Day 6 - Texas Big Bend Country

 

My goal for today is to visit Alpine, Marfa, Ft. Davis, and get to El Paso before dark. Since leaving Fairview I've driven through fertile country, hill country, back into fertile, and today will travel through high desert to the Big Bend area. I left Ft Stockton around 730CT, drove a few miles to Hwy 67, and turned south for the 70 or so miles to Alpine. Some might find this driving boring, but to me seeing the scenery is one of the best parts of the trips. This part of Texas is so big and beautiful, the roads are good and very little traffic. Occasionally I'll see cattle grazing on what little grass there is, but I never see any sign of who might own them.

 

I finally reached Alpine and stopped for gas....it's a little more expensive out here. I stopped at Big Bend Saddlery, just to look around at the cowboy stuff. I bought a book, and was talking to one of the salespeople and she told me I needed to go next door and meet her Dad......said I might enjoy talking to him. So I did......her Dad is Jim Spradley, and he makes hats. He's originally from Canada, has lived lots of places in the states, and been in Alpine for many years. I also met a local rancher who had stopped by to have his hat adjusted.....David Crow. David has several cattle ranches in and around this area. I asked about how many acres, and he told me they talk in "sections", not acres. A section is 640 acres, and can support about 15 to 20 cattle. Compare that to the fertile land back east where we say 1 animal to 1 acre. Both interesting and nice guys.

 

From Alpine I headed north to Ft. Davis. It's and 25 miles, through beautiful mountains. Ft. Davis is both a town and a NPS Historic site. I looked around town for a while, then went out to the fort. It's a great place, and pretty well restored. Watched a short film, then toured the grounds. There are also hiking trails in the mountains near the fort, so I walked several miles on those. Beautiful scenery, and every plant shows the effects of the harsh climate. I met a couple of other people on the trail, one a park service person, so was able to learn more about the fort.

 

I returned back to the visitor center, and met Mike Sloan. Mike is an National Park Service volunteer, and is on duty at Ft Davis for the next 6 months or so. Then he'll either move to another NPS site, travel, or go back home to Arkansas. Mike's first assignment was in Alaska during the winter months. He loves meeting the people and seeing the country, NPS provides housing and some of the sites give a small daily allowance. In addition I learned Mike has ridden his bicycle across the country following the 76 Centennial Bike Route. (who would do something that crazy?) I told him he came within a mile of our house along the way. I left him one of my cards and told him if he ever had another crazy idea like that to give me a call. I'd either talk him out of it or go along.

 

I stopped back in town and got a bite to eat, then drove the 20 or so miles to Marfa. I was a little disappointed with the town, but not sure what I expected. So, before long left there and headed to Van Horn on Hwy90. Once there, switched to I-10 with its 80mph limit, and drove the 110 or so miles into El Paso. Just outside Van Horn the time changed to MST, so I gained an hour there. Made it to El Paso right at 5pm and in the rush traffic.

 

Finally found a Holiday Inn and checked in. While unpacking I noticed the room had neither a fridge nor microwave......when is the last time you encountered this? $40 a day motels have both of those. So I went to the front desk and told the attendant I wanted to report a robbery. She seemed concerned and asked what was taken. Not sure she appreciated my attempt at humor when I told her the microwave and fridge from the room. But a microwave was delivered a short time later. They don't put them in all roods, just the "gold or platium" people get them....who ever heard of that?

 

Tomorrow I'm going drive downtown, leave the car, and walk across the bridge into Juarez, Mexico. Look around for a while, then head west toward California. Not sure yet the exact route, but will work it out. Interesting thing about going into Mexico.....a passport is NOT required to go there, but is required to come back. As a side note....I've seen a lot of stuff, but every day someone tells me about something I need to see. I guess that's the bad part of a trip like this, but can do that later.

 

Pictures:

Hwy67 south of Ft Stockton;

Cows belonging to someone, grazing on something;

Entering Alpine, TX;

Jim Spradley, hat maker;

Ft Davis;

On a mountain trail overlooking Ft Davis;

Mike Sloan, NPS volunteer and adventurer