On the road again...

Goin' places that I've never been.

Seein' things that I may never see again...

I couldn’t wait to get on the road again...SO, I decided on a trip to the Davis Mountains...I was going to go some place I’d never been, but after going I sure hope it’s something I do have the chance to see again...

I was feeling restless last week and a little disappointed that I’d decided not to go to Costa Rica this month for the volunteer teaching trip. So, I figured a road trip was in order. I originally planned to go it alone, but as it turned out my sweet niece Kaeley could go with me. (I’m sorry to say that I don’t think she had as good of a time as I did due to the fact that she got bronchitis while we were gone and didn’t feel great...BUT...I am glad she went along with me... and I hope she is feeling better soon)...

We headed out from Lubbock on Friday morning after the requisite trip to Sonic and drove toward our destination of Ft. Davis, Texas. The drive was enjoyable. We talked a lot and I was very happy to realize that my travel partner was appreciating the simple beauty of the differing landscapes and natural wonders we passed on our way. Even the extremely flat and open land that stretches out in every direction around Lamesa and Midland gave us opportunities to see beautiful fields of white cotton bolls that stood out against the brown dirt rows and stretched for miles just waiting to be harvested. I have to admit I personally enjoyed both the beauty of the area and the opportunity to legally drive 80 miles an hour in some areas as we headed to our destination.

Our first stop after several hours in the car was Balmorhea. Those of you who have followed my travels know I was in Balmorhea earlier this year, and although it could have been a disappointing weekend for me, I really loved the simple beauty of this place. Seeing it with someone who hadn’t been there and seeing it dressed in the glorious golds and oranges of fall color was a special treat.

We stopped in Balmorhea to get gas as well as take some pics of the beautiful trees standing along and stretching across the waters from the spring that run through town. While we were taking pics and taking in the beauty we were joined by the cutest little puppy with the sweetest little Pekinese underbite and a wagging tail that made us feel welcomed to his hometown.

After stretching our legs we headed toward the beautiful mountains on the horizon and enjoyed taking in the gorgeous views that greeted us around every turn as we headed further and further in to the mountains. The road began to curve and rise slightly as we saw the incredible exposed rock faces of mountains. The land in this area is a sight to behold. It reminded me of the rugged Old West you see in movies and while it’s incredibly different from the mountains I’ve probably seen the most in the Ruidoso area, it is definitely just as breathtaking in it’s own way.

As we headed in to Ft. Davis, I noticed the quaint old buildings such as the courthouse and bank, which again both looked like something out of a scene from a Western where one can easily imagine bank patrons (or maybe even bandits in black hats) riding up on their horses and moseying inside.

After a quick call to the Davis Mountains Inn (the bed & breakfast where we’d be staying) to get directions, we headed the short distance on down the road and pulled in at the dirt road beside Pops’ Diner (the place isn’t open, but we both noticed it -- most likely because all my daddy’s grandkids call him Pops.) We unloaded our bags at the Inn, which is a lovely home in an open pasture that sits in the valley between Blue Mountain and the Sleeping Lion Mountain that surround Ft. Davis. We were greeted by one of our hosts for the weekend and decided that since we hadn’t eaten since we left Lubbock that we’d head out for an early dinner. Before leaving for Murphy’s ( a great pizza and sandwich shop in Ft. Davis) we put our things away in our spacious and very nice suite. The room had a big king-sized bed and an even bigger, beautiful bathroom complete with a whirlpool tub surrounded by bay windows, double sinks and a separate huge shower. Kaeley had never stayed in a bed & breakfast, but I have and this one definitely met my somewhat ‘fancy’ standards ;) and exceeded my expectations.

Another thing that exceeded my expectations was the food at Murphy’s. When we walked through the door, took our menus, and headed to the enclosed patio area (with a tree that grows up through the roof and occasionally drops big ‘horse apples’ on the tin roof that are a bit alarming til you get used to the noise they create) the smell of pizza and garlic and other scrumptious scents filled the air. We decided to share a Caesar salad and a calzone. And it was indeed a great decision. We had several good meals throughout the weekend and I’ve had really good calzones (one of the best is at Cafe Rio in Ruidoso) but the calzone at Murphy’s was too yum, yum, yummy to be missed. In fact, I think I’d be tempted to drive all the way to Ft. Davis just to have another one of them ;)... We finished our dinner and decided to do a little shopping before we headed back to the Inn to change for our trip to the McDonald Observatory. There really aren’t a great number of stores in Ft. Davis and even fewer that are open after 5, but we found a great little store called Hollyhocks and Javelinas...I didn’t see a Ft. Davis lapel pin to add to my collection, but I did find and purchase a great set of flip flop socks...And, that’s right, I said set...The socks come in sets of three and all three socks are different...So, you don’t actually get pairs, but you do get three socks that are coordinated in color AND were a great deal for someone like me who loves to wear flip flops even when the weather outside dictates that socks should be worn. There were beautiful crosses, interesting lamps and glass pieces, and a few cute hats as well as lots of interesting jewelry and other items to look at in what was definitely my favorite store in Ft. Davis.

I was very excited about going to the ‘Star Party,’ an event offered every Friday, Saturday and Tuesday night at the observatory. When planning the weekend, I’d focused very much on not only the idea of seeing new things, but also of learning new things. When we arrived at the observatory, it was dark...very, very dark...and in fact, we were told later in our stay that the area where we were is the darkest place in the Northern Hemisphere. We stumbled through the extreme darkness in the parking area and toward the visitors center where we bought our tickets for the Star Party that started just a few moments after we arrived. The night air was cool and crisp, but not too cold to enjoy standing out and looking at the stars. I am not sure if Kaeley was most impressed with seeing Jupiter with its orbiting moons and debris field or the Seven Sisters constellations or the Andromeda galaxy OR the really cool extremely high-powered laser pointers that the guides at the observatory use to point out constellations and other heavenly attractions when visitors aren’t looking through the telescopes. All of the things, including the powerful laser pointers, were very interesting and impressive to me. After viewing all the different star clusters and constellations that were visible through the telescopes set up behind the visitors center we headed back inside. We unfortunately missed the film offered to visitors which shows other sights not visible on the night we were at the observatory, but we did enjoy the gift shop. I was, of course, going to buy a lapel pin to hang with the others I’ve collected from places I’d visited, but I also found other things I really wanted to buy. And while, I doubt that anyone really NEEDS an Einstein finger puppet/refrigerator magnet, I felt I had to have one...what can I say, I love intelligence and felt like having an Einstein finger puppet along with a book on the basics of Einstein’s theories was a good choice of souvenir from a weekend that was all about seeing and learning new things. We finished our evening at the observatory by walking through the self-guided interactive portion of the observatory and learning a good deal about the color of stars and other things I had no idea about. The experience overall did what I feel new experiences should do, which was make me realize how very little I know and make me want to know and learn much more ... Hence the purchase of the Einstein book and my new quest to have at least some very basic grasp on scientific theories and information that I never really took the time to learn or explore when I was in high school or any other level of my education.

We headed back through the dark twisting roads of the mountains (a long 14 miles, which Kaeley and I both decided we’d enjoy much more in the daylight and decided we’d definitely visit before we headed home) and arrived safely at the Inn. After having a fresh baked brownie (one of the many perks of staying at a bed & breakfast is the yummy food made available by our friendly hosts) and slipping in to our pjs, we headed outside the back fence to sit on the patio and pet the innkeepers dogs and just take in some more of the dark beautiful sky dusted with more stars than I’d ever seen stretched above us before we headed in to bed. We slipped in to our big bed and nodded off to sleep. My mind was filled with gratitude for the great niece and travel partner who was sharing my adventure with me AND was also filled with great anticipation of our Saturday activities, which would include pottery lessons taught by the innkeeper. This trip was definitely turning out to be a wonderful experience inspired by wonderful company, comfy accommodations, natural beauty and great opportunities to learn...