A week before Thanksgiving, my mother took ill with her second bout of pneumonia in less than two months, and it put her in the VA hospital in Dallas. There were a few days there before Thanksgiving where we weren't sure whether she'd make it. The Lord answered a great many prayers and she is doing much better, though still in a hospital for at least another month while my dad brings the house up to the standards necessary for total home care. Thank you to everyone who prayed and helped us get through all of this.
December was extremely busy for both Randy and I; we were essentially out of pocket for the full last two weeks of November, and so spent a great deal of time playing "catch-up" at our offices. Add to that an office move for me, several Christmas celebrations with family, friends and colleagues, including another trip to DFW, and we hardly got to enjoy the holidays together!
That was, until last week.
Months ago, we laid out plans for a getaway to coincide with our second anniversary (we celebrated that on December 29!). After our successful and beautiful trip through the Texas Panhandle, we decided to tackle a different part of West Texas. We booked a room at the Veranda Historic Inn in Fort Davis, and made that our base camp for a week of small daytrips through Big Bend National Park and the surrounding countryside.
This B&B is extremely charming, and the price is exactly right for those with tighter vacation budgets. We loved the individuality of each room, and the privacy. Breakfast at the Veranda was a total treat - we had some fantastic, creative food each morning we were there. Kathie, the owner and manager, is a friendly and helpful person who knows the area well, and we found ourselves very glad to take her suggestions and hints about how to spend time in the Davis and Chisos Mountains.
Day one, the trip getting out there, was a great adventure. We drove out to Junction (stopping for lunch at the "original" Cooper's), but instead of hooking up on I-10, we headed south for Del Rio. Once there, we headed west along the border, stopping in Langtry for pictures of Judge Roy Bean's courthouse/saloon. We rambled into Fort Davis just after dusk, too late for most restaurant food but just in time for pizza at Murphy's, near the courthouse.
Day two, we woke up to snow!! This weather took most by surprise, as it was rather unusual and much colder than that part of the state typically is this time of year. We went into Alpine and the Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross State University. The museum is a great experience to take up an hour or two, and it doesn't cost anything. The best part is the old Green Cafe sign - this was a restaurant owned by Pete Gallego, Jr. (State Rep. Pete P. Gallego's dad). There's a lot of good info about the history of Alpine in addition to the stories about Big Bend! After that, we headed to lunch at the Reata, meeting some cousins of ours who volunteer at Big Bend in the winter. Delicious food and fairly decent prices - Randy and I made reservations for dinner on New Year's Eve while there.
The snow let up early, but we encountered a lot of fog in the Davis Mountains after lunch. We went out in search of the Blue Mountain Winery on our way to the McDonald Observatory - of course, we did not know until later that Blue Mountain shut down a number of years ago, though we were able to sample what Blue Mountain was once capable of at the Luz de Estrella Winery in Marfa (more on that later).
At McDonald, we bought hopeful tickets for the Star Party and Twilight Program, then headed back to Fort Davis for some lounging around. The sky cleared just in time for our trip back up to McDonald, and though the temperature dropped significantly as it is wont to do in West Texas, we got to enjoy a great Star Party. We viewed several star clusters, and the moons around Jupiter. The moon was a 3/4 waxing gibbous, which meant that the sky was extremely bright and seeing a lot of stars was difficult, but the vast sky is impressive and the moon just adds to the wonder. We also had dinner at the Star Date Cafe, which had some pleasantly surprising food on the menu.
On day three, we woke up to frost and some fog, but the sun was shining enough to encourage us to head down to Big Bend. It's at least an hour and a half drive to the park entrance from Fort Davis, and by now you know that Randy and I turn every hour and a half drive to at least three. We took Kathie's advice and went down Hwy 67 through Shafter and Presidio, and along El Camino Del Rio, the River Road. We stopped for about twenty minutes in Shafter, to get pictures of this tiny town, which is full of historical ruins and stories. Presidio was also interesting - considered to be the oldest continually settled spot in the state, Presidio has been a community of some kind since the Spanish first came to Texas in the 1500s, and the sign in town says it was founded in 1683. We made a very brief stop outside of town for pictures at the fort, and headed down the River Road from there. Randy now says that Hwy. 170 between Presidio and Lajitas is his favorite stretch of road in all of Texas. We went through the mountains and along the Rio Grande - it was an incredibly beautiful drive, full of short stops for pictures, to breathe the mountain air, and to wonder at the scenery in Mexico.
Lajitas and Terlingua - honestly, these are tourist spots more than any others we spent time in, and we were anxious to see Big Bend and get back to Marfa to see the lights at sunset, so we pressed on. I'd like to stay in Lajitas at some future date, and some day it'd be great to make the Terlingua chili festivals, but in winter these places weren't attractive to us. We did stop at the Barton Warnock Center briefly before heading down to the Big Bend National Park entrance.
In Big Bend, we took everyone's advice and headed in to the Chisos Basin. We got out and hiked a bit on the Lost Mine Trail, on Lost Mine Mountain. I got a great picture of a javelina that, I swear, actually posed! But, thank goodness, we saw no bears or mountain lions, both of which reside in the park.
We headed out of the park on Hwy. 385, looking at the controversial Christmas Mountains in the distance and resigning ourselves to the desert stretch of road. The desert is intriguing - so many plants and different kinds of life call the Chihuahuan Desert home, and it's unlike anything you see anywhere else in Texas - but it was a bit bland after all the taller, more imposing grandeur!
Of course, once we were back in Marfa (having made a 370 mile round trip over the day!), we got to stop and see the mystery lights at the Clayton Williams-donated viewing platform. On top of an incredible sunset, we saw about a dozen or so unexplainable lights that have entranced people for generations.
We had dinner at Alpine City Limits - plain fare, but exactly the thing you need to hit the spot after a day in Big Bend.
Day four was New Year's Eve, and we wanted to enjoy the slow pace and peace in Fort Davis. So, we ate an early breakfast and headed out to the Fort Davis National Historic Site. This is the place that gives the town the name. In the process of restoration and truly a marvel to behold, Fort Davis was home to U.S. soldiers prior to the Civil War, as a post to keep travelers safe from Comanche. It was abandoned during the war, though intermittently occupied by the Confederacy and the occasional band of Federals. Two years after the war ended, the fort was called back into service, completely rebuilt, and used as a key location during the Indian Wars. Buffalo Soldiers were the primary force stationed at Fort Davis, and it was home for awhile to West Point's first African-American graduate, Lt. Henry O. Flipper. The fort is worth stopping at for a great many reasons - the friendly, talkative volunteers and staff, and the breathtaking views from the short hikes up in the mountains that border the fort are big ones. I honestly can't wait to go back, for the hiking alone!
After lunch at Cueva de Leon in Ft. Davis (awesome green chicken enchiladas!!), we headed out to Marfa to the Luz de Estrella Winery. What's so unique about having a winery in this region is the climate, which has a great effect on the grapes grown. I was really impressed with each of the wines we tried, which included the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve from Blue Mountain Winery, the very last vintage bottled there. For the Luz de Estrella wines, Randy liked the chenin blanc, and I really enjoyed the Big Bend Red, but we both agreed that the overall selection was amazing. Their website says they are growing Gewurztraminer, and I can't wait to see how that comes out!
We rested for a bit and took our time getting ready for our dinner at the Reata in Alpine. We had 8:30 reservations, so we had plenty of time to enjoy the sunset and the sheer beauty of the area. We arrived a little early and went to the bar, and watched some football with the tourists and locals gathered there. The restaurant has a great rustic feel, and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. The food? To say it was fabulous is an understatement. We had tenderloin tamales and salad to start, and each of us got different steaks for dinner. Mine had an in-house jalapeno butter on it, which gave the steak a great southwestern flair. We wrapped up with a molten chocolate cake for dessert. Thus fed, we headed back to Fort Davis, stopping for while on the road to enjoy the night sky.
We rang in the New Year quietly, and when we woke up on Day 5, it was to 18-degree temperatures and the clearest, most beautiful blue sky of the trip.
The route home was up from Fort Davis to Fort Stockton, and east on I-10 to Junction. We stopped on the way, of course, to head outside of Girvin on a mostly dirt road to find Horsehead Crossing. Only a real western junkie is going to know about Horsehead Crossing, I imagine, but as Randy just finished a book on Charles Goodnight, and I just finished reading James Michener's Centennial, we were primed to geek out over this historically crucial spot on the Pecos River.
But the trip was uneventful from there. We drove back through Fredericksburg, which was the biggest town we'd been in since leaving Austin, and got into Austin just after dusk.
WHEW - that post took forever to write! I will add pictures later. Happy 2010!!
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