Back to the Beginning

We were up at out of Chisos Mountain Lodge by 8 a.m.  We have 9 hours of driving time today to return to Dallas.  As we drove down the mountain we were astounded at how much more beautiful this area is in the morning light with blue sky and wisp of clouds.  We stopped repeatedly to take photos of the beauty around us.  

We ate breakfast in Marathon at the same place we ate breakfast yesterday.  It was so good yesterday.  Today I got biscuits with jalapeno gravy.  Damn it was spicy!  Driving along highway 20 for hours was as boring as it sounds.  We stopped for lunch in Clyde.  The waitress said, "We are still under a boil water notice.  We can't serve you any sodas, tap water, ice tea or coffee."  Eating in a restaurant during a boil water notice felt like living on the edge.

We got to Fort Worth/Dallas area right around 5 p.m.  Visitors to California always complain about the traffic.  I wonder if they have ever been to Dallas.  It was wild, plus the speed limit is 75 mph.  I'm glad we arrived safely.

La Quinta Inn near Dallas Love Field is our home for the night.  It is a lovely room but has no overhead light or light by the beds.  I called down to see if we didn't understand the lighting situation in our room.  Nope. That is the set up.  On the wall above the bed is this "picture".  It glows in the dark.

Gayle will get up early tomorrow and drive back to Potwin, Kansas.  I will get on a plane back to Southern California and contemplate all that I have left undone because I was concentrating on what I have done.  (eye roll)

Big Bend National Park

Gayle and I were blessed with parents that believed that traveling was important.  We took a family vacation every summer.  We usually camped and hit every National Park that was anywhere close to us.  But we had never experienced Big Bend National Park.  It isn't on the road to anywhere.  You really have to want to come here.  It is 1252 square miles, larger than the state of Rhode Island.  It goes as far south as Mexico and the Rio Grande River.  We have only one day to experience it.  Since the time changed last night and we got an extra hour of sleep, we were up and on the road by 8 a.m.  

We stopped in Marathon to get gas and eat breakfast.  Then we turned south and drove for an hour to the Panther Junction Visitor Center.  We got the requisite maps (there is little to no cell service here) and headed towards the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.  We stopped at every lookout.

We were astounded by the number of sotol plants...

and ocotillos.

We drove all the way down to the Santa Elena Canyon.  The lookout didn't give us enough of a view so we decided we could walk down to the Rio Grande.  At this point it cuts through this canyon.  The stone wall on the right is in the USA and the stone wall on the left is in Mexico.

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The mighty Rio Grande looks a bit like a bubbling brook.

We headed back the way we came and then turned right to go to the Chisos Basin to stay in the National Park Lodge.  It is a curvy road that steadily climbs.  The color turns more green and the air cools.  We arrived around 3:15 p.m. and told our room would not be ready until 4 p.m.  We sat on the porch outside and played a quick game of Scrabble.  Gayle whupped my ass!

We checked into our room and headed to dinner in the restaurant.  We had no lunch and we were hungry.  There were several things on the menu that they were not offering tonight.  I am guessing it is hard to get all the products they need in this remote place.  After dinner Gayle went back to the room and I sat on the porch to work on this blog.  You can only get wifi in the restaurant and the visitor center.  I watched the sunset right in front of me.  

I joined other excited park visitors as a black bear made two appearances not too far from where we watched.  I checked out to see if there would be any stars tonight.  No such luck.  The cloud cover had not magically disappeared.  I am heading to our room for the night and keeping my fingers crossed that the black bears have all gone to bed for the night.

Liberal Wacko Marfa

Our room doesn't have a coffeemaker in it but you can go to the office at 7 a.m. and use their Keurig.  I woke a little before 7 and got two cups.  Gayle smelled the coffee as soon as I returned to the room.  I was hoping to watch the sunrise out our window while I drank coffee.  I can't see the horizon in any direction from where I live.  However, I forgot we had driven 6 1/2 hours west to the very edge of Central time zone.  The sunrises quite a bit later here.  So I got ready for the day and sat looking out the window while I put on my makeup.

At 9:10 a.m. we arrived at Aster Bakery in search of a fresh croissant.  They open at 9 a.m. and they were already sold out of croissants.  They sell out almost as fast as my son's bakery.  :)  We opted for other choices and sat down to eat pastries and drink hot tea.  I had gotten what I thought was a packet of honey for my tea.  Gayle couldn't stop giggling when I emptied a packet of mustard into my tea.  I think it was the highlight of her day.  I quickly scooped out blobs of mustard.  Gayle found me the correct packet of honey and explained to me that the word honey and the word mustard were clearly written on each packet.  I drank all my tea and hardly noticed a hint of mustard in it.

I loved Aster Bakery.  On the wall was my favorite poster.  I looked it up when I got back to the room and found it was a review on Trip Advisor.  

After we finished our pastries we headed out to explore Marfa a bit.  We drove past the Marfa Yacht Club.

I love the graffiti in this liberal wacko town.

I had made reservations at the Chinati Foundation to see the minimalist art of Donald Judd.  His art is displayed in two large Army barracks and on the land around the barracks.  We walked down to the first barrack and realized that without a place to sit and rest awhile, Gayle would be miserable.  So they brought us a wheelchair and we slowly passed by 52 aluminum works.  They all had the same footprint but each rectangle was a bit different, causing different reflections and illusions. They weren't small.  Each rectangular work was around 5' by 4' and around 3' tall.  Gayle and I quickly learned that we aren't fans of minimalist art.  We decided that we would not go to the second barracks and see 48 more aluminum rectangles.  

The man at the front office had offered to take us out on an ATV to see the cement works.  We decided we really didn't have any desire to see large cement rectangles, each a bit different than the one before it.

So we got on the road out of Marfa heading west.  There are a couple roadside art installations we wanted to see.  As I mentioned previously the film Giant was filmed in Marfa.  In 2018, an artist named John Cerney erected a roadside installation of plywood.  We thought it would be fun to see but we didn't think it would be very impressive.   It was huge.  

A solar array at one end of the display powers the two speakers made to look like rocks.  They play the song "Tumbling Tumbleweed".  It was fun.

Further on down the road is the Prada Marfa roadside installation.  The artists described the work as a "pop architectural land art project."

The plan was that there would be no upkeep to the building.  They would just let it gradually degrade. But the night it opened, someone broke into it and stole the contents and spray-painted the words "Dumb" and "Dum Dum" on it. The building was immediately repaired and a security system installed.  Then in 2014, someone painted the building blue, hung Toms Shoes logos on the awnings and posted a political manifesto on the door.  Joe Magnano, a Texas artist, was arrested and pled guilty to criminal mischief.  He had to pay $10,700 to restore the building.  This roadside art installation has a steady stream of visitors.  All along the back and sides of the building the fence is covered with locks from previous visitors. When we arrived a woman was having her boyfriend take her Instagram photos.  We waited our turn.

As we were leaving three women arrived with signs that said "Mothers for Democracy" and "Mothers Against Greg Abbott."  I talked with the woman who started this activist organization to oust the Governor of Texas.  She said, "He is a bad human being and we need to get him out or make him change."  I looked them up on Instagram.  I love this statement on their Insta:  "They say nothing changes in Texas politics till it does.  Till you piss off the Texas women, then everything changes."  They had brought their signs and were going to make their statement at the Prada Marfa building.

We headed back to Marfa to go to the Wrong store.  It was high on our list of things to do in Marfa.  They had really cool stuff that I will never be able to afford.  I bought a couple cards and a book but left the cool popsicle made out of items found while walking around Marfa.  I couldn't justify the $125 price tag on my fixed income.

By then Gayle was starting to fade.  We came back to the Riata Inn so she could nap.  I took her car and headed out to explore.  I just drove around admiring how quirky and arty this town is.  I loved the sign on the boutique hotel.

The mural advertising "Big Auto Parts".

Suddenly everything felt like an art installation, whether it was or not. 

By then it was lunch time and I had heard from my daughter-in-law about Marfa Burrito.  

Everyone writes on the sign outside and on the walls of the restaurant.  A photo of Anthony Bourdain and the owner of the restaurant graces the wall.  They only serve burritos and they are a cash only establishment.  I ordered a breakfast burrito.  It was as long as my arm.  It was delicious but I couldn't possibly finish.

Then I headed to the other Chinati site to see the sculptures of car parts by the artist John Chamberlain.  I was greeted and told that I could not take photos or touch the works of art.  In the opening room was a large installation of foam covered in canvas.  It was called "Barge."  Again, I should say that minimalist art is not my favorite.  I wandered past his 23 car part sculptures with names like "Folded Nude" and "Gondola Ezra Pound."  I read the laminated sheet they gave me written by Chamberlain in which he shared about his work.  The number of times he mentioned sexuality in relationship to his work was overwhelming.  As I left the gallery I noticed the small TV playing the one film that John Chamberlain wrote and produced.  I said to the gallery host, "How many times have you watched this film?"  He smiled and said, "If you have read the sheet about John Chamberlain I am guessing you know what the film is about.  I find it uncomfortable to watch it with others."

I walked down the three blocks on one of the main roads of Marfa.  I bought a couple things but mostly things were beautiful but way too expensive for me.  In amongst the shops are a couple galleries.  I poked my head into the one that said it hosted Andy Warhol's Last Supper.  It was the only piece in the gallery.  I said to the gallery host, "I am surprised that Andy Warhol chose this subject."  He said, "He is known for painting cultural icons.  Who is more of a cultural icon than Jesus?"  I wasn't allowed to take photos.

Another gallery I visited had artwork by Maria Zerres.  She was commissioned to do a set of pieces on 911.  She did them from a child's perspective.  Again, no photos allowed.

I wondered into the Hotel Paisano.  It is quite lovely.

They are very proud of being the headquarters of the movie Giant.

I stopped at the Cowboy Church but it was Saturday and the gates were locked.

I returned to our motel and got Gayle.  We have a timed reservation to Ballroom Marfa, another art gallery in Marfa.

Their current exhibition is called Perhaps the Truth suggesting that truth is not a fixed concept but something that is shaped by experiences and shifting perspectives.  It had everything from sculptures

to ceramics

to paintings.

But the big deal was the Gaudalupe Maravilla:  Mariposa Relampago, which if my translation is correct means Wonderful Guadalupe: Lightning Butterfly.

We were there for the opening of this exhibit.  The artist was there.  His name is Guadalupe Maravilla, formerly known as Irvin Morazan.  He is from El Salvador and at the age of 8 was part of the first wave of unaccompanied, undocumented children to arrive at the US border in the 1980s due to the Salvadoran Civil War.  Eventually he climbed up on top of the bus and began the healing sound ceremony.  Guadalupe played the gong in a mesmerizing way.

Then a woman joined him by playing the gong on the back of the bus.  

Then he joined a second woman and they played the instruments on the side of the bus.

After several hours at Ballroom Marfa we went to dinner at Margaret's Restaurant.  We sat at the counter and ate appetizers and dessert. The best kind of meal.

From there we drove out from Marfa in search of a place where we can catch the Taurid meteor shower.  As we were looking we found this museum "Model Shipwright:  Specializing in Holocaust and Rare Ships."  I find that such an interesting combination.

We finally found a place at the end of a road where the golf course and city dump/recycling center sit side by side.  We got out lawn chairs, blankets and red flashlight.  We watched the most amazing sunset.

When we stopped enjoying the sunset and taking just one more photo, we figured out the correct direction for viewing the Taurids and pointed our chairs that way.  It was a partly cloudy night, so unlike last night. We saw stars but the night sky did not come close to what we had witnessed the night before.  As we sat in the cold and I worried about rattlesnakes and javelinas, we heard a pack of coyotes in the distance.  I admit that it freaked me out.  I am such a city girl.  At least a half dozen cars came barreling down the road with their brights on.  We threw our blankets over our heads so the light didn't make us start over adjusting to the dark.  So basically, each car saw two old women in lawn chairs with blankets over their heads.  Every car did a U-turn and drove away.  We figured it was a good location for making out and drinking beer and none of them wanted to do either with us.  By 9 p.m. we were cold and the clouds were preventing us from seeing the Taurid meteor shower.  While slightly disappointed it had been a lovely evening of staring at the stars and being with my sister.

Marfa lived up to my expectations.  I love this liberal wacko town.

Journey to Marfa

We got up at 6 am today to make it to Marfa, Texas in time for our meal at Cochineal.  I heard of Marfa from someone in my women's group.  She said, "If you are going to Big Bend National Park you really should stop off and experience Marfa."  Then I learned that my daughter-in-law had been here and she sent me her recommendations.  I have been very excited for this stop on our trip.  

Last night we did some more reading about Marfa.  The town was established in 1880 as a water stop for the railroad. It is named for a character in a Jules Verne novel.  The population of Marfa is around 1700 and the elevation is almost a mile high.  We read that we should drink lots of water, wear sunscreen and a hat and put lotion on often. Thanks to the artist Donald Judd, Marfa is now a center for minimalist art. In 2012, Vanity Fair described Marfa as a "playground for art-world pioneers and pilgrims."

We hit the road and headed for West Texas.  The scenery became more and more bleak the closer we got to Marfa.  There wasn't much to see on the way.  We finally got off the 10 freeway and headed southwest towards Marfa.  We went through the little town of Alpine.  What a funny name for a town in the desert of West Texas.  It seems to be a town with a chip on its shoulder.  It wants everyone to know that they had an art walk before Marfa did.

We had planned to stay at the Hotel Paisano, an old historic hotel in the center of Marfa.  It had its groundbreaking just a few days before the stock market crashed in 1929.  In 1955, Warner Brothers, made the hotel their headquarters for the filming of the movie Giant with Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean and Rock Hudson. When we learned that there wasn't an elevator in this beautiful old building, we canceled our reservation and switched to a little hole-in-the-wall motel on the eastern edge of town.  One of the amenities it listed was "free parking directly in front of your motel door."  We arrived to find a clean and adequate room.

We headed to dinner but we took a quick drive through the little town to get our bearings.  We found the water tower that plays a prominent role in the decor of our motel room. 

We drove past the Presidio County Courthouse.  Marfa is the county seat.  If it is open tomorrow and we have time we may try to climb to the top to get a perspective of the town.  

We headed to Cochineal for dinner. Bon Appetit did a nice piece on this restaurant.  The executive chef and owner is Alexandra Gates and is a James Beard semi-finalist.  The meal is sourced from their own garden and local and regional farms and ranches.  

We had asked to do their prix fixe dinner.  We started with a pumpkin gazpacho.  Then our meals divided.  Gayle is not a fan of meat so I told them she is a pescatarian.  My second entree was antelope tartare with creme fraiche, horseradish, caviar and borage flowers.  I admit I was worried that I wouldn't like raw antelope but the dish was delicious.  On Gayle's plate the antelope was replaced with grilled potatoes.  

Next up for me was a savory crepe with rabbit and greens and a dijon sauce.  So good.  Gayle had the same thing minus the rabbit.  Then I had quail with a mousse foie gras and a prickly pear sauce.  My last main dish was bison with pear.  I loved it.  Gayle had trout.  We ended with an apple clafoutis. Delicious.  

After our 2 1/2 hour dinner we headed to the Marfa Lights Viewing Center, 9 miles outside of town.  Marfa lights or ghost lights are lights on the horizon towards the southwest that move and jump around in an abnormal way.  No one has fully explained what they are.  The viewing center is right along the highway behind a brightly lit restroom.  There were quite a few people standing there in the dark, speaking to each other in hushed tones.  Gayle and I weren't sure where to look for the Marfa lights and frankly, we were mesmerized by the night sky.  I saw more stars than I have ever seen.  There were so many stars that we couldn't find Orion's belt or the Big Dipper, which are usually so much brighter than everything else.  The Milky Way was beautiful and boldly obvious.  Just as we were giving up on the Marfa Lights a couple pointed out the lights on the horizon that pulsated, disappeared and then reappeared  in a different location.  Gayle got the giggles about the whole set up.  A viewing area right next to the highway where people stop to look for pulsating lights seemed silly to her.  So I banished her to the car before she upset us true believers.

We came back to the room to settle down for the night.  I researched how to view the Taurid meteor shower, the hours for the county courthouse, how far away is the Prada Marfa art installation, etc.  Tomorrow is our only full day here and we have tickets to Chianti Foundation in the morning and Ballroom Marfa in the late afternoon. I am also excited by what else I can see and do while I am here.

Eddie Izzard

 Gayle and I had made all our reservations when I called her and told her I had heard of a little Art Colony in West Texas called Marfa.  I wondered if we could rearrange our schedule.  We cancelled reservations and made new ones.  Marfa is yet to come.

Then Gayle called me and said that Eddie Izzard was going to be in Austin on November 2 and she wondered if we could spend one less day on Padre Island and come back through Austin.  There were only two tickets together left.  We snatched them up. Then we rearranged our schedule again.  

Today we got up in anticipation of tickets to the Paramount Theater in Austin to see Eddie Izzard.  I was up in time to see the sunrise between two buildings in our partial ocean view.  I put a coat over my nightgown and sat in a rocking chair on our balcony and just soaked up the beauty.  

We left our VRBO by 10 a.m. and drove south to beachcomb one last time before we headed to Austin.  On both sides of the road is this "prairie grass" that reminds me of dreadlocks.  Gayle has an app she uses to tell her what plants she is seeing.  It is a bushy bluestem.

We took the first beach access road once we hit the Padre Island National Seashore.  We drove out on the sand and went far enough that we had the place to ourselves. 

There weren't any amazing seashells.  However, time next to the ocean is never, ever wasted on Gayle and I.  I'm just glad there isn't a tropical storm or atmospheric river on this trip. 

Instead of picking up seashells I picked up trash instead.  I found a large pot, remnants of a milk crate and some broken glass.  I felt like a good citizen when I dumped them into the trash bins.

We got on the road and headed back to Austin. We were looking for a place to get a late breakfast but we found ourselves in a food desert.  We drove all the way back to San Antonio before we found a place to stop.  We ate quickly and got into Austin just after 3 p.m.  We needed to do laundry before we headed out for dinner and a show.  When we made a reservation for tonight we had a hard time finding a place to stay in Austin.  Everything seemed incredibly expensive.  It made us wonder if there is a college football game tonight or something else to bring people in from out of town.  We are staying at a Staybridge.  They upgraded us and we have a two bedroom, two bath suite.  The laundry room is right next door and it is free. 

We hurriedly got our laundry done and made reservations at a place called Caroline's near the Paramount Theater. Across from the theater is a statue of Angelina Eberly.  She realized that the archives of Texas were being secretly moved and so she ran out and fired a cannon into the General Land Office Building, which roused the town of the "theft".  The conflict that ensued is called the Archive War.  It was won by the Austinites, which preserved Austin as the capital of Texas and the keeper of the archives. I was surprised that moving archives could lead to war.  Good to know.

We had our dinner and walked over to the theater for our seats on row A.  It is a beautiful old theater. Eddie Izzard was good.  Her stand-up is rapid fire.  Her super fans sat all around us laughing so loud we couldn't make out half of what she said.  But the half I did understand was very good!  She gave us almost two hours of fast paced comedy.  We made it back home and both fell in bed immediately.  We have an early day tomorrow.