Fort Davis, Texas

 Good morning, my friends, and welcome to the Lone Star State.

As we left New Mexico yesterday, I captured one of the many nut tree orchards we passed while there. Given the number of signs we saw advertising "local" pecan pie, I'm going to go out on a limb (did you see what I did there?) and say these are pecan trees.

It was only about 30 miles to the border. 

We crossed over and into El Paso. It's the latest of many drives through El Paso. It seems interminably under construction. I'm adding this little image from the road map. You can see that Interstate 10 parallels the border with Mexico here.

And this was our view for much of the day.

Looking to my right, I could see Ciudad Juarez on the Mexico side.

Looking off in the distance, there's the border "wall." It's actually a fence. I hold very strong opinions about this, but I'll keep them to myself.

Passing by, we could see these words written in Spanish on the hillside. I inquired of The Google what it might mean. 

(image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/amboo213/20089938#)

The image above was taken by a photographer who calls herself "amboo who?". She had this explanation:

After crossing the border, we stopped in at one of the rest stops. Inside the ladies room I saw this mosaic. You could make a quilt from this if you wanted to.

It wasn't long before we passed through another border patrol check. I hope you all have your papers with you.

There were agents actually working at this border check. They waved us on through. I worried they'd want to see inside the RV, as they did when we crossed back into New York from Canada some years back. 

On the hillside above Sierra Blanca, we could see the "SB". This made me curious about what the name meant. "White," obviously. But what about the rest? Wikipedia tells us the town was named for the nearby Sierra Blanca Mountain, which was in turn was named for the white poppies that grew there (sierra blanca is Spanish for "white mountain"). Have I told you recently how much I 🧡the internet?

You might want to set your watch. We're in the Central Time Zone now.

We stopped at another rest stop where this mosaic appeared in the ladies room. It covered one whole wall, and I couldn't capture the whole thing in a single shot. Below is the left side...

And here's the right side.

Oh yes, and if you're planning on doing any walking here, please watch your step.

Continuing on...we were still on I-10 when I noticed these cinder cones off in the distance.

Recently, I read Simon Winchester's book, A Crack at the Edge of the World. It was about the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. Approximately 2/3 of the book was devoted to explaining earth's geology, tectonic plates, earthquake faults, and volcanic activity. I learned that our whole country is a spiderweb of cracks, some more active and destructive than others, of course. As it turns out, Texas has no fewer than 10 volcanoes. (If you click on that link, you'll be asked to subscribe. Just dismiss that, and the article will appear.) 

We happened to be driving through the area where the Van Horn Mountains Caldera is located, and we saw a number of cinder cones.

Finally, now about 50 miles from our final destination, we turned off the interstate onto TX-118. The drive was much more scenic there. Indeed, it's marked on the map as a scenic byway, and a nearby loop around several points is included in our Scenic Byways book. We'll drive at least part of it today.

We'd driven through desert and sage brush for most of the day, and so it was nice to see this juniper forest.

As we approached MacDonald Observatory, we could see the domes off in the distance.

Zooming in, this is the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. I tried to book a tour here, but it was sold out six months ago. I added our names to the waiting list, but no dice.

These two domes house the 2.1-meter (82-inch) Otto Struve Telescope (left) and the 2.7-meter (107-inch) Harlan J. Smith Telescope (right).

We have general admission tickets to visit today, and we'll head up this hill a little later. The visitor center will open at noon.

Finally, finally, finally, we reached our destination for the next three nights (two now). Our drive was about 250 miles yesterday, but traffic and bad roads made it seem longer. Also, we lost an hour with the time change.

The person who checked us in was a little flat and unfriendly, but the place is very interesting. This is the information contained on the paperwork we were given.

There are a few other people here, but it's a very large place and sparsely populated. We got Smitty out for about a five-minute walk. 

The walk lasted until he spied a man off in the distance, and then he turned-tail and ran up the steps.

Sadie, open the door, wouldja?

After dinner, our shadow selves were itching to get out for a walk. 

I'd noticed a historical marker as we drove in, and so we walked out to the road to see it. We passed by these geese, and they made a terrific racket. These appear to be the domestic "Swan Geese."

Walking on, we saw some chickens. Look in the background, and you'll see some horses too.

This place has been designated a historic landmark by the state of Texas.

Here's what it says about it on the historical marker.

There was another ranch right next door.

These horses were located on that ranch. They were stand-offish.

Here's a little Shetland pony. My mother liked to tell me she rode a Shetland pony to school. 

Here's a little burro. When we visited the Marietta Wild Burro Range, we learned that burros can vary in coat color from so dark brown they seem nearly black to so light they almost seem white. Regardless of coat or color, all wild burros rock a dorsal stripe — markings that look like a cross on their shoulders and back, as well as dark earmarks, lighter coloring around their muzzle and eye rings, and a white or lighter colored belly and inner legs. You can see it on this one here.

Walking back toward the RV park, we noticed these wagons.

I love seeing this old stuff.

Here's an old dead tractor.

Crossing over a drainage culvert, we saw four deer.

We wondered if this "Nurse's Station" was still in use. It appears abandoned, but I suppose they use it seasonally.

Here's a chicken sculpture.

And more horses here at Prude Ranch. Horseback riding is available, but we aren't planning to indulge.

The horses all walked away when I approached their fence for a picture...except for this one.

Do these birds look menacing? Did something die?

They're turkey vultures.

Walking on, there was another structure marked by the state of Texas as a historic landmark. Here's what the sign said:

It was posted in front of this house.

I liked this gate.

This is what the shield says.

There was one more wagon to see before we made our way back to the RV.

And a wispy sunset. Day is done.

We're situated so the kitties can bask in the morning sunshine. Sadie is all about it.

C'mon, sun. Burn me.

And that's all I have for you today.

As I mentioned, we'll head up to see the MacDonald Observatory today, and then later on, we're going to try to see the "mysterious Marfa Lights." You can read about them here. I'll say more about them in tomorrow's post.