Early to Mid-April 2021

From Terlingua, Texas, we headed north to Alpine.

We stayed near the outskirts of town at Lost Alaskan RV Park. What a switch from the wide open spaces of the desert! Typically, RV Parks that are privately owned aren’t the best for us. They are usually crowded and designed to be big money makers. The more campsites in the park, the more revenue the park can generate. Although this park was super clean and the owners were helpful and very pleasant, our campsite was a tiny one squished in between the restroom/laundry building and the next campsite. We could almost touch the huge trailer parked next to us. In our travels, we’ve stayed in all sorts of spots, and we usually find a way to make it work. We set up our portable picnic table and chairs on the far side of the van, and managed to enjoy our little spot for a few days.

We went into Alpine for some shopping, dining, and sight seeing. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center, which is always a good stepping off point in a new town, and picked up info about the area. Alpine is a great small town with independent businesses working hard to make it and artisans who’ve chosen to live among like-minded folks. It has a cozy vibe. Porter’s is the local market chain, and we discovered that they sold local tamales – yum. We had a lovely lunch on the patio at the Reata Restaurant, and also did a self-guided tour of the town’s murals. The mural tour took us to hidden alleyways with some terrific artwork.

The next day, we moved on, going a little further north, and spent the afternoon at the McDonald Observatory Visitor Center. Tickets are scarce for the special events offered by the Observatory. We had been on a waitlist just for the Visitor Center, and felt lucky that two spots opened up. From its early history, in which William J. McDonald’s bequest to create an observatory was challenged by family members who claimed he was of unsound mind to suggest such a thing, to today’s explorations of dark space and mapping of the cosmos, this place is fascinating. It would be fun to come another time and attend a guided tour or star gazing party.

We stayed nearby at Fort Davis State Park, and enjoyed our own dark sky gazing.

Areas of the Southwest have sites designated as Dark Sky, where star viewing is optimal. According to NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) due to light pollution, 80% of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way – our home galaxy. I remember summer nights as a kid, lying on the damp grass on our front lawn and getting lost in watching the stars. It still has the same magical effect on me as an adult. It makes me feel both small and hopeful.

We spent our last night in Texas at the Pine Springs Campground at Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park contains the four highest peaks in Texas, including Guadalupe Peak at 8,751 feet, and at its southern terminus, El Capitan stands at just over 8,000. This area was once a reef at the edge of an inland sea during the Permian period. It was pushed skyward and exposed by tectonic movement millions of years ago.

This campground is really a small parking lot of first-come, first-served spots.

Campers locate an open spot, and then self-register at a bulletin board station. With our America the Beautiful Pass, our tab came to $7.50 for the night. There are few amenities. Each parking spot has a picnic table, but no water or electric hook-up. There’s a restroom , but there are no showers. Because it’s been so dry, most of the campsites in the Southwest aren’t allowing campfires right now. Simply speaking, amenities or not, this campground is really very special, and we fell in love with it. At 5,200 feet, it sits nestled up to the base of steep mountains, and the lot has direct access to hiking trails. We arrived early afternoon and, even though there were just a few spots left, we were able to get a shady one off to the side.

After we set up camp, we went for a hike. Remnants of marine fossils can still be seen along the trails. We had fun looking at the rocks and imagining that we were hiking among giant sponges and coral.

We fixed a campsite dinner, and then watched the light of a golden sunset play on the face of the mountains.

What a memorable way to wrap up our time in Texas!

Next up: New Mexico