The road started climbing and soon we were all the way up at the observatory. There was even a tiny bit of snow in places. We loved the view.
Houses where the residents live.
Morgane and Ghis took a tour of the giant telescopes – “Great refractors,” Morgane told us. She’s learned SO much by watching Fetch on PBS. I download episodes onto my iphone and she watches while we drive. She also knows the electromagnetic spectrum from gamma rays to ultraviolet light.
Driving towards El Paso.
We drove on to Van Horn and since we didn’t find a hotel we liked, we continued on to El Paso. Today: on to New Mexico!
Fort Davis was a short, stunning drive from Martha. We wanted to go horseback riding, so we visited the Prude Ranch. Unfortunately their stables are closed on Sundays and Mondays, but the lady still gave Morgane a couple of apples and let her feed the horses. She liked petting the horses and they seemed to like her as well. Maybe because she smelled like apples?
Morgane and her favourite horse.Hello you!
Since we have a national park pass, we decided to visit Fort Davis. It was well worth it! Morgane got to do the junior ranger program and she got a gold badge.
Fort Davis
Ghis finally got to climb to the top of the mountain and see the view – he’s been frustrated that all of the land in Texas seems to be private and fenced.
Where's... Ghis-o?Morgane hits the hay in the barracks. The mattress really is hay.The soldiers who lived here were born as slaves. These playing cards have no numbers and were made to teach them to count.
Morgane and I are taking the plane this Thursday from Phoenix, Arizona to Vancouver, BC to visit my mom and stepdad and friends and celebrate my birthday on the 13th. Then we’ll fly back to meet up with Ghis in time for Busses By The Bridge – a HUGE gathering of VW van owners at a campground – in other words, a HUGE party!
Marfa was our main reason for coming to the area, so I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t as close to the mountains as Alpine and Marathon. But soon we learned that it’s the people and the culture that make Marfa special. That and the mysterious ghost lights sometimes seen on the horizon.
The most noticeable building.
We walked around and visited some beautiful galleries and saw art and photographs. There are many beautiful buildings in Marfa – even the bookstore has a modern minimalist kind of feel.
We stopped in one little shop and found lovely sheets of coloured felt made from recycled pop bottles. Morgane bought some to make more clothes for her stuffed animal friends. We talked with the owner and found out that she and her husband travelled all around in a van, too, and that they ended up staying in Marfa.
In the shop next to the felt store.Carmanah peeks into an art gallery - something smells good.
We drove around to look at a few more things including a house that someone had told Ghis about. It looked like a box piled on top of another box and Ghis wondered if it had been made out of shipping containers (something he is interested in). We stopped and he went to talk to the owner. That’s how we met Candid who lives there when he is working as an architect in San Antonio or teaching in Barcelona, Spain. He let us tour the house and take pictures.
Ghis and I take pictures of the house.
The house has windows that are like slits, like when you wake up and your eyes are barely open. But because these slits are at just the right height, you see everything when you are seated on the sofa or sitting at the desk.
Looking downstairs.
We hung out and had a drink with these friendly folks and then left, promising to see them again at a free show in town that night. A musician (who has played with Beck) was going to be providing a live musical soundtrack for a silent movie from 1928. We decided it would be worth keeping Morgane up for.
One last stop – we checked out the bar owned by friends of the other VW travelling family – The Bodeswells.
Padres
We cooked in the van outside the public library (internet!) and then went to the show. It was held at the Ballroom, a beautiful venue. We were treated to an opening act which was a cowboy reading poetry. This was the best part of the show for Ghis and me. Morgane wasn’t so sure. Then the movie started. The Wind was about a woman moving to Texas from Virginia and how the wind was always blowing. Supposedly it would drive her crazy.
We didn’t stay to find out. After maybe thirty minutes, the music started to give us a headache, so we left and went to bed.
We stopped to sleep in Alpine, partly because we needed propane for the van and they couldn’t fill it until the morning. I was happy to visit Front Street Books, the local independent bookstore – they have a branch in Marathon, too, but were closed on New Year’s Day.
On the bookstore side of the tracks.Morgane models her cowgirl look.
We asked the bookstore staff where the best place to eat Texas BBQ was and ended up on the other side of the tracks (literally, not figuratively). The amtrak train brings people from San Antonio.
BBQ stop.
Morgane is reading menus and ordering on her own now. She ordered a burger. Ghis and I consulted with our waitress and decided to split a plate with pulled pork, sliced brisket and jalapeno sausages.
Big lemonade for tough guys and gals.
The waitress brought us gigantic mugs of pink lemonade and she was quick to refill them. The place filled up with people in cowboy hats while we waited. When the food came, we ate all we could and then still had some to bring to Carmanah in the van. We didn’t feel too hot, so maybe Texas BBQ is not our thing.
What is a cowboy church? Ghis thinks you can ride your horse inside.
