Almost every weekend the Shops at Legacy features lives music Friday and Saturday nights. Last month featured a band called Local Culture. They are a reggae cover band and were so much fun! They had people dancing in the street and little kids singing! I love summer…
Last stop – Ft. Davis Mountains in Ft. Davis Texas. We visited the McDonald observatory for the late night stargazing tour. A tour guide took us up to one of the highest peaks in the Ft. Davis mountains where the telescopes are located. We viewed star clusters, planetary nebulas and Saturn from a 36 inch telescope (36″ wide that is). The largest telescope at the observatory is 433″ which is one of the largest in the world. Word on the street is that there is a 2 year waiting list for astronomers to use the Observatory’s telescopes. The Observatory is a research facility to the University of Texas and most employees are alumni. Mount Locke and Mount Fowlkes – where the telescopes sit – are some of the darkest night skies in the continental US.
Cool fact: The Otto Struve Telescope constructed 1933-39 was the second largest in the world at 82″ when built and the observatory still uses it today! Below is a photo of one very similar in size. *sorry for the granulation… it was pitch black when this photo was taken.
Unfortunately I could not capture any more photos of the observatory because we had to preserve our night vision the whole time – no flashes allowed. But we did stop at the Ft. Davis state park on the way in and I caught some lovely images of the mountains after a rainstorm.
Dr. Suess Tree, they were everywhere!
Morgan and I enjoying the view from one of the park’s lookout areas.
The Campbell Family
Lovely.
That was our week in West Texas. Cannot wait to go back!!
While in Marfa we did a glider ride over the city – a must do! Marfa gliders is owned by Burt Compton who is a plane and glider pilot/instructor. A plane is used to hoist the glider – which is connected by a cord to the plane – 2000 feet into the air. When the glider has reached said altitude, the pilot in the plane pulls the cord and the glider is released…the world is quiet… and you can drift anywhere the wind can take you (gliders have no engines). On the way down I received the stomach dropping, adrenaline rushing “rockstar finish”. Amazing!!
Get ready…
Get set…
Go!
That white knob is the only thing that steers the glider. I was not allowed to touch mine 
One of the largest tomato farms in the U.S is next door to the Marfa airport. The city built the below “crop circle-esque” run off drain below so that the run off from the green house would not contaminate Marfa’s water supply.
When it was Morgan’s mom’s turn… there was a little incident. The plane took off and the pilot simultaneously hit button to drop the cord… they didn’t go very far. Which I am pretty sure is a good thing. Woops.
Thank you to Burt for showing us a wonderful time!! His website is below if you would like to get more information on Burt and his gliders or book a ride!
http://www.flygliders.com/
Burt and his wife are also in a local band called the Moon Dogs. Here is their website, check them out!
www.moondogsmarfa.com
Marfa! Population awesome.
Marfa is a very relaxed, chic west Texas town in the Chihuahuan Desert. We never found a single person “from” Marfa but everyone we spoke to will never live anywhere else. A few fun facts:
Marfa was originally founded in the 1880′s as a railroad water stop and during World War II was a base to train pilots for the war. In 1971, an artist named Donald Judd moved to Marfa from New York City and purchased old army barracks just outside the “city limits” and started putting in his permanent art installations. Today, Marfa has an array of art galleries occupying abandoned spaces and buildings as well as many foundati0ns to support the arts including the Chinati foundation which supports Donald Judd’s art and installations.
The movie Giant was filmed (and premiered) in Marfa in 1956. More recent films also used Marfa as a set – There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men.
There is no local police department for Marfa – the Presidio County patrols the city.
Oh… and the Marfa lights…don’t exist!
We stayed at the Hotel El Paisano which was also where Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Dennis Hopper and the entire crew stayed for 6 weeks while filming Giant in 1956. The hotel is 2 stories (no elavator) and has 33 rooms including two large “presidential” suites. The whole time I internally debated which movie stars in Giant occupied the suites… after much deliberation, I decided it had to be the 2 divas Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson…
The hotel decor theme is Spanish Revival.
This was our room.
The Hotel El Paisano’s courtyard was perfect for soaking up the breeze, quiet sounds of the waterfall and the Hotel Restaurant’s wine : )
Across the street was the Palace theatre – no longer in operation. This is where the Giant premiere was held in 1956. In the background is the Presidio County Courthouse.
The Food Shark!! This restaurant on wheels parks itself under a pavilion in the middle of town and serves local Marfanators (?) with the most wonderfully tasting Mediterranean inspired deli treats 3-4 days a week depending on the season from 11-3. You can take it to go or you can have a seat on one of the permanent mod/minimalist picnic tables under the pavilion. But when the food runs out – you’re out of luck!
We played a little shuffleboard at one of the watering holes in town – Padres which is owned by two guys, one of which is an ex catholic priest. They have a huge stage with live music every Friday and Saturday night.
We took a tour of Donald Judd’s installations through the Chinati Foundation. Here are some of my favorites:
Original military barracks from WWII
Mess Hall with original art. What kind of Texas mess hall would this be without a Longhorn??
I had to restrain myself when I saw these paintings. How great are these!? It is hard to tell but the pilot on the left is smoking a cigarette with a cloud of smoke around his head and the drunk officer on the right is having a good time : ) I can’t believe these have been preserved so well for over 60 years.
Below are drawings mounted on Mylar and represent the artist’s – Ingolfur Arnarsson – aesthetic. He was Icelandic. Got it.
P.S. We couldn’t see any drawings either…
View from inside one of the barracks. You can see a little bit of Donald Judd’s cement block installation. These were 20 years in the making for Judd and are meant to blend with the environment. (click to enlarge)
You can see more of the blocks here.
This pretty much sums it up:
To be continued… with Marfa Gliders!
Happy Independence Day America!!
I took this photo yesterday at the Denton 4th of July Jubilee parade.
Stop #3: Terlingua, Ghostown! Population 200.
On our way out of Big Bend to Marfa we stopped in Terlingua, Texas. In 1880 Terlingua was established as a mining town for metal Mercury and brought in 2,000 people. In current times the town is almost literally abandoned save the annual World Chili Cookoff Championships the first Saturday in November. HOT! …Oh, and let’s not forget the rattlesnakes.
This picture was taken outside of the Terlingua Trading Post.
These houses have been in Terlingua since at least the mid 1930′s and the ones in better condition are still inhabited today. I only captured a few *quick* photos of these because I was surrounded by rattlesnake homes (dubious holes in the ground approx every 2 ft apart). I am sure it was too hot for them to be out, but I was not taking any chances.
My favorite part was the cemetery (of course). From what I could tell most of the graves/memorials were from around the WWII era. I am always so inspired and touched by this environment. You never know what kind of surprises you will come across.
I think this was one of the first graves in the cemetery – it was placed in the very back and had it’s own private fence that used to have a small door to enter. As you can see, it is barely standing today.
Goodbye Terlingua! It was short and sweet… and HOT!
Next stop: Marfa!
Stop #2: Big Bend National Park
…and boy is it big! After spending the night in Marathon, we woke up at 5:30 AM and hit the road to Big Bend (approx 70 miles). We arrived at the welcome center just inside the park 5 minutes before the sun came up. It has been a really long time since I watched the sun come up and this view will be a hard one to beat! 
The moon was incredibly enchanting.
I couldn’t decide which interpretation I liked better of the Chisos Mountain Range (small portion) below, so I put them both : ).
We set off on the South Rim Trail at 8:30 AM. After a 1.5 mile hike we reach this sign and realize it is 6 more miles to the halfway point. Oh and don’t let these lovely little trail names fool you. After hiking the first 5 miles and arriving to the Laguna Meadows trail… I realized there was nothing “Laguna” about these Meadows…only open air port-a-potties and well, Meadow.
We did see some very pretty things along the way:
I waited very patiently for this furry cutie to land juuust so.
The cactus flowers were in full bloom and were home to a lot of insects. I guess there is only so much to eat in the desert.
We also ran into a group of deer along the trail. They seem to be used to people and curious about them too. The one below beat me in a staring contest earlier on the trail, and then we saw her again in the back half of our (neverending) journey home – below.
Where’s Waldo:
I am sure my father’s trigger finger is twitching at the sight… sorry Dad one trait I didn’t inherit from you!
Luckily one thing we did not encounter:
We came across this note written almost exactly 24 hours prior. 5 words: Thank-you-for-the-warning.
However, I must say – if I had seen an “agressive black bear and cub” my first thought would not have been: “Does anyone have a pen and paper!?” But like I said… thank you for the warning.
P.S. It was so bloody hot, I am almost 100% positive that “aggressive black bear” was too tired/hot/lazy to be aggressive any longer and that little cub was in the shade. Just saying.
After hiking 7 miles – we finally reach the South Rim of Emory Peak.
Here are the stats: Elevation 7,825 ft (Emory Peak), South Rim approx. 7000 ft, Prominence – 4500 ft (distance from base to peak).
And here is the view…
You can see the Rio Grande snaking behind the mountain range
The Campbell’s taking a hard earned rest at the top and edge of the cliff. Yep, cliff.
Only a few thousand feet below my sneakers.
Morgan laying down on the edge.
Notice the butterfly on Debra’s back…I wish I could say I planned it that way.
We ate lunch on the South Rim – Cliff bars (no pun intended), tuna, pretzels and almonds – took family photos and we were on our way back down.
A few shots of the trail back down:
*Note – this was supposed to be a riverbed.
This picture reminds me of a piece of the set from the “Princess Bride”. There was no quicksand thankfully:
We couldn’t resist:
And last but not least, I have to credit Morgan for this last photo. 3/4 the way through the trail is the junction to Emory peak. It is a 1 mile climb to the top with an elevation increase of almost 1000 ft. I don’t know calculus to figure out the incline, but – it’s steep. Needless to say Morgan was the only one who wanted to climb the peak at this point. Me? I took a nap on a log.
Here is the view from 7,825 ft. Hola Mexico!
I wish I could have made it to the top with him 
maybe next time… after taking the shortcut to get there.
With tired legs and backs, burning hip flexors and bruised toenails (that might have just been me ) we finally reached the base after 10 hours of hiking. The views were worth every minute of it!!
Next post: Terlingua, Ghost Town. Arriba!!
Stop 1: Marathon, Tx. Population 500.
This was our first stop on the road trip and a bordering town (one of the only) to Big Bend National Park. We stayed at a lovely Bed and Breakfast called Captain Shephard’s Inn. On our way in we were chasing a thunderstorm which turned out some much needed cool and breezy weather .
Below – the rain coming in on the right.
Captain Shepard’s Inn:
Our room key.
Hello Old Friend…
Around town…
We had dinner at the Famous Burro (sign below). One of two restaurants Marathon offers. I had the brisket quesadillas
Every serious lawyer needs:
a. a cactus in the front of his office b. stars next to his title c. a hand painted “office building” d. all of the above…
I made the mistake of petting these sweet guys… they followed us. All the way home.
Next blog: Big Bend!! Brace yourselves… I should have.
Morgan and his friends ran in a race called the Warrior Dash a few weeks ago and had A LOT of fun. This is an 3k obstacle course where you can wear a costume and get real dirrrty (and most importantly drink a lot of beer)!! I will be participating next year… I haven’t decided on my costume, but I think it might involve a tutu. Who’s in!? Faves below.
Before:
Warrior Boys
People donated their shoes after the race.
Warrior Shoes
Warrior Shoes
Dirty
His name was on the check-in sign!
Himanga
Himanga
Getting ready for the race…
One Free Beer
Warrior Morgan
And the fun begins! Cue circus music…
Morgan Mud Pit
Craig & Eric Mud Pit
Morgan Mud Pit
Warrior Man
Business Warrior
This sweet dog was cheering everyone on!
Spectator!
Mud Warrior
Chris & Morgan
Morgan
Chris
Craig
After:
Finisher
Until next year…
It has been a while since my last blog… life has been busy!! A few weeks ago Morgan and I participated in a walk on the Connemara Conservancy which is a “nonprofit land trust dedicated to preserving and protecting open space and the natural beauty in North Texas…”. It was such a photogenic day and we had lots of fun! Check out the website – they have different walks and events going on all the time. http://www.connemaraconservancy.org/ Connemara is approximately 72 acres of untouched land covered in native plants (even poison ivy… luckily I managed to escape alive) and animals. Favorites are below
150 year old Black Willow tree – the oldest on the property. Fun fact: the bark from the Black Willow is used to make Aspirin as it is a natural painkiller. You could literally pull the bark off of the tree and eat it to numb your mouth!
Black Willow
Welcome to Connemara!
Field Grass - Click to enlarge
Doesn’t this just make you want to have a picnic:
Connemara Meadow
Connemara Meadow
Beautiful trees!
Now for the flowers… I love Spring!
Dandies, Dandies everywhere!
Dandies
The next flower, Fleabane was put in, under and around mattresses in the “old days” to ward off fleas and bedbugs. The plants contains oils that those little buggers hate. Can you imagine sleeping on a bed of flowers… I can
Fleabane
Yellow is the color of the season!
Yellow Flowers
Yellow Flowers
Thank you to Mr. Mione who gave a great tour, it was lovely.
