Mountains, mountains, love it here!

Sunday, June 26th, 2016

Today we were a little slower to get going, but still hit the door about 10:30 to go exploring. We needed to check out a few more venues for the rally planning. We headed first to Fort Davis, TX where the Fort Davis Historic Site is located, considered one of the best preserved 19th century frontier forts. 

Also there is the Davis Mountains State Park, and the beginning of the Davis Mountains scenic loop. 

We did not take time to stop at the Fort or in town, but we did drive through the State Park. It has a great scenic view up on top of one of the rolling hills, overlooking Fort Davis and the State Park.

Tony at the scenic overlook, the state park over his right shoulder, Fort Davis off to his left.

Another scenic overlook with shelter built by the CCC.

One of the loops with larger trailers in the State Park. We saw a triple-axle Cyclone.

We also discovered the Indian Lodge, at the opposite end of the park. (See first pic above, the white building off to the left.)

The 1930s lodge houses guests, and they also serve meals at the Black Bear Restaurant, so that's where we had lunch.

There is no AT&T cell service out here, but the Lodge did have (slow) wifi. I took care of some business while we were here. 

After lunch we headed on to follow the Davis Mountains scenic loop: 118 to 166.

On the way we stopped to go to the McDonald Observatory. 

The observatory's three largest instruments are the 362" Hobby-Eberly telescope on 6,600-foot Mount Fowlkes, the 107" Harlan J. Smith and 82" Otto Struve telescopes located on 6,800-foot Mt. Locke. The observatory is located just 17 miles from Fort Davis on Texas Highway 118 and under one of the darkest night skies of any major observatory in the continental United States.

It was starting to cloud up as we arrived, and started to pour while we were inside.

We got to view their museum, and learn about their offerings for daytime and nighttime tours. The drive up here is a long one from the park... hilly, curvy and I'm sure very dark at night! You do have to have reservations in advance to go to their events, and we did not make any. Will note that for next time.

Once the rain let up a little we headed back to the truck and on to more touring. The scenery was unique and amazing! Some of it was quite obscured by the rain we encountered, but that made a unique experience as well.

The highest elevation on the Loop is about 6700 feet, making it the highest public highway in Texas. About 1.5 hours to drive Click here for map.

When we had almost completed the loop, we turned and headed back by way of Marfa, TX. Marfa is a tourist destination and a major center for Minimalist art. Attractions include Building 98, the Chinati Foundation, artisan shops, historical architecture, a classic Texas town square, modern art installments, art galleries, and the Marfa lights. We didn't really stop and look, but wanted to know what all was there. It is definitely a place I want to explore more. 

We also drove by the Marfa Lights observatory. Very nice facility. 

Pic from the web of the Marfa Lights Observatory.

Sadly, not enough time or energy to go see the Marfa Lights this trip. 

We got back home about 4:30. We ate leftover pizza, made some decisions about the rally, watched a little tv and then prepped the rig for travel tomorrow. This was a fast and furious trip! We didn't even go to Big Bend National Park! But we enjoyed it and look forward to our rally in the Spring.