Florida Spring Training Trip 2016 - Day 10

We left Las Cruces about 9:15 am and missed most of the El Paso morning rush hour traffic but not the road construction.  There is  a lot of it going on and it doesn't appear New Mexico and Texas are skimping on infrastructure upkeep and improvements.

It was another good travel day with good weather and little wind.  As we entered west Texas we continued to experience the "wide open spaces".  This year, we decided to deviate from the normal I-10 east itinerary through Texas (850 miles) and head southeast on the old east/west route along US Highway 90.  So, we turned southeast at Van Horn, Texas and traveled through several towns along the way to our destination today in Marathon, Texas "Where the Big Bend Begins".

As we learned from our previous travels there is always something to see in the desert if you look for it.  We happened to see three actual desert junkyards.  I am not sure they are active "parts dealers" but rather convenient places to park old cars that nobody wants any more.  Actually, one of them seemed to consist solely of old pick-up trucks.  We also passed through a couple of small "used-to-be towns" that for whatever reason seem to be mostly abandoned.  

We also saw at least 25 Texas Highway Patrol cars, more-or-less in formation, heading west.  It seemed strange, so we asked the Border Patrol agent at the next inspection check point about the troopers.  He said they were on the way to El Paso to help provide security along the U.S. side of the border while the Pope was saying mass at the border fence in Juarez, Mexico on Wednesday.

On the way to Marfa, Texas, the first town of note we were coming to, we saw a strange sight ahead of us in the sky.  It sort of looked like a smaller version of the Goodyear Blimp without the advertising. As we came closer we noticed a facility back off the road that had what appeared to be a tether tower and several buildings behind a wire fence.  When we stopped in Marfa for lunch and were ordering Subway sandwiches, there was a Border Patrol agent also in line.  I asked him about the blimp and he said it was a surveillance radar platform operated by a contractor for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency.  

Further research discovered it is one of a series of Tethered Aerostat Radar Systems (TARS) deployed in various locations along the southwest border of the United States and Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Caribbean in support of federal agencies involved in the nation's drug interdiction program. The primary mission is to provide low-level radar surveillance.

I remembered Marfa as a navigation check point when I was flying navigation training missions from Harlingen, TX in 1959. Marfa, an interesting town, was founded in the early 1880's as a railroad water stop. The Marfa Army Airfield also served as a training facility for several thousand pilots during World War II before closing in 1945. The area around the town is now known as a cultural center for contemporary artists and artisans focused on minimalist art.  We didn't stop to check it all out but we did see an example of this type of art on the way into town.  We did a double-take as we drove by a small concrete building along the side of the road depicting a Prada showroom with shoes and handbags displayed.  As it turns out, this was an art project.  It is described by an art critic on the Internet as follows:

"The Prada store stands in the middle of the desert, full of handbags and shoes chosen by Miuccia Prada. The store is perpetually closed, yet there it sits waiting for the art world to drive by and think, maybe for a second, it is real and one could stop off in the desert for a handbag, a successful comment on our conspicuous consumption mentality."

We also saw a snowman made from old tires painted white (sort of like the Michelin Man), but we don't think it was part of the west Texas avante garde art scene. 

Another thing we saw on the way out of town was the "Marfa Lights Viewing Station", a way side stop not unlike a rest stop.  Not knowing anything about the Marfa Lights, I looked it up and found out that:

"The Marfa lights, also known as the Marfa ghost lights, have been observed near U.S. Route 67 on Mitchell Flat east of Marfa, Texas, in the United States. They have gained some fame as onlookers have ascribed them to paranormal phenomena such as ghosts, UFOs, or will-o'-the-wisp, etc. However, scientific research suggests that most, if not all, are atmospheric reflections of automobile headlights and campfires."

Maybe we will go back and check it out sometime.

The next town along the way was Alpine.  Alpine is much bigger than Marfa and home to Sul Ross State University.  It seemed like a nice town and the gateway to Ft. Davis National Historic Site and the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains.

On our way to Marathon, Texas (our destination) we also saw a shabby concrete structure, much like a bus stop shelter surrounded by dead grass in the middle of nowhere with the Target symbol and name on it.  Further research indicated it was built and placed along the road by the Marathon Volunteer Fire Department in response to the Marfa Prada.  As they said on Facebook:

"Someone needs to tell Marfa Prada we have a Marathon Target that sells more stuff"

As we said, you never know what you are going to see in the desert.

We arrived at the Marathon Motel and RV Park about 4:30 pm (we are now in the Central Time Zone) and were pleasantly surprised. I was thinking Bates Motel and RV Park but it is really quite nice. We have a pull through site, WiFi and 64 cable TV channels . The park is right off the highway but there is not a lot of highway noise. Highway 90 parallals the main east/west railroad down here however, and long Union Pacific trains frequently pass close by. And, as they come through town they sound their horn at the railroad crossings. You cannot miss them, but they didn't wake us up last night.

After resting awhile we went into town and had a great dinner at the Gage Hotel. It is truly an Oasis in the desert. We are not quite sure how they make a go of it here but it is definitely upscale and very well done.

Tomorrow we will take a road trip down to Big Bend National Park about 60 miles south of here.

Day 10 Pictures