and one smooth rock pouroff after another led us closer to the river.  Pouroffs got taller and footholds fewer.  We called it quits when the return climb would have required a 6 foot vertical slick rock climb.  I love canyon hiking!

We saw javelina. Mama was hurrying her young’uns across a clearing along the river.

Conserve water! We use so much/waste so much that the continued existence of this whole ecosystem is threatened.

There is a movie set here…..well the remnants of an old one. It looks about right for an old western scene.

Adobe, to be more precise. Built in the late 1840s, Ft. Leaton was the fortified home of Benjamin Leaton and for 40 years it served as a trading post along the old Chihuahua trail.  It has been restored and mostly reconstructed to give a glimpse into the life of those who lived here.  Tons of goods, both legal and contraband passed through here as it made its way across this rugged country.

A cool artifact (actually replica I guess) is a Spanish carreta or huge two wheel cart. They claim that a devise of this type would have been the first wheeled vehicle to enter the US.

Other parks have their elk or moose or bear or even wolf. Who but a Texas state park would claim feral longhorns?  Up until 2008 the park managed a free range longhorn herd with annual roundups to cull and brand then re-release.  That year they got out of the ranching business with a huge roundup with cowpokes from all across Texas signing up to gather the wandering beasts to sell off most and keep only a small heritage herd in a fenced in area.  Seems they were not entirely successful and hikers periodically report encounters with increasingly cantankerous free range longhorns sharing the trails.  We had no such encounter, thankfully, but roadside cow flops lend some credence to the hikers’ claims.

We turned onto route FM170 toward Big Bend State Park and passed a warning sign about a steep grade.  It was defined as 15% for 1 ½ mile.  As we approached “the Big Hill” as it is known locally, a gentleman was following us so I pulled over to let him pass.  Instead he stopped and inquired “Have you ever been on this road before?  Many folks won’t even take a motorhome pulling a car over that hill.  There is an asphalt truck down over the side from a while back and it is still down there.  They can’t get it out.  And the other side is just as steep going down.  There is a turnaround just ahead at the picnic area.”  I thanked him for his concern and we proceeded on.

The Big Hill-River Road

I am sure he reported something about flatlanders to his waiting wife.  Well, on the pull up the hill we got as low as 10 mph then peeked over the top and started down.  It wasn’t all that bad.  No overheated engine or transmission parts and no hot brake smells or symptoms.  But for future reference, I think 15% is a real limit for the rig fully loaded.

Our destination, the remnants of a volcanic dike. It looks like a row of brick chimneys jutting up from the desert floor.  They have been used as a landmark for thousands of years.  Tufts of soft grasses wave on either side of the trail interspersed with cactus, creosote bushes and the occasional yucca.  We are crossing a bit of the remaining grasslands that ranchers came out here for. Buds on the ocotillo and prickly pear are just about to burst open.  In a day or two the place will be splashed with bright yellow and red.    Black tailed jack rabbits and cotton tails scurry about.  More black throated sparrows and even a couple rufus crowned.  We started early so the walk is cool and breezy.

Here they are, the chimneys. Erosion has taken its toll but they are still remarkable.  Bits of pictographs mark the place of ancient passings.  A scramble part way up the debris pile gives a panoramic view and a comfortable rock seat to soak in the surroundings.

Heading back. It seems like the ocotillo buds are more open than just an hour ago.  The sun is baking down and we are ready to find some shade.