Marathon Sky Park Star Party

Our neighbor at the Marathon Motel and RV Park hosts a star party each clear night, where he and another guy talk about the moon, planets, and stars, and show several of them through a couple of telescopes and high-powered binoculars for anyone interested (no reservation required, other than big groups).

A sign for the star party by the office:

Star party sign

The motel has a large area set aside for telescopes, with several concrete pads and a couple of small domes, plus a shed for a bigger telescope:

Star party area

Our host, setting up the bigger telescope:

Telescope

A photo of the moon, taken through the smaller telescope; rather blown out, but you can see the craters and mountains at the terminator line:

Moon

Sunset:

Sunset

A bunch of people for the star party:

Star party

Using a powerful laser pointer to indicate stars:

Laser pointer

People at the binoculars:

Star party

The two telescopes:

Telescopes

It was an enjoyable and fascinating experience. And so convenient, a short walk from our coach.

Marathon, Texas

We really liked the small town of Marathon in Texas (Wikipedia page). It has a population of just about 400, and was established in 1882.

We had lunch at the V6 Coffee Bar:

V6 Coffee Bar

Lunch

The one grocery store in town, The French Grocer, is pretty tiny and expensive, but had the essentials:

The French Grocer

With cute little grocery carts, too:

The French Grocer

They also had a wide selection of ciders; we bought four Texas Keeper bottles:

Ciders

More buildings around town:

Buildings

A train track goes through the town:

Train

The post office:

Post office

A painted sign next to the post office:

Sign

Foot bridge:

Foot bridge

Rail tracks:

Rail tracks

Another foot bridge:

Foot bridge

More buildings:

Building

Shops

Building

Texas etched in footpath:

Texas etched in footpath

Texas flag etched in footpath

Another day, we had dinner at Brick Vault Brewery & Barbecue:

Brick Vault Brewery & Barbecue

Outside seating:

Outside seating

Inside:

Inside

Menu:

Bar:

Bar

The building used to be a Gulf gas station, established in 1939:

Gulf station established 1939

A view outside:

Door

Our dinners, all very tasty:

Dinner

And desserts, also tasty:

Dessert

Outside:

Outside

Fire station:

Fire station

Windmill:

Windmill

Church:

Church

Historic house:

Historic house

Shops:

Shops

The Gage Hotel is the main feature of the town, in fact they own several other businesses around town:

Gage Hotel

On the road next to the RV park, an amusing UFO sign:

UFO sign

On our last day, we stopped by Big Bend Pizza:

Big Bend Pizza

A cute town. We’d be happy to visit again.

Big Bend Ranch State Park

We travelled along the Rio Grande river route through Big Bend Ranch State Park. This river marks the border between the US and Mexico.

Here’s an interactive map of our route and stops:

We first needed to go back to Fort Leaton to get a permit to access stops along the route, which was no additional cost thanks to having purchased a Texas State Parks Pass:

Fort Leaton

Then we headed east into the park, passing the road to the interior of the park:

Road to interior of park

Lots of interesting hills and views along the route:

Interesting hills

Interesting hills:

Interesting hills

Park sign:

Sign

Interesting hills

A narrow single lane bridge during construction:

Roadworks

Interesting hills

Hoodoos:

Hoodoos

Interesting hills

The Rio Grande river:

Rio Grande river

Interesting hills

More roadworks:

More roadworks

Roadworks

15% grade:

15% grade

Rio Grande river:

Rio Grande river

We stopped at a nice roadside picnic area for lunch:

Picnic area

The Rio Grande river was close behind the picnic area — and the other side of the river is Mexico:

Rio Grande river

Interesting hills

Contrabando day use area and movie set:

Contrabando day use area and movie set

Closer to the Rio Grande river:

Rio Grande river

Contrabando day use area and movie set

Interesting hills

The other side of the park, Barton Warnock Visitor Center:

Barton Warnock Visitor Center

Courtyard

Barton Warnock Visitor Center

The four deserts of the US; we’ve now been to all four:

Barton Warnock Visitor Center

We’re amused by “intrusive igneous deposits”:

Barton Warnock Visitor Center

Courtyard

Heading back:

Interesting hills

15% grade:

15% grade

Interesting hills

Boats in the river:

Rio Grande river

Fort Leaton State Historic Site

We visited the Fort Leaton State Historic Site, literally a minute down the road from our campsite. It also serves as the western entrance of Big Bend Ranch State Park in Texas (which is distinct from Big Bend National Park, which we’ll visit from our next campsite).

Fort Leaton State Historic Site

Here’s a map of the fort from a self-guided tour PDF:

Map

Outside:

Fort Leaton State Historic Site

Fort Leaton

Courtyard:

Fort Leaton

A ranger; we purchased a Texas State Parks Pass, since we’ll be in Texas over the winter:

Ranger

Gift shop:

Gift shop

Exhibits:

Displays

A cart, or “carreta”, used to transport goods:

Cart

Corral area:

Courtyard

The walls in this area haven’t been restored:

Walls

Crumbly doorways:

Doorway

Door and window

Doorways

Blacksmith:

Blacksmith

Fireplace:

Fireplace

The “dungeon”:

Room

Walls:

Walls

Kitchen:

Kitchen

Dining room:

Dining room

Family parlor:

Family parlor

Trading office:

Trading office

Formal parlor:

Formal parlor

Nursery / family sitting room:

Nursery

Courtyard:

Courtyard

Servant’s quarters:

Servant's quarters

Outside again:

Outside

A nature trail around the fort:

Nature trail

Cemetery:

Cemetery

A view of the fort from the trail:

Nature trail

An interesting historic site.

Taking a break; happy Thanksgiving

We’ve been taking it easy recently, not doing many interesting things, so I’ve caught up with scheduled blog posts; the next post will be travel to our current location, which I don’t like to publish until after we leave.

So, after doing a new post every day for the past year or so, I’m going to take a break for a week, ostensibly to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday week. See you on Monday the 28th!

(I will still do single-picture daily posts on my personal blog, if only for the Micro.blog challenge going on this month.)

I’ll leave you with this picture of a roadside attraction from that travel day:

Selfie at Prada Marfa

Carlsbad Caverns National Park again

We visited Carlsbad Caverns a second time, this time to do the Natural Entrance and Big Room trails.

On the way, passing the Apache Canyon Trading Post:

Apache Canyon Trading Post

And White’s City:

White's City

The Carlsbad Caverns sign:

Carlsbad Caverns sign

Entrance road:

Entrance road

Again we had a picnic lunch by the visitor center:

Picnic lunch

The visitor center sign:

Visitor center sign

The path to the natural entrance:

Path to natural entrance

We were stopped for the pre-entrance instructions from the ranger:

Path to natural entrance

The bat amphitheater, where people can watch the bats leaving the cave in the evenings:

Bat amphitheater

Heading down into the natural entrance:

Path to natural entrance

An info sign; 1.25 miles, 750 feet of elevation change:

Info sign

The natural entrance:

Natural entrance

Reaching the junction with the Rest Stop and Big Room:

Natural entrance

Rest stop sign

The Big Room trail:

Big Room

Back to the Underground Rest Stop:

Underground rest area

We bought a snack at the shop; the attendant was very chatty with info about the cave, visitors, bats, etc:

Underground rest area

Back up the elevator:

Elevator

The gift shop:

Gift shop

Jenn bought a bunch of postcards; she collects the WPA-style postcards, and this gift shop had an excellent collection, so she was able to get some missing and future ones:

Postcards

A selfie by the sign, with a stuffed toy bat from the gift shop:

Selfie

Sitting Bull Falls

We visited Sitting Bull Falls in New Mexico.

Some nice scenery on the way:

Hills

Road

Lincoln National Forest:

Lincoln National Forest

Road

Rocks

Wash

Last Chance Canyon trailhead

Hill

Road

Sitting Bull Falls Picnic Area:

Sitting Bull Falls Picnic Area

A time capsule and info about the Civilian Conservation Corps:

Time capsule

Sign

Very nice picnic shelters:

Picnic shelters

Rocks

Path to the falls:

Path

Rocks

Falls:

Falls

Selfie

Falls

Pond

Falls

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Just south of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, across the border in Texas, is Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Passing through the town of Carlsbad again on the way there:

Carlsbad

Cave people art:

Cave people art

We stopped for lunch at a tiny separate section of Carlsbad Caverns NP, Rattlesnake Springs Picnic Area:

Rattlesnake Springs Picnic Area

They have a very nice picnic area in an oasis of trees, which we had pretty much to ourselves (only one other group in the distance):

Rattlesnake Springs Picnic Area

Rattlesnake Springs sign:

Rattlesnake Springs sign

This area has a spring that is the source of the water for the caverns:

Spring

Spring pool:

Spring pool

With fish:

Fish

Continuing on, we entered Texas:

Entering Texas

Mountains:

Mountains

A brief stop at the small McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center of Guadalupe Mountains National Park:

McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center;

Then on to the main part of the park:

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Pine Springs Visitor Center:

Pine Springs Visitor Center

You know I enjoy 3D relief maps:

Relief map

Inside the visitor center:

Pine Springs Visitor Center

We walked along the Pinery Trail, about a mile of nature trail:

Pinery Trail

Pine Springs Visitor Center

Pinery Trail

We took a look at the “campground”, little more than a parking lot (and too small for our coach):

Campground

We were impressed by El Capitan mountain:

El Capitan mountain

A rest area and view:

Rest area

El Capitan mountain again:

El Capitan mountain

A quick spin along Frijole Ranch road:

Frijole Ranch

Then back north into New Mexico, a much-needed carwash, and back home to our coach.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

We visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico:

Carlsbad Caverns sign

The road to the visitor center:

Road

We had a reservation for a ranger-led tour, so after checking in, we had a picnic lunch:

Picnic

Back to the visitor center:

Visitor center

Bat artwork in the foyer:

Bat artwork

The ticketing area:

Tickets

There are two ways down to the caverns: elevators, or the natural entrance. This time, we took the elevators. They lead to the underground rest stop, with food, swag, and bathrooms:

Underground rest area

We joined the ranger for our guided tour:

Ranger guide

He was a bit of a character, with multiple philosophy degrees. That definitely showed in his talks, with discussions of paradoxes and raising questions about the caverns.

The tour we went on was the King’s Palace tour (the only one offered currently). It gives access to caverns not open to the general public, via this gate:

Gate

Heading down:

Heading down

Stalactites:

Stalactites

The King’s Palace room:

Kings Palace

The ranger passed around an old photo showing the room (sorry, not a great shot of it):

Old photo

Through a tunnel to the next room:

Tunnel

The Papoose Room:

Papoose Room

Tunnel

The Queen’s Chamber:

Queen's Chamber

An actively dripping column; the ranger turned out the lights and we sat by this in total darkness for a few minutes, just listening to the dripping of the water:

Column