Day 44, April 13th 2011, Wednesday – Chuck Wagon Report #6

What am I doing posting so soon?  Today was a Tourist Day. 

Actually, it began last (Tuesday) night.  We were staying in Fort Davis, TX which is just 20 odd miles from Marfa, home of the Mystery Lights, so we decided to run down and see them.  The drive down reminded me of driving Saddle Road on Hawaii.  Driving across a blackened Plain with cinder coloured mountains on each side.  You could even see Observatory Domes on the top of one of the mountains, just as you can see the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii (but these are the McDonald Observatory).  The wildfires burned most of the grassland between Marfa and Fort Davis.  We saw the lights from the “Marfa’s Mystery Lights Viewing Area”, about 10 miles East of Marfa.  It was more than your typical Texas Picnic Area, because it had bathrooms and a Veranda equipped with pedestal telescopes (free at that).  The lights we saw were consistently in the same areas, and came and went, pretty much what you would expect from cars on a road.  Another light was stationary, like a Ranch House’s security light.  At one point it was joined for a few minutes by another light at the same level and not too far apart.  Someone went out to the barn.  We only stayed about an hour after sunset, so maybe the aliens do not come out until it is really dark.

Today we went down to Big Bend National Park.  We drove the loop from Alpine to Marathon, through the park, and up to Alpine.  After a stop for lunch at one of the overlooks, where I took this photograph of Jo Ann and I (plus I discovered my camera has a 2 second self-timer mode as well as a 10 second one), we stopped and the Park Headquarters. 

Timing is everything

We then proceeded to the Basin, which is a High Country valley totally surrounded by mountain peaks.  It has beautiful Vistas,

Looking out the "Window" of the Basin

wonderful wildlife,

When Mountain Lions Attack!

but most exciting was it had a long steep drive up to it.  This meant I got to ride down it on the bicycle!  My top speed was 41mph!

We drove down the scenic Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to the Rio Grande, and the mouth of Santa Elena Canyon.  The river runs through the narrow Canyon, surrounded by shear cliffs hundreds of feet tall.  It is said to be one of the most scenic rafting trips in the country.

The Rio Grande emerges from Saint Elena canyon

On the trip back to Alpine we had to decide where we wanted to stay.  Since the RV Park in Fort Davis we stayed at Tuesday night did not have its Internet service restored, we were looking for an alternate.  We hit upon the idea of Dry Camping at the “Marfa’s Mystery Lights Viewing Area”.  We arrived about an hour before Sunset.  This gave us time to verify that there is a ranch house where we saw the stationary light(s).  And later, at about the same time as the night before, they went out to the Barn, turning on the second light.  We could also see the hills in the distance where we saw the moving lights.

But the most interesting part was the people we met there, and their reactions.  We met a couple from the Netherlands, who were visiting Austin.  The gentleman was very skeptical about the lights.  But after Jo Ann regaled them with the tale of her cross country trip, and gave them this blog address, he was reluctant to leave.  He said that he knew that when they got home, he would read on the blog that no sooner had they left that we would see the Mystery Lights and discover their secret.  So I will neither confirm not deny that a UFO landed between the Ranch House and the Viewing Area, nor describe its antics.  I had some work to do on one of my Red Cross projects, so I sat on the Veranda for several hours working on my laptop.  Several groups of people came by, and I heard several discussions on what the lights were ranging from skeptical to fervent belief.  It was the best part of the evening.

What is the real answer?  You decide!

For my anthophobic Niece, the obligatory Campsite Pet