Marfa, Texas

 

It was a long drive for us yesterday, over 250 miles to Marfa, but we are now in Texas. It was the first time we’ve driven through El Paso on I-10, and hopefully the last. Even on a Saturday the traffic was heavy and went on forever.

We spent the night at the Marfa Lights Viewing Center, basically just a rest area with bathrooms (composting toilets, no less) right on Hwy 67. Not a bad place to stay as traffic is very light on 67, but there is a surprisingly busy train track just on the other side of the road, so beware. Since it’s free I guess we shouldn’t complain.

The Marfa Mystery Lights were first reported in 1883 by a cowboy who thought they might be Apache Indian fires. To this day there is no explanation for them, although they may just be car headlights. Just as it was getting dark we walked over to the viewing area, where a small group of people from the Laredo Paranormal Society were setting up their infrared cameras and other equipment.

Restrooms and viewing area.

The group has been studying the lights, and said this was the third night in a row they had been out there. Great fun for us, since we got to look through their $9500 night vision monocular, glasses, and infrared camera. It is amazing what you can see in the dark with those! They also had a laser which shot different colored beams up to 90 miles away. They would aim it at the lights and make them go out. Of course the lights were coming off and on anyway, so we weren’t that impressed. But they did have some cool and expensive equipment.

I managed to capture a photo of one of the lights we saw, and there were many. They varied in size and brightness and would stay on for different lengths of time. Not too impressive, I know.

But it was an unusual way to spend the evening. Today we are heading for Big Bend National Park, where there should be no train or traffic noise.

Leasburg Dam State Park, Las Cruces, NM

 

Overflow area.

It’s been a busy and stressful few days here. We had loads of laundry and shopping to do, and Quincy was barely eating due to his dental issues. Jim took him to a local vet 2 days ago while Debbie and I were washing 2 weeks worth of dirty clothes. He was able to scrape off a large chunk of plaque from the tooth that seems to be bothering him, gave him a steroid injection and antibiotics, and told us to call yesterday to see if he was feeling better. He was able to eat without as much discomfort but was still obviously having tooth pain. He told us to bring him back this morning and if he felt the need, they would admit him for dental cleaning and probable extraction.

So we left him there at 8 this morning, came back to the park and moved to the primitive area, since the other sites were either taken or reserved for the weekend, and went for a hike. Just as we got back this afternoon we got a call that he was out of surgery and we could pick him up at 5:45. What a relief, although we must admit we both thought it might have been best if he didn’t survive the anesthesia. That would have saved us the grief of euthanasia we know is coming one of these days. Ah, the trials and tribulations (and expense) of pet ownership!

Haven’t taken many pictures here. This is more evidence of the drought they are experiencing. In April we were here and took this photo of Leasburg Dam and the Rio Grande from the trail.

 

And how it looks 6 months later. The lighter shiny area is the only water left. This isn’t a great picture since we walked at sunset and it was taken with our cheapie Canon. Had to send the Nikon S9100 back for repairs again as the warranty runs out this month. Don’t buy one of these cameras!

We arrived on Tuesday, which was Jim’s birthday, so we went into town that afternoon to pick up a few things at Sam’s Club, which just happens to be conveniently located across the street from Pizzeria Uno. So Jim got his pizza and beer, and I didn’t have to fix dinner.

There is lots of hiking in the Las Cruces area, but we didn’t have time for much this visit. We walked the park trails but they aren’t very long, and this morning went down the road to Dona Ana and hiked on BLM land just north of Las Cruces. We hadn’t been there before but it’s a pretty area and there are miles of trails and dirt roads. It is so nice to be able to drive on roads we were uncomfortable driving on in the Chevy. We really like the Forester!

Yesterday we made a trip to Home Depot and Ace since we decided to make a home-made Protect-A-Tow. Our original one broke and blew off last year in New Mexico so we haven’t been using any protection for the car. Now that we have a new-to-us vehicle, we thought about replacing it but they wanted $160 just for the fabric part. We managed to find some sunshade fabric and bungee cord by the foot, and with the help of Debbie’s sewing machine made up a new one for under $30. Took almost all day but it was worth it. I’ll try to do a post on it one of these days.

If Quincy is doing well we are leaving tomorrow for a long drive to Marfa, TX, then on to Big Bend Sunday. No cell or internet there except at the Visitor Center, so we may be out of touch for awhile. In fact the first time we went to Big Bend in December 2008 our house was for sale, and we got an offer on it while we were there. We didn’t get the message until 3 days later, as our realtor was frantically trying to get in touch with us. Fortunately the deal went through and the rest is history.

Croton Spring Backcountry Site, Big Bend National Park, TX

 

We arrived in Big Bend National Park yesterday afternoon, and even though it’s mighty hot, we are glad we came back. When we were here in December 2008, that was our first real exposure to the vastness of the desert and we fell in love with it. We stayed at the Rio Grande Village campground on the east side, which was only partially open due to flooding from a recent hurricane. Big Bend is so expansive we spent a week hiking and exploring the Rio Grande Village area and Chisos Basin. We never made it to Santa Elena Canyon and the west side of the park, and have been wanting to return ever since.

Wanting to be more centrally located, and with Chisos Basin being restricted to smaller RVs, we decided to try one of the backcountry campsites that can accommodate RVs. Our Lazy Daze friends Chuck and Carla stayed at Croton Spring, so we went to the Panther Junction Visitor Center to inquire about it and get our pass. You can only reserve the backcountry sites 24 hours in advance (in person), so we had no idea if it was occupied, but based on the miniscule number of cars driving through the park and the heat, we figured it would be open. We bought a backcountry pass for $10 and signed up for a week, although we will probably leave sooner just because it is so hot. There are 2 sites about a half mile off the main road (118), 10 miles west of Panther Junction. We feel like we are in the middle of nowhere and the scenery and silence are wonderful. The road is a bit rough coming in, though, and if it rains we will probably have to stay until it dries!

It’s even prettier as the sun goes down.

As it cooled off last night we took a little hike down the trail behind our site to try to find Croton Spring but it appears to be dry at this time. The dried mud made for an interesting photo, and it felt like walking on potato chips, the way it crunched under our feet.

We sat outside last evening stargazing and discovering our own Marfa light toward the east. It was a bright white light that moved from side to side and up and down, and blinked off and on a few times. We’re sure it must have been a UFO, but then the imagination can run wild in the dark, especially after a night of the paranormal.

We got up early this morning to take the 30 mile Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and a few short hikes before it got too hot.

From an overlook.

Lower Burrow Mesa Pour-off trail.

Looking up at the Pour-off.

Tuff Canyon Trail.

Our last stop was Santa Elena Canyon, along the Rio Grande. There was very little water in the Rio but the 2 mile round trip trail is quite scenic.

Canyon entrance.

Lots of vegetation and big rocks.

 

The low Rio Grande.

Amazingly we are able to get a slow internet connection at our primitive site using the Wilson amplifier. Now if the temperature would just drop a little bit. Upper 80’s/low 90’s is a bit hot for camping without A/C, and it is forbidden to run a generator in the "backcountry”.

Las Cruces, NM via Canyons and UFOs

 

We are back at Leasburg Dam State Park just north of Las Cruces, NM after three long days of driving, something we almost never do. Sunday was a 360 mile drive to Seminole Canyon State Park near Comstock, TX, along the Rio Grande.

We decided to drive along the border since it was the shortest route, and there were some thunderstorms predicted for the Hill Country, the way we originally intended to go. After 5 months in Texas with nothing more than a few drizzles, we didn’t want a repeat of the hail storm we endured in Fredericksburg last March after we left Mission.

We spent a few days in Seminole Canyon in December 2008 on our first trip across Texas. Neither of us had any recollection of the place other than that was where we saw our first “rock art”.

Hiking is not permitted in the canyon unless you take a guided tour, which we did the first time. Too much risk of vandalism. But there is a 6 mile canyon rim trail for hiking and mountain biking. We walked a portion of it when it cooled down Sunday evening, and a couple more miles before we left Monday. We are much happier being back in the wide open desert.

Seminole Canyon

We even saw a family of javelinas.

The campground was nearly full with a large group of cyclists with Coast-to-Coast, a group ride from San Diego, CA  to St. Augustine, FL. We spoke with a couple riders and they were on day 24 of their 52 day trip. I researched the trip and the cost is around $8,000 per person, a lot of money to ride a bike across country!

We didn’t leave until noon, since we only planned to drive 180 miles on Monday. On our way down to Big Bend in October we spent a night at the Marfa Viewing Lights visitor center parking lot. It was a good place for another stopover. We just barely escaped this thunderstorm.

Yesterday we finally got out of Texas, after 260 more miles of driving and will be spending a week or so at Leasburg Dam State Park just north of Las Cruces, a familiar stopping point for us. By the way, the cats don’t like our moving house, but did a bit better yesterday. They will just have to adapt.