Feb 23, 2013 - Fort Davis, TX

2/23/13, SaturdayOur drive today was through West Texas. We went from flat to mountainous. Robin did some of the driving today. She is becoming a pro driver. Fort Davis is located in the Davis Mountains and is the site of one of the best preserved/restored old cavalry forts in the USA. We stayed in the Davis Mountains State Park on the recommendation of David & Ann. It was a very nice park and we met lots of very friendly people. (Hi to Bert, David and the Saskatchewan couple.) 2/24/13, SundayThis morning we toured the Fort Davis Historical...

Feb 6, 2013 - Day 205 - Fort Davis, Texas

Today was supposed to be a lazy day to catch up after our busy last week. That lasted until 11:00 am then Garry was stir crazy so we went on a walking tour of town, which has been here since the mid-1800`s. Old homes, public buildings and schools and then we continued walking into the Fort Davis Historical Site. This was a fort during the Indian Wars and before the Civil War. Some of the buildings have been restored and they are working on others. Four hours later we stumbled back to the bus to continue our lazy day.

Feb 5, 2013 - Day 204 - to Fort Davis, Texas

We headed north today past Alpine to Fort Davis. We booked tickets to go to the Star Party at the MacDonald Observatory for tonight. We took a campsite at Overland RV PArk right in Fort Davis for two nights. We headed out to get lunch and found an old fashioned Cafe in the Drugstore - Art Gallery a couple of blocks from us. It is jam-packed with antiques and old-fashioned posters and signs. We headed back to the so I could do laundry and Garry could get groceries and have a nap before our evening adventure. We headed up the mountain to...

Jan 1, 2013 - Fort Davis Area

Made a trip to Marfa and Alpine Texas, they are about 25 miles form Fort Davis, while in Alpine saw a Mural on a building, checked it out and saw a picture of Dan Blocker,Hoss, this was his hometown. The Marfa area is know for unknown lights in the sky some nights, they have been checked out and no one has an explanation as to what they are, we have not seen them, haven't been there at night. Took another ride out route 17, went across Wild Rose Pass, a beautiful drive, no Roses this time of year, this Pass was the Stage Coach rode between...

Apr 11, 2012 - Ft Davis & the Davis Mountains

Sat 4/7 We took a day trip north to the town of Ft Davis and visited the fort there by that name (I guess visiting old military installations has become a recurring theme!). The NPS has invested heavily in this historic site. The Fort was built in a box canyon along Limpia Creek just east of the Davis Mountains. It, as with many other forts of the era in the SW, lay in ruins for years following the abandonment by the Army in 1891and a long period of use by various individuals and private entities. It was a key fort during the Indian Wars...

Jan 24, 2012 - Ft. Davis, TX

We have arrived in Ft. Davis, TX which is the highest town in the state at an elevation of 5050. We are staying at Mountain Trails Lodge in a little cottage which is out of the norm for us, but it's really cute. We attended a "Star Party" at the McDonald Observatory in the evening. Unfortunately, it was overcast but we did manage to see a fuzzy Jupiter through the telescope. The staff managed to keep us entertained with a video show about the universe.

Aug 9, 2011 - Out of the ashtray by Garry

Crawling Over the Edge of the Ashtray by Garry I’ve described spending my first 18 years in Texas as growing up in an ashtray. Well, I have never seen it like it is now…..no rain since September. It has been well over 100 degrees for months. Tomorrow we crawl out of the ashtray and fly away into the cool of Frankfurt. Weather there is in the low 60’s, which is very low for us. Thoughts as I leave Odessa: I just finished the book, Willful Blindness. A good read and one appropriate to the center of the aul bidness (oil business) and why there...

Jul 31, 2011 - Germany bound tomorrow - hopefully

Part of the preparation for our trip was to determine if we were healthy enough to travel. Garry is still in good health even though he has had previous health issues and concerns. Over a year ago I begin to have some mysterious symptoms that keep me awake at night. I won't bore you with the details...... talking about health is not a favorite subject but one that we have found becomes a common discussion among the "advanced maturity group". Not a group that I like to think that I am a part of, but denial only helps so much. Over a year...

Jul 29, 2011 - Over jet lag......almost

The weather is tolerable here in the mountains of west Texas and we are finally able to stay awake during the day and sleep at night....sort of. Caitlyn and I are breaking in our new cowboys boots. My feet that are used to Hawaiian slippers and being bare foot are screaming for freedom. They will have to get used to it though cause we have to protect our feet from all those rattle snakes and scorpions. The horses might even think we know what we are doing when we try to mount them. Ft. Davis is a sleepy little town where Garry's brother...

Feb 12, 2011 - Alpine - McDonald Observatory, Ft. Davis, etc.

We are now down to fewer than three days remaining in Alpine and wanted to make sure we saved time to visit the McDonald Observatory, and then a few other places close by that we could stop by on the way back to the RV - Fort Davis Historic Site and town, and the Davis Mountains State Park. With the Observatory being a mere 40 miles north of the RV park we did get a later start than normal and felt a bit spoiled by having such a short drive – and hey, that was going to our furthest point first! After the past several days with 100+ mile...

Apr 10, 2010 - Balmorhead State Park Texas

I always find myself playing catch-up with this trip journal. It will be 2 weeks since I entered anything. After Big Bend, we stopped for a few days at Balmorhea State Park in Texas. This park is by Ft Davis. It is fed by springs and they have build a gorgeous swimming pool which is always between 72 and 76 degrees. While there we went to Fort Davis National Historical Park. The folks there have done a fantastic job of restoring the old buildings. They have the officers quarters, hospital,commissary, and enlisted mens barracks all rstored...

Mar 17, 2010 - Fort Davis

I am up and on the road north to Fort Davis TX to see the Fort Davis National Historic Site, Davis Mtn State Park and the McDonald Observatory. The weather has changed to a warm clear day. You can see from the pictures the terrain has changed from the Rio Grande area and continues to change as I travel north. The visit to the fort was my favorite activity for the day. The fort was located on the San Antonio to El Paso road, built to protect the travelers going to California for Spring Break. The trip from SA to the fort took 6 weeks. The...