3 January ‘09
Saturday
After gathering everything up and stowing it in the coach, we headed out to say our good-bye’s to everyone at Loma Paloma RV/Golf Resort in Presidio. This was one of those stops that we’ll remember for a long time because of their efforts to make us feel at home. Just about everyone that was there were those that have been coming to this location for years and staying the winter. Who knows, maybe we’ll be doing the same thing with them soon. Anyway, we backtracked to Marfa, took a right turn and headed east on T-90. The drive across this part of Texas wasn’t the most spectacular drive that we’ve taken, but with the wind pushing from behind it was certainly enjoyable. Right after passing Alpine I decided that I was getting hungry, but I sure didn’t want to turn back. Marathon was another 30 miles ahead so I it was either find a large enough spot to turn onto or tough it out and hope that Marathon has something to offer. T-90 was and is a great road to travel, they have taken care of the roads 100 times better than California and a lot better than most other states we’ve driven in. The only problem is, they don’t have any room to get off the roadway and they have very few rest stops to drive into. Well I was able to wait it out the 30 miles and we did find a great little restaurant just as we pulled into town. Marathon is a quaint little town that at one time hosted a grand hotel and a thriving cattle community. Most of this was because of one man…Mr. Gage… He had a huge cattle company that covered over 600 hectors of land and he also built this upscale hotel here in Marathon. Now this little restaurant/soda bar, wasn’t around when Gage was here but if it had, it would have been a real success. Louise and I both ordered the “old fashioned” hamburger and chocolate malted…nice and thick and sooo good for us, right? Another 60 miles down the road and we pulled into Sanderson. Now Sanderson is one of those little towns that is in a world of hurt. Their economy is at zero and it doesn’t look like it will get better any time soon. I was getting a little tired prior to Sanderson so I decided to call it a day. Half way through town I noticed a large empty lot behind a bank and decided that that would be our over-night location. After pulling in to the lot, Louise and I went onto Main Street and walked to the end…two blocks. On the way back we happened to notice a white pickup coming around the corner. It was one of the two Sheriff’s that handles this town. After a little conversation I asked him if it would be a problem it we were to settle in for the night…”Nope, Ya’all have a good night”…