[clap, clap] Deep in the Heart of Texas! On Saturday, my BBL and I set off for our 35th anniversary trip. Over the years we’ve gotten into the habit of trying to get off by ourselves for this occasion. This year on the list of possibilities was Honolulu, New England, and Florida. Instead, we found ourselves in remote Ft. Davis, Texas on our way to an even more remote area of the state. And before you accuse me of spousal abuse, let the record show this trip was her idea! (And I immediately agreed). She had seen an article in the Big D News offering a ready-made 8 day round trip itinerary to Big Bend National Park in far, far (did I mention far?) SW Texas.
Our first day’s goals were to get an early 5am-6am start, check into the Hotel Limpia [est. 1884], eat a decent meal, and get to nearby McDonald Observatory by 8:30pm for their “star-gazing” party. Half of these goals were met.
We pulled out of the driveway at 8 am and spent the next 9 ½ hours in the car, about a quarter of it with a (legit) 80 mph speed limit. We managed to squeeze in 2 stops for gas (one in Monahans—home of Texas’ Sahara-like Desert) and a ½ hour stop in Balmorhea State Park that encompasses a 1 million gallon/hour San Soloman Spring-fed swimming pool. Quite a remarkable sight in the middle of the desert.
Around 6 pm we checked into #22, a cozy “step-saver” of a room. Seven pillows were already residing in there, making it feel a tad bit smaller than tiny, and providing proof that not every thing is bigger in Texas. We did have the outstanding luxury of a private bathroom. The toilet seat will be memorable – sitting on it reminded me of my last attempt to ride a horse.
A decent dinner at the Hotel Limpia Dining Room was our other unmet goal. Evidently the primary purpose of the dining room is to get guests to walk through a LARGE gift shop and not necessarily to serve quality food.
McDonald Observatory was definitely the day’s highlight. We arrived just at sunset. Although the night wasn’t perfectly clear, as the sky got darker, the stars got bigger, brighter and more plentiful. We could actually see The Milky Way with the naked eye [truth in blogging notes: I’m near-sighted so I still required my prescription glasses. And the Observatory is not really in the heart of Texas but closer to what could be considered the left love-handle—if you leave El Paso out of the consideration]. Anyway, naked eyes weren’t really required. The staff had half a dozen manned telescopes for us to take in the billions of stars. They also performed a “Constellation Tour” in an outdoor amphitheater. They had an amazingly effective green laser which they used to point out groups of stars that were supposed to resemble big and small bears, scorpions, sea-goats, hunters, etc., but I was lost in a cloud of cosmic dust after they pointed out the Big Dipper. If you ever get to this area, put this on your ‘to do” list and be sure to dress warm. Altitude (~8000’), darkness and wind make a chilly combination—even in lower left Texas.
Saturday pictures
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