There wasn’t much to do in Marfa besides view the Paisano Hotel. There were no restaurants in town besides a DQ that was open. Most places are closed on Sundays. I saw the “Fort Davis 21 miles” sign and went north along TX17, past rolling high prairies. I am familiar with the place, so why not go there for a few hours and hang out in the cooler hills?
Three Pronghorn antelope had gotten free from a nearby antelope farm and were grazing along the road. I pulled over to photograph them. They ran across the road and followed the wired fence for a mile at high speed back into their ranch to join their flockmates. Drivers slowed down in case the animals would suddenly brake speed and dart elsewhere.
I remembered Fort Davis from our visit 3.5 years ago, when we stopped in town for pizza before camping at the nearby state park. The park was noticeably cooler at a higher elevation (5107’) and the wind was blowing. Even here the grass looked dangerously parched and in need of some rain.
“Happy Texas Independence Day!” wished me the park ranger, Jeanne. She was all smiles. She gave me a map and I went on, quickly showering before hanging out at the Indian Lodge to download more photos and update my journal.
It was a hot day, with temps even at the park at 80F. I didn’t want to hike any of the exposed trail, but I did drive around the paved roads before turning out of the park and heading back to Alpine. I was looking for things to do to pass the time before sunset and the Marfa lights. It looked like a promising clear night for the lightshow.
The rocks along this road are clearly more of the igneous kind, dark brown vertical spirals poking up from the ground. Cows graze along the road along with RV parks and research institutes as TX118 winds back to Alpine. This stretch is part of the "Scenic Loop" joining Alpine, Fort Davis and Marfa in a triagular drive across pretty rock formations.
Three Pronghorn antelope had gotten free from a nearby antelope farm and were grazing along the road. I pulled over to photograph them. They ran across the road and followed the wired fence for a mile at high speed back into their ranch to join their flockmates. Drivers slowed down in case the animals would suddenly brake speed and dart elsewhere.
I remembered Fort Davis from our visit 3.5 years ago, when we stopped in town for pizza before camping at the nearby state park. The park was noticeably cooler at a higher elevation (5107’) and the wind was blowing. Even here the grass looked dangerously parched and in need of some rain.
“Happy Texas Independence Day!” wished me the park ranger, Jeanne. She was all smiles. She gave me a map and I went on, quickly showering before hanging out at the Indian Lodge to download more photos and update my journal.
It was a hot day, with temps even at the park at 80F. I didn’t want to hike any of the exposed trail, but I did drive around the paved roads before turning out of the park and heading back to Alpine. I was looking for things to do to pass the time before sunset and the Marfa lights. It looked like a promising clear night for the lightshow.
The rocks along this road are clearly more of the igneous kind, dark brown vertical spirals poking up from the ground. Cows graze along the road along with RV parks and research institutes as TX118 winds back to Alpine. This stretch is part of the "Scenic Loop" joining Alpine, Fort Davis and Marfa in a triagular drive across pretty rock formations.
Call me a sucker. After an early dinner at the Holland Hotel with one Pale Ale no better than the lagers I had last week but served with a tasty Patty Melt, I drove on Hwy 90 west toward Marfa. About nine miles east of Marfa is a Marfa Mystery Lights Viewing rest stop, complete with three telescopes along the southern wall. It is in the south that these mystery lights allegedly can be seen, lights that were first sighted in 1883 by a ranch hand who thought they could be Apache camp fires. Supposedly no one knows the origin of these lights.
I pulled over at the rest stop for an early start at 6:30pm. A big rig was already parked with its engine running. The sky looked smogged over in a dark brown-reddish haze. By 7pm a few more people came, with a total of 12, even a couple who brought their own lawn chairs for a comfortable viewing. They came from Houston.
As the sun dimmed and twilight began around 7:30pm we could see lights starting to flicker in the distance. “You are supposed to aim your sights at the red beacon toward the mountains in the southeast” said one elderly gentleman. All I could see were houselights flickering in the distance, but I waited until twilight was gone to leave.
“I hope this isn’t what we are supposed to see” said one disappointed woman next to me. Her husband was convinced the lights came and went, turned white or red, but I think they are either lights from distant ranch houses, lights from traffic, or lights on the necks of cows that are programmed to go off at twilight. I left to drive on to Marfa.
I now have one more complete day of my travel and that will be a slow drive to El Paso. Once I am in the city my trip is officially over, as the last 280 miles west to my home in Arizona is a trip I’ve done a good dozen times by now.
I drove back into Marfa but other than the pricy hotel there wasn't much for me there. The elder receptionist, a smiling white-haired gentleman, told me that several of the crew of "There will be Blood"stayed at this hotel last year during the filming of the movie in the Marfa area.
"They didn't stay very long, though" he added.
I should have stayed in Marfa though. It was 8:30pm and the next largest town, Van Horn, was 79 miles north on Hwy 90. I thought I could go as far as Valentine, even though a warning sign "No Services for Next 79 miles" should have been an indicator that Valentine was a sleepy cow town, or in Texas, an abandoned town.
A vehicle ahead of me weaved from side to side and was going 55mph. Normally at night the speedlimit is 65mph so when this vehicle weaved and then noticed the white paint and the red-white-blue whoopie lights I knew this was a cop car. No wait, then I noticed "Border Patrol" on the hood. I slowed down in case the speedlimit was 55mph that I didn't see had changed to the slower speed. The vehicle kept weaving. Was the driver tired? Drunk? Or just wanting me to pass him? I stayed close to the vehicle and marked the plates and cruiser number.
The car turned over in Valentine. I drove on but then turned around when I realized there was nothing on the road besides this town. The vehicle passed me again as I was pulled over. It then turned around a second time. Knowing that Border Patrol behicles nearby usually indicate a pick-up of illegals, I wanted to get away and knew now that Van Horn was my only option.
And then the weird thing happened a few miles later: the same vehicle that weaved across the road was the same one that pulled me over outside Valentine. This was it, I thought, I am once again a suspect vehicle in a human smuggling case. This is getting old. Very old.
The young man pulled up along the passenger side and carefully looked into my vehicle.
"What is your citizenship?" he asked. He didn't ask for my driver's license, insurance or registration.
I answered. But out of curiosity I asked back "Am I a suspect vehicle again?"
The agent smilled and apologized. "No Ma'am, we do have our Soccermoms but every now and then we do get vans that are caught with illegals. This stretch of highway is popular with the smugglers, I advise you to be careful."
And with that I had no choice but to head to Van Horn, where I exhaustedly pulled over at the Ramada Inn on the town's west side.
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