Friends and Fun!

Currently In: Mercedes, TX
Next Up: Austin, Stonewall and Glen Rose, TX

The last week or so we have been at the Llano Grande RV Resort in the Rio Grande Valley/ South Texas.   We met some RV folks in Antonito, CO last summer who spend the winter here - yes, Winter Texans.  We are joining them for a couple of weeks.

This little guy was at our site to greet us on arrival

Not much touring going on, but a whole lotta fun including

 Happy hour at our friends' site

A day at the pool

The weather was great the day we went to Nuevo Progresso Mexico

First we stopped for a Margarita

Then we enjoyed the outdoors

But most days have been cloudy, cool and rainy, so lots of indoor fun like
Dance to support Breast Cancer Awareness

And cards

And pool

Finally, although a little misty, another happy hour

We've had a great time hanging out with our friends!

The Law West of the Pecos

Currently In:  Mercedes, TX in the Rio Grande Valley
Heading to Central Texas next week


Our first full day in the Del Rio area was sunny and warm!  Perfect for touring the Visitor Center in  Langtry, TX, home of legendary Judge Roy Bean known as the "law west of the Pecos".

Langtry was first a railroad town developed around the joining of transcontinental tracks of the Southern Pacific's Sunset Route in 1883.  The route started in New Orleans and ended in San Francisco, crossing the Pecos River.  But it was truly the Wild West.

Roy Bean built his home here, known as the Opera House, Town Hall, and seat of Justice.  He was hoping his idol, actress Miss Lillie Langtry, would perform here someday.  An Opera House, it was not.

Roy Bean also had a saloon known at the Jersey Lily, named after the object of his admiration.  By the way, he never met her.

We walked around inside to see the bar and the room where folks gathered.  (That's Jenny with Johnny there).

Tim and Jenny playing make believe.  Did they have shades like that in 1887?

We took a quick look around the Botanical Garden at the Visitor Center.

We had seen many of these desert plants on our travels, but these two were new to me.

Texas Pistachio

Strawberry Cactus

We left the Visitor Center to take a look at the Pecos River and the Eagle Next Canyon.  When we got to the turn, we saw this sign.  Gotta go the right way!

 The Pecos River Bridge is 1310 feet long.

And about 273 ft. above the Pecos River.  We crossed the bridge on our way to the Del Rio campground the previous day, much like the RV below.

The views of Eagle Nest Canyon are gorgeous.

We drove to a lower spot right on the river and Johnny took these photos of the canyon.

The following day we toured the Val Verde Winery in Del Rios.

We usually find the oldest bar in a location, but this time we found the oldest bonded winery in Texas dating back to 1883.

The descendants of the founder, Frank Qualia, are still running the business.  The vineyards are in the backyard.

We stepped inside where they display some of the antique presses and other winemaking items.

And of course we enjoyed an extensive wine tasting!

While in Del Rio, we enjoyed a "Texas" dinner prepared by Jenny and Tim, complete with cornbread!  We plan to see our friends again in the Hill Country.

Caravan

Leaving Rio Grande Valley next week
Heading to Austin and then the Texas Hill Country

We traveled with our friends Tim and Jenny from Alpine, TX to Del Rio, Texas.  Since there were 2 RVs, we called it a caravan.

But first we had to hook up in the rain!  Yuck - only the 2nd or 3rd time in the last 18 months we've had to do that.  No fun.

We stopped in Marathon, TX to look around the famous Gage Hotel.  A young rancher named Alfred Gage commissioned the building of the hotel in 1927.  The architect, Henry Trost, also designed the Holland Hotel in Alpine that we visited earlier.

The lobby was inviting.

Including the cozy fireplace.

The furniture has interesting carvings.

This is a sitting room right next to the lobby.

Time to hit the road again!

The Texas Alps

Currently In:  Mercedes Texas
Next Up: Austin

Tim and Jenny decided to take us on another scenic drive through the Davis Mountains.  On our way there, we made a quick stop at the Chihuahuan Botanical Garden.  We were not there to hike and had seen lots of botanical plants, so we took at quick look at the Happy Jack Mine museum.

On to the main event!  This is the start of the scenic loop drive.

First we saw the lodges from the Apache tribes that originally inhabited this area.

Fort Davis was built in 1854 to protect travelers on the San Antonio-El Paso Road.  Once the Civil War started, this frontier fort was abandoned.  We saw ruins of the original Fort.

 These barracks remain from the post-Civil War Fort.  The fort was re established in 1867 and staffed primarily with Buffalo (black) Soldiers to keep the area safe from Apaches.

This is the row of Officer Housing.

The stonework is native to this area and I thought it was really beautiful.

I love this shot with the Davis Mountains in the background.

The other big stop on the scenic loop is the McDonald Observatory.  It's part of the University of Texas - Austin.

Highest point on our journey today is at the Observatory!

With beautiful views of the area.  The Davis Mountains are known as the Texas Alps.

We saw the Harlan J Smith telescope turning from the outside, but we were not able to go inside to view the actual telescope.  It's on Mount Locke.

But we did get to walk in and see the Hobby Eberly (on Mt. Fowlkes) telescope when we attached ourselves to a tour.  I couldn't get a photo of the telescope itself due to the angle of the view through a glass window, but we saw the mirrors, arms and got a bit of an explanation from the tour guide.

We finished the rest of the loop which had more desert landscapes, but it was a cloudy day and photos were difficult.
Although the weather was not good enough to enjoy the Marfa lights the next day, we were treated to a beautiful sunset when we returned to Alpine that evening.