Fort Davis, Texas

We are currently sitting in our trailer with a fairly strong wind storm happening outside. The sky is blue and sunny but the wind is fierce. We plan on moving on to Pecos Tex. tomorrow but there is a small problem with our truck. The left front wheel bearing is failing and the new part will not be here til 9am tomorrow. The mechanic says we will be on our way by 11am but I guess we'll see. I'm just glad we found it here rather than on the road.

Yesterday we went on a scenic drive on a winding twisting  big loop that took us through some very pretty countryside. It also brought us to the McDonald Observatory where we spent an entertaining afternoon. The road up the side of the mountain is the highest paved road in the US. Almost 6000 ft above sea level. Did I mention that Fort Davis is the highest town in Texas? The pictured telescope is considered the 5th largest in the world and the mirror (in the middle of the second picture, you can see the bent reflection of the support structure.) is actually the biggest but only 80% of it can be used because of movement limitations, so there are bigger telescopes. The mirror is cleaned 2-3 times per week using carbon dioxide snow. Not really sure how that works but I was assured it does. We spent a pretty intense 3 hours learning things about our closest star (the sun) and our galaxy. Did you know that the sun is not on fire? It's really a ball of hydrogen gas being held together by it's own gravity and the pressure of the gravity creates a nuclear reaction. (at least that's the way I remember it. Luckily there were no tests.)

Before coming here we spent a week in God's gravel pit (sometimes referred to as Big Bend National Park) or as one gentleman we talked to said it was miles and miles of miles and miles. The park is in the Chihauhaun (like the dog) desert so its full of plants that are out to get you. Big nasty thorns and such. The Chisos mountains are completely encompassed by the park. We went on several hikes and learned more about this amazing place that most people in the 1800's considered worthless. The few that came here had a harsh life but they found that cattle and sheep actually liked it.(Something about the quality of the grass.) They liked it so much that the grass has all but disappeared due to overgrazing. So the park got started (65 years ago) to protect it from us.
The park gets its name from the big bend in the Rio Grand River which is the international border between Mexico and the US. There were many times on our hikes that we felt you could almost reach out and touch Mexico. It's a beautiful stark place. I'm glad we finally made it. I would like to include a map of our travels, but haven't figured that out yet.

 

Lunch after one of our hikes.

Hope this finds you well.

Pat and Carolyn