The mess of weather we found in Texas

 

It's been a wild 2 weeks for sure. We left Tucson at the end of December searching for warmer weather in Texas...many had told us that the secret source of heat came from a glowing yellow orb that hung out along the border of Texas and Mexico. We were intrigued, due in large part to having spent most of December in the cold town of Tucson and frankly, we were tired of fighting the temperature as it continued to drop. I mean, we spent some cash last spring installing solar panels on this tin-house darn it! We want to use the power it is suppose to be generating....

First stop Balmorhea State Park. Population 479...

One day in we receive the blessing of 9" of snow

 

Nice 'hot springs' pool is located here. Nope, no shining yellow orb or warmth could be found!

 

Once the roads were clear we departed for the Davis Mt State Park and Fort Davis NP, hoping that moving even 50 miles down the road would provide more Sun and heat, and they stood between us and Big Bend National Park - our original goal. Little did we know that during the second evening in the park....snow fell. Again with the cold, damp weather..

  

Davis Mt State Park

If you get to Fort Davis, stop into the Old Texas Inn to at least have a soda - they have a fabulous old-time soda fountain, stools and all. Upstairs is a small, quaint art gallery.

Old Texas Inn/Drugstore Cafe and Art Gallery

 

The park is lovely, however there is no cell phone reception (at least not with our carrier) and the park wi-fi, when working, was slow....very slow. We did venture out to see the local towns, Marfa - yes we went to see the Mystery Lights - no sighting...and we had a good "that we got 'Punk'd" moment of laughter.

  

Marfa Courthouse and Palace Theatre

 

Marfa also has a beautiful historic hotel with a nice dining room where we had a delicious meal.

     

Hotel Paisano



Filming of the movie that starred Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean, "Giant" took place in Marfa and Hotel Paisano  had the privilege of hosting the cast and crew. Cool.

 

Finally the road is clear to McDonald Observatory, 16 miles from the park and on one of the highest points in Texas and still no cell phone coverage....not even extended service Texas isn't doing much to  make me fall in love, that's for sure.

   Operated by the UT/Austin this is really impressive. We've been to Kitt Peak and this tour was far more informative....we thoroughly enjoyed our 4 hours there.

  .

2.7 m (107") Harlan J. Smith Telescope

 

Home of the 9.2m Hobby-Eberly Telescope

 9.2m Hobby-Eberly Telescope

91 hexagon mirrors make up the 9.2m Hobby-Eberly Telescope and are aligned by computers daily.

 

West Texas has interesting history, landscape and small towns that we are really happy we were able to tour it all. But the weather truly was barely bearable...I really do wonder what I did to make the weather gods mad.

 

We are passing on Big Bend until we can determine Sun/solar equality (no electric in some parts of that park) and are heading towards Del Rio....

 

Adios amigos~



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



Snowbird means snow....even in TEXAS

Well, it's finally come to pass...."snowbird" means two things to me now: 1) traveling south to warmer climates from the north during winter, AND 2) being snowed in - in Texas!

We are in Balmorhea State Park which has this incredible swimming pool, fed by San Solomon Springs.

only part of the pool

"Dive into the cool waters of the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool, which covers 1.75 acres and stays at 72–76 degrees year round. Scuba divers love the clarity even at a 25-foot depth. In addition to swimming and camping, the San Solomon Courts offer motel-style retro lodging built by the CCC in the 1930s with a Southwestern adobe look; most units have kitchens. Canals along the Courts lead to a restored ciénega (wetland), where a window built below ground provides a fish-eye’s view of the underwater world." (from the website linked above).

You can swim AND scuba/skin dive in it... along with the -

CATFISH!
 

Cabin bound yesterday while it snowed, we ventured out today as it had begun to melt. It is still faily cold, however, the weather is reportedly improving over the weekend. We are going to attempt our escape tomorrow -

Pool curves around to the left

  

Ducks!

 

Here's to finding the Sun and becoming a "SUN-bird" in short order.

~Ciao

Destination Texas - check

 

After a couple of diversions in our travel itinerary we have finally arrived in the great state of Texas. I was expecting more warmth....the nights so far have been in the teens/20's...in the rig it is cold even with a propane heater.  We've had icicles on the water sprout and ice on our windows...but hey, we are camping in Texas in January

 

Juarez, MX from I-10 @ El Paso



We are staying near Balmorhea until the increment weather moves through...snow is forecast for -tomorrow. We left Oregon for snow in SW Texas....? Give me a moment....OK, I'm on board again.

Metalwork statues outside an Mexican import shop

Balmorhea...quaint small town, population 469...we have determined that it flourishes in summer because most of the businesses were closed, and not just for the holidays.

 

 

We then drove to Pecos, about 38 miles for propane and some groceries. Either of which we could find closer to the park. We were surprised to find the once thriving town, now very depressed and shabby - like so many of America's small towns the main drag contains closed storefronts

 

Downtown Pecos

Closed State Theatre

 Several buildings have been transformed into museums....such as the old railroad station....

 

and this storefront is now a Antique Car museum.

Pecos is famous...

this historical marker was right on the edge of downtown Pecos.

and finally, to let me know that I am indeed in Texas. A real cowboy climbing into his truck at the Napa Auto Store. Nothing says Texas like a man wearing spurs!



Next stop...Fort Davis.

~ Ciao

Life inside a glass house....

 

After touring Bioshephere 2* we determined that it would be like living inside a gigantic bottle...and yet a group of scientists did just that. They signed the contracts and went inside for a 2 year tour of duty....along with 45 species of animals/insects. It now belongs to the University of Arizona, but that only happened recently....original facility became a human-inhabited laboratory back in the early 90's.

*[ Constructed between 1987 and 1991, it was used to explore the complex web of interactions within life systems in a structure that included five areas based on biomes and an agricultural area and human living/working space to study the interactions between humans, farming and technology with the rest of nature.]
 

 h

 

Tours start at the lower level of this building, which is another level down.

 This building is the size of 3 football fields long.

  

 

 

Rain-catchers designed from children's hands dot the landscape.

Water conservation is a large part of the recycling program built into the facility. Originally, the inhabitants had no paper products - yes, that included NO tissue, toilet paper or paper towels.

 

 

 

 

One of the biomes included an 'ocean with coral reef'....Pacific Ocean water was trucked, as was the sandy beach located at the bottom end of the photo (not visible here but we were standing on it).

 

   

 

This is a huge expansion bladder aid in the distributing of heat generated with all the glass. Heat has  to go somewhere, thus. this Dupont rubber bladder with its 40 year warranty,and it is still manually checked each morning. We got to yell "Hello" once inside this room - as it acts like an echo chamber.

 

 

 

I'll close with a piece of sculpture, one of several on the grounds. There are also additional photos in a separate slideshow to the right of this piece. The tour we took was educational in the scientific as well as a social/cultural commentary on communal living, it was worth every penny of the entrance fee and half of that is tax decuctible!

 

~ Ciao

 

You want FAIR? ...then find one near you



 

As a kid growing up in Seattle my parents would answer my "that's not fair"  with the phase, "you want fair?"- with - "we'll go to Puyallup in September"....(when the county fair occurred). Now as an adult I can go to any street fair that I happen upon and this weekend we found ourselves in the midst of the Tucson 4th Avenu Winter Street Fair where they close off almost 1 mile of the street near the University. And with 400 booths we spent most of the day exploring those booths.  Oh, darn - Sun and art in December...can't get better than that.

Tucson 4th Avenue Street Fair - Winter - is this weekend, however March 22-24, 2013 is the date for the Spring Street Fair if you want to mark your calendar.  I found 3 of my favorite

 

   Food

 Music

 

 

and some really amazing artists....

Dona Calles 

 

I collect "faces" in art form. Ceramic masks, mixed media (wood/paper/shells etc), and have needlepointed several myself. These copper figures (very light weight) called Ancestors caught my eye....she sells them on Etsy - in addition to the "Ancestors" she also has some amazing photographs, nightlights and other art she has created. Check her out!

 

this little piggy
 

metal musician

  hookah anyone? shop on 4th sells them.

For a day activity this had it all; music, food, arts, and exercise.

~Ciao

 

 

3, 2, 1....Launch -

 

Ok, as many of you know, due to my spouse's interest in anything 'aerospace' related, I have spent quite a bit of time in airplane/space museums, floating aircraft carriers, etc., if it has a plane, helicopter or rocket we see them - and there are quite a few of those around the country. Yesterday we spent a couple of hours touring the Titan Missile Museum, near Sahuarita, AZ, 25 south of Tucson - it was fascinating! 

 

Born out of the 1960's Cuba Missile crisis, the 54 silo sites were built as MAD or "mutually assured destruction" or deterrants to war.

Missile sites were located in Kansas, Arkansas and here in Arizona....and their were hidden in plain sight. The government wanted our enemies to know that we were serious and could destroy them even in the event that they struck first. Frakly, that knowledge didn't give me a lot of comfort.


Diagram of 18 AZ silo locations

 The guided tour starts with a 17 min video that gives youthe history of  how the silos came to be, the US Air Force stewardship of the program and then the walk-a-bout of  the silo itself. This tour is the bare essentials-tour, one of seven tours offered. There is even a sleep-over program

for those who wish to have a hands-on experience.

 

Part of the tour we took gave me the opportunity to be "Crew Commander"... answering questions about the control panel and assisting with 'launching' the Titan II....selection is by whoever enters the room first.  Anyone can do it!

 

 

A view of the Titan II missile from above....impressive isn't it.

 

 

 ~ Ciao