Westward Ho!

Architecture outside the Riato Inn.

We went back into central Marfa to post a few items home.
It is remarkable how parts of Texas closely resembles various desert areas of Australia. A few days ago we were travelling acros flat open land covered in low grey bushes (Sage bush) that resembled saltbush. Other parts were covered in low scrubby trees (possibly stunted Cedars) reminiscent of the Murray mallee. The vegetation is sparse but this reveals the soul.

Today we first crossed broad grassy plains as we rode east from Marfa towards Alpine. A few miles out of Marfa we stopped at the Marfa Lights viewing area to see what we could learn of this mysterious phenomenon first reported in the 1880's. (Any thoughts of going there last night were put aside when it started raining). These lights apparently dance around merging and splitting and changing colour. No one has been able to provide any explanation for them. Atmospheric effects would seem to be involved, but contemporary suggestions that they are light refracted from the headlights of cars on Highway 67 seems unlikely, since neither cars nor Highway 67 existed in 1883...
We rode on without solving the mystery and were soon in the town of Alpine, one of the larger towns in the region. Interestingly, Alpine is only 30 miles west of Marathon where we stayed 2 nights ago - our trip to Big Bend essentially took us on a huge loop.

Wanda was keen to have a hair cut. We parked the bike outside Eva's hair and nails salon purely by chance. It was too good to be true that she could simply walk in and have it done immediately. Eva's next customer was due in less than a half an hour so she kindly fit Wanda in.

Chris wandered a few shops down the road and walked into an art gallery owned by a group of 20 or so artists who have formed a cooperative. Marjie Erkkila who was minding the gallery is a talented sculptor and jeweller. It was interesting to note that each of the artists in the cooperative had a distinct style in which they worked.

We particuarly liked the unique styling she has in her bronze pieces.

When Wanda's haircut was finished we had coffee and shared a gigantic, fresh, cinnamon scroll in a cafe between the hairdresser and the gallery. It's a good thing for our weight that all the bakeries are not this good. The dress shop next door was quite creative too.

From Alpine we headed north to Fort Davis, another interesting West Texas town that forms a triangle on the map with Marfa and Alpine.

A stellar attraction about 20 miles northwest of Fort Davis is the McDonald Observatory, home to one of the largets telescopes in the world

Our journey continued northwest on TX 118 which had the relatively modest speed limit of 70 mph. When we reached I-10 and turned west the speed limit picked up to a serious 80 mph. The 38 miles to Van Horn, our overnight stop, quickly passed underneath our wheels.

Van Horn is a truckstop town servicing the Interstate traffic. It is pretty much spread out along a single road parallel to the Interstate and has about a dozen motels, lots of mechanics shops, a few Mexican style restaurants and a gas station.
We ate in a restaurant that didn't promise much but had great home made corn chips and salsa.