31 December ‘08 Wednesday
We have now passed into “NEW” territory. As we drove through Las Cruces, New Mexico we entered into this new territory and were well on our way into the “Deep South of Texas”. Following I-10 through Las Cruces, we found ourselves pulling into a Rest Stop/Texas Visitor Center on the out-skirts of El Paso. We found this to be one of the best information centers we’ve been in. They not only had a beautiful building to work out of, but they had “the” information for anything and everywhere you might want to find in Texas. A couple of exits further into El Paso and we found a spot that we could park the coach, do some grocery shopping, and grab some lunch. Next, a stop to top-off the fuel tank ($2.06 / gal.), and head down the road. A couple of hours later we turned off of I-10 and onto T-17. This took us to our next stop and a night’s sleep. We had a long day of driving, which we normally try to stay away from, and in doing so we pulled into Balmorhea State Park in the dark. Balmorhea State Park is known for having the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool, which covers 1.75 acres and stays between 72 -76 degrees all year long.
We have now passed into “NEW” territory. As we drove through Las Cruces, New Mexico we entered into this new territory and were well on our way into the “Deep South of Texas”. Following I-10 through Las Cruces, we found ourselves pulling into a Rest Stop/Texas Visitor Center on the out-skirts of El Paso. We found this to be one of the best information centers we’ve been in. They not only had a beautiful building to work out of, but they had “the” information for anything and everywhere you might want to find in Texas. A couple of exits further into El Paso and we found a spot that we could park the coach, do some grocery shopping, and grab some lunch. Next, a stop to top-off the fuel tank ($2.06 / gal.), and head down the road. A couple of hours later we turned off of I-10 and onto T-17. This took us to our next stop and a night’s sleep. We had a long day of driving, which we normally try to stay away from, and in doing so we pulled into Balmorhea State Park in the dark. Balmorhea State Park is known for having the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool, which covers 1.75 acres and stays between 72 -76 degrees all year long.
The water winds its way through the park in these canals which you can walk over by a number of bridges.
Also there are a couple of fish that are only found here, swimming around in the canals and pool. With the water being so perfectly clean and clear, you can see to its depth of over 25 feet very easily. I would imagine anytime between spring and late fall this place would be “The“ place to be, but now…it was just too cool to enjoy the waters and in my opinion too damn expensive. This morning we continued our drive towards Big Bend. Today we saw our first field with grazing CAMELS… I knew there had to be camels somewhere but this was a first for us. Just before noon, we pulled into Marfa (T-17) and were excited to see this “artists” conclave. An artist by the name of Donald Judd apparently changed the cultural life of Marfa in the mid 1970s when he established the Chinati Foundation.
From that point on, writers, poets, designers, musicians and every other artistic mind started to settle in here. Unfortunately, with today being New Years Eve, there was absolutely nothing happening in Marfa. We did try to find some of the larger art that is surrounding the area but found very little, except the Caballos De Vigilancia (Fake Dead Horse Listening Outposts).
We even tried to have a sandwich at one of their food wagons (The Food Shark) only to have them tell us it would take 45 minutes for them to prepare it for us…ok, we’ll pass…
Back on the road again, Louise went back and made us sandwiches. In less than 5 minutes I was enjoying one, and they were even better than what we would have paid $7 for in Marfa. Still heading due south (T-67) we found ourselves arriving in Presidio. Now we make a left turn and head toward on toward Big Bend National Park. Just as we were leaving the city limits of Presidio we noticed a large digital sign that was telling us that the road to Big Bend NP was “CLOSED”. What??? Could that be TRUE??? We immediately pulled into the State Parks Information Center to see just what options we might have (we knew one of them…return to Marfa and take another route). As we approached the door we saw another sign…”CLOSED”. Well hell, now what??? We decided to continue on. About 2 miles further down the road we came across an RV/Golf Course. Now, we thought, they just might have the information that we need. As we pulled to a stop in front of the clubhouse, we noticed a golf cart pull up alongside. Asking Bill (the guy driving the golf cart and who just happens to be the RV Park manager as well) about the road closure, he stepped back, took a long look at the length of our coach, and slowly said…”well, you just MIGHT make it though, but if I were you I would stay here a night and enjoy a happy hour at 4, and grand fireworks display at 7. Now tomorrow afternoon, we are having a wonderful dinner here at the clubhouse that you would enjoy as well”. Well here we sit, all plugged in, having thoroughly enjoyed the happy hour and the fireworks, and committed to being around for New Years dinner at the clubhouse…what a salesman…