Morning of Day 12 - Hey, who is this?

This morning we leave Alpine, TX for Big Bend National Park, Lejitas TX, then FM170 which parallels the Rio Grande River, then north on US 87 ending up in Ft.Davis, an original US Cavalry fort, and spending the evening, maybe two, at Indian Lodge State Park. Will have more later but first some photos of the Pecos.




We left Alpine TX and headed south to Big Bend National Park. It is a very interesting landscape, tall mountains (5 to 7000 feet) but since they are mostly rock and sand and plants that only grow in dry landscapes they look much different then what we are used to in the Appalachians. The roads are curvy and change elevations dramatically, especially the stretch along the Rio Grande. Although I am a big fan of Route 28 in Western North Carolina and Tennessee (The Tail of the Dragon), I challenge any of my Z3/4 friends to drive this and not admit it is equal, or I dare say, more challenging, then the tail.



Gasing up in Terlingua, as in putting gasoline in my car, just outside of Big Bend park a fellow drove up in his 30 year old van with an equally old dog in it. We started chatting and he said he has lived in the Ghost Town Village, near Terlingua for 20 years and loves it. He can sit on his front porch on any morning, noon or night, pop open a Lone Star Beer and enjoy the day. No one bothers you, no one judges you, you live and let live. What a wonderful life style. He was admiring my car and I said it would be terrible for it to brake down around here, and try to get it fixed. The old cowboy said that's how most people settle down here, they are driving through, their car brakes down and they have to wait for parts. It takes years to get them.

We drove into the tiny town of Lajitas (I hope you blog readers are using your Atlas to track us) and had a great lunch. The chef, Michael Romini, actually graduated from Johnson and Wales in Charlotte. Small world.




We drove west along the river to Presidio. Peg actually has a friend whose sister lived here with her Border Patrol husband and had a son born here. OMG. They finally moved back to civilization, but I wonder if her husband will ever want to retire there. Another OMG. This is a shot along the river and another one showing how narrow the Rio Grande can be.














We drove north to Ft. Davis State Park and stayed in the "Indian Lodge" there. It is a multi-room adobe state owned inn with nice amenities only bested by the beautiful views. We were in a total white zone, no telephone, no wireless, no Gin.







This morning, Sunday, we drove north out of Texas into New Mexico. We detoured to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park and toured those wonderful, eerie, and mystical grottoes. A must for anyone traveling through those parts. And to think, above them, are the same dry, hot and cactus topped mountains we saw in south Texas. I really wish I understood the geology of south TX, and the Carlsbad Caverns. This stuff didn't happen overnight, and there are questions I don't have answers too. Kara, where are you????

We have settled today, Sunday May 16th, in Roswell NM. We now have 2,544 miles on my little Red Z3, for a total of 103200, so it's just getting broken in.

Roswell is the home of the UFO Institute (Unidentified Flying Objects), as in flying saucers!!!!!

Tomorrow we leave for two, or maybe three days in Santa Fe. Will keep you posted on our journey. "Life is Good"