December 29, 2018
We were surprised to wake up in our hotel in Marathon, Texas (population 500), to below freezing temperatures, ice on the parking lot, and a heavy layer of frost on the windshield.
I checked the temperatures at home and in places where family members live around the US and discovered that the warmest of those places was New York City, the place furthest north (by far). Crazy!
Bob drove carefully (for Bob) on the icy roads.
The clouds that had brought the freezing temperatures during night had not completely risen from the ground, creating a chimeric glimpse of the mountains.
However, the rocky hills alongside the road appeared to be especially sharply outlined in the morning air.
The clouds in the distance slowly lifted.
But then fog started to settle on the road ahead of us. How would we be able to see the bears and mountain lions in the fog???
As we drove up into the Chisos Mountains, we broke through the fog and the scenery became more and more spectacular. The trees and bushes were covered in a thick layer of ice, something I have never seen before. It reminded me of when the White Witch cast her spell on Narnia, declaring that it would always be winter and never Christmas. There was something both magical and eerie about these trees.
Each needle was coated in ice. Does that mean it would numb your skin as it went in?
Back on the road, we hit some more fog.
The sky kept shifting from blue . . .
. . . to gray.
Bob has a hard time resisting a dirt road.
The Chiso Mountains continued to be as elusive as Shangri-La, or maybe Brigadoon, shimmering in the distance.
Eventually, we came to a ranger station with some trails.
They had a nice tribute to the peregrine falcon, which sometimes remains year-round in Big Bend because of the mild winters. Information at the site notes that these are the fastest birds in the world and can achieve speeds of up to 200 mph.
At the entrance to the trail, signs again warned us of bears and mountain lions, and we kept our fingers crossed, but we didn't see any.
A well-maintained trail wound through a desert landscape that was almost lush (as far as the desert goes).
I love the blue color of this scrub jay hopping around in the grass.
We started to head back to our hotel in Alpine, but when I saw a quilt shop in Terlingua (aka the middle of nowhere), I made Bob stop. This cactus wreath next to the entrance looked like it was made from real cactus. Ouch.
The shop appeared to be a retail outlet for local crafters. I felt like I had walked back into the 1970s. The quilts looked pretty dated.
I did like this "American Gothic Meets the Alamo" bag, but I couldn't figure out where I would be willing to be seen in public with it.
One good thing came out of stopping at the quilt shop. The proprietor recommended a nearby restaurant for dinner, the Chili Pepper Cafe. It didn't look very promising on the outside, but the food was some of the best we had during our two days in Big Bend National Park.
Another unique wreath:
We stopped for gas an hour or so later on our drive to our hotel and met this fellow, another piece of quirky West Texas art. I gotta hand it to the West Texans--they have a great sense of humor.
I checked the temperatures at home and in places where family members live around the US and discovered that the warmest of those places was New York City, the place furthest north (by far). Crazy!
Bob drove carefully (for Bob) on the icy roads.
We loved the tiny towns we passed through. They had a lot of personality. 
We were headed to the eastern end of the same park we had explored the western end of the previous day.
The clouds that had brought the freezing temperatures during night had not completely risen from the ground, creating a chimeric glimpse of the mountains.
However, the rocky hills alongside the road appeared to be especially sharply outlined in the morning air.
I was surprised to see cactus there.
Each needle was coated in ice. Does that mean it would numb your skin as it went in?
. . . but eventually the trees began to shed their icy armor.
The sky kept shifting from blue . . .
. . . to gray.
Bob has a hard time resisting a dirt road.
The Chiso Mountains continued to be as elusive as Shangri-La, or maybe Brigadoon, shimmering in the distance.
They had a nice tribute to the peregrine falcon, which sometimes remains year-round in Big Bend because of the mild winters. Information at the site notes that these are the fastest birds in the world and can achieve speeds of up to 200 mph.
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| Lord of the Wind (2005) by Bob Coffee |
At the entrance to the trail, signs again warned us of bears and mountain lions, and we kept our fingers crossed, but we didn't see any.
I love the blue color of this scrub jay hopping around in the grass.
The shop appeared to be a retail outlet for local crafters. I felt like I had walked back into the 1970s. The quilts looked pretty dated.
I did like this "American Gothic Meets the Alamo" bag, but I couldn't figure out where I would be willing to be seen in public with it.
Sweet little burro in the corral next door:
I thought the snow on the trees and cacti in the Chisos Mountains was magical. Unique and beautiful.
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