Today we were back on the bike, heading to Marfa, one of the more unusual towns we would visit on this trip . . .

. . . oh and the road surface immediately changed from ‘pebbles’ to ‘boulders’!!

. . . it evidently is quite poor around Presidio and, on our ride north, there were LOTS of abandoned places ‘For Sale’. No need for a sign, just spray paint your offer on the side of the house!!!

I turned around after about an hour and could see Presidio back in the distance. It was a LONGGG 30 mile climb with a constant 2-3% grade. No coasting . . .

. . . but there was plenty of time to look around. Does this look familiar????

The answer is???

Oh yeah, there it is!!!

More green today as we climbed higher towards Marfa . . .

. . . a few ups and a few downs . . .

. . . here was a bobcat that had been hit by a car, probably the day before. Beautiful creature . . . reminded me of the one we saw on the Southern Tier three years ago.

Another natural roadside attraction . . .

Texans have a good imagination!!!

Nothing special about this flat, stretch of highway. No curves, no hills no siteline problems . . .

. . . not one, but . . . 

several perished in a car accident along this lonely stretch of road. Very sad . . .

We knew we were getting close to Marfa, and our home for the night, when we spotted this clean up sign . . . The Marfa Lights!!!

As we rode into town we passed this field with lots of concrete type bunkers. Many people seemed to be moving in and around the buildings . . .

. . . as you can see from this aerial there were many . . .

. . . when we got into camp several of were discussing what they were and came to the conclusion they were part a ‘paintball park’. Jacob, who had been camped here for about three weeks, and was camped right next to us, heard our conversation and came over to tell us they were ‘works of art’ created in the 1970s, by minimalist artist Donald Judd. Who knew!!!!

Judd moved to the sleepy town and help it ‘reinvent’ itself from its former WWII manufacturing history.

It was Sunday and the campground was hosting lots of young people who had come to town for a weekend music festival . . . most young enough to be our grandchildren!!!

As you can see from the aerial photo above the campground was sort of laid out in a circular patter. Lots of wild looking art and light displays at night. Sort of reminded me of a Marfa version of ‘Burning Man’!! Hammocks provided for napping . . .

. . . interesting trailer to rent . . .

. . . and unique ‘open air’ bath. shower facilities . . .

. . . where we think these ‘racks of rocks’ somehow helped heat the shower water . . .

. . . not much privacy . . .

. . . and David and Jane helped conserve water!!!!

We had climbed over 3,500 feet to get to Marfa and the weather was cool as we sat at 4.700 feet for our map meeting. Eating out tonight so we had the meeting first.

David treated the group to ‘Prickly Pear Taffy’ YUM!!

Soon we vanned downtown to the Jett’s Grill at Hotel Paisano . . .

. . . a ‘grande dame’ of an old hotel . . .

. . . nicely restored . . .

. . . with a great bar (I was still on the wagon, at this point) but you can see the G already ‘in place’ across the bar!

Good food all around . . .

. . . including jalapeno country fried steak . . .

. . . and the biggest portobella mushroom hamburger known to man!!!!

With full tummies, it was soon time to venture the nine miles out of town to see the Marfa Lights (if they would appear tonight, no one knew!!)

The lights have been appearing on the horizon, moving around, changing colors, combining and splitting since the late 1800’s. The community, of course, has capitalized on this phenomena and actually funded a viewing/visitor site just off the highway along  with pull through parking . . .

. . . as the sun set we waited . . . and sure enough there were several. ‘unexplainable lights’ on the horizon!!!

oh . . . and the crazy ‘crop circle’ markingson the ground are another whole thing to ponder . . .

Megan captured the whole thing and being the lightest, we were sure she would be the first one to be ‘transported up to the mother ship’!!!

Soon we were back in the van, where on the ride back to the campground, Jo-Ann, formerly a non-believer, couldn’t expound enough on her new found faith in the unknown!!! She led us on an acapella version of the Monkey’s, ‘I’m a Believer’!!!

 

Today it was a easy 22 miles into Ft Davis, the end point of the bike trip loop. From there Jim, David and Jane would leave in their cars and the rest of us would van back to El Paso.

It was a cold in camp last night, below freezing for most of the night and most slept only so-so. Many thought they saw the Marfa Lights reflecting around camp but i think it was just the wild neon signs they had scattered around the campground.

. . . soon we headed,

. . . north out of town for the sprint to Ft Davis . . .

. . . with a few final splashes of color along the roadside.

. . . there had been a HUGE multi level, greenhouse operation just north of Presidio, and as we neared Ft Davis, here was a sister plant to the Villages Greenhouse operation. Funny having such production facilities out in the middle of the desert!!!

Soon we were back at our starting point of the trip , the Stone Village Tourist Camp, where we took quick showers, loaded up the van, said goodbye to our new rider friends who had driven to Ft Davis and were back in the van on the way to El Paso.

Of course, along the way  we had to stop at the Prada store, located just off Hwy 90. It is a permanently installed sculpture by artists Elmgreen and Dragset costing $120,000 to construct and was intended to never be repaired, so it might slowly degrade back into the natural landscape. This plan was deviated from when, the night the sculpture was completed, vandals graffitied the exterior, and broke into the building stealing handbags and shoes. Read all about it  here.

The fence has provided the avenue for ‘lovers’ to leave a lock symbolizing their love for each other.  Just like in Paris, FR, that is, not Paris, TX!!

. . . . Smoochie . . . I miss you!!!

Once we reached the interstate, we stopped for gas and of course the G had to consider a ‘roller dog’ snack!! Two for $1.00!!!

But it wasn’t enough to spoil his appetite, as once we were all back at the Hyatt Hotel in El Paso, and cleaned up, we headed to the Canyon Cattle Company Restaurant . . .

. . . where Marion took EXCELLENT care of us, delivering our two  tables of several rounds of beverages all on one tray!!!

. . . and finally, after 10 days, I fell off the wagon with a well appreciated bourbon on the rocks . . .

We all ate hearty, Texas style,  . . .

which included room for dessert . . .

. . . all around

even Jamie, our most healthy eater, broke down here at the finish line!!!

Back at the Hyatt . . . sweet dreams . . . .

Most of us met for the great breakfast provided in the lobby. Hugs all around, as folks headed to the airport and their flights home.

Quite a trip . . .

350 miles and 15,000 feet of climbing . . .

with a great set of new friends . . .

Suresh, New Jersey

George, Wisconsin

Rachel, Washington

Jo-Ann, Oregon

David, Texas

Jane, Texas

Megan, California

Tom, Wisconsin

Jim, Indiana

Jamie, California

Clif, New Jersey

Nancy, Indiana

Russ, Nevada

 . . . and a lifetime of memories . . .

We packed up our bikes . . . all my pieces fit back in the EXCELLENT hard sided shell case Smoochie had bought me for my birthday . . .

. . . in an hour, the G and I had our bikes boxed up. It was only 9:15am . . .

. . . breakfast lasted until 9:30am, so I went back for a second breakfast!!!

We kept going down to the pool area to check on George, who had brought his travel ‘ break-a-part’ bike along with it’s custom travel case. All weighing less than 50 pounds so it went back on the plane as checked luggage.

But . . . it took him three hours to pack it up!!!

The flight home was uneventful until we got to Milwaukee at 11:00pm and found the G’s van, parked in the extended stay parking area, had been plowed in after the snow that fell two days before. Using window scrappers as shovels, we were able to dig it out and were soon on the road back to Madison.

This is what had hit the area . . .

. . . and it was till winter on our deck when I woke up in the morning. It would be six more days until the snow would finally (and hopefully) be gone until . . . maybe October????

FINAL TRIP THOUGHTS:  . . . . coming soon . . .