The End.

Probably when you read this we'll be home.  In a way not wanting this time to end; in another way will be glad to be back home.  Hopefully everything will be okay when we get there. I always dread getting laundry caught up and getting the kitchen re-stocked when we return. Guess that's my two main dreaded chores.  

Here's what happened toward the end of our time there ...

Went to the Museum of the Big Bend.  They had a special exhibit of icons that was impressive. Here's St. Isidore, the farming saint of Spain.

Here's a wonderful quote that greets you as you enter the museum ...

The entrance to the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine, TX.

We drove out to the base of Mitre Peak east of Fort Davis on the way home from Alpine.  What a lovely drive! Saw mountain sheep, antelope and lots of cattle.

Here's some of the buildings downtown Ft. Davis.  The Javelins & Hollyhocks shop is pretty neat.

There were several little shops and galleries in this Ft. Davis old motel. My fav was BeaTea K. where I purchased a few things to bring home.

I crocheted some hats and scarves while we were there for Project Warmth (for next winter).  By the time comes around to turn them in this fall, I hope to have lots more done!

Of course when we get near Springfield MO we stop at Bass Pro.  Wendell got a new pair of shoes and I got a t-shirt for V.  They now have their own motel right across the street and we stayed there.  So convenient to be able to just walk across the street.  Enjoyed dinner at Hemingway's last night.  I took TONS of pictures of our room and the lobby!  Awesome!  But I won't bore you with those.  Just let me say that if you're ever near there you should stay.  It's small but really nice!!!

We're in a new Hampton Inn in Sikeston MO tonight.  I gotta say it's probably the best Hampton I've ever stayed at.  Very modern and clean.  The decor is spectacular and unique.  This wall hanging is old paint cans!  Cool!  My DIL Jane would like this motel just for the wall art ...

Well, that's that ... thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts with me about our adventure and said prayers for me.  I look forward to being back with our church family in a few days.  God is good.

Probably a wrap ........

I think I'll try to wrap up our visit here in a few words and lots of pictures.  (Maybe put on just a tiny bit more later? ...)  Whatever -- here's some of the things that were special to me:

I think I mentioned that I found a couple of "Italy" pieces here at the thrift shop ... here's my fav.  Also found a neat candle holder that looks line a bunch of lemons!

We spent some time in the Ft. Davis Public Library and here's just a little taste of their decor.  It's housed in an 1800's adobe building that started out as a trading post. They're very busy with all sorts of community events and services.  W. walked into an exercise group one day.  They have a great used book shop.  I loved this old quilt and their globe collection.  Notice the tin ceiling ...

We went out to old Fort Davis one windy day.  It's a very special place and if you're ever near here I recommend touring it (all self-guided).  Truly enjoyed the walkabout that day. This is a view of the flag pole in the center of the old parade grounds and part of the officer's family housing area.  Outstanding mountain background.

One day we drove south to Presidio then took highway 170 along the Rio Grande about 80 miles to the Big Bend National Park.  What a drive!!!!!!!!!  (There aren't enough exclamation points to highlight how special this day trip was to both of us.)  Here's an interesting rock formation; water has been here eons ago ...

This pull out was to view the hoodoos along the Rio Grande.  That narrow green band in the middle of this picture is the river.

Some of the wildflowers along the shoulder of the highway.

Now Wendell can say he's skipped a rock in the Rio Grande ...

This was taken at the top of Panther Pass and the Rio Grand is WAY down there ... wish there was something to put this into perspective.  I'll bet when you think of the Rio you think of a river out in the middle of a desert.  Well, not here.  And the mountains on either side get even taller as you get deeper into the Big Bend National Park than they are here.

The Harland J. Smith telescope. This past week we went up to the MacDonald Observatory.  Unfortunately the guided tour was booked (but we'd done that a few years ago when we were in Marfa), so we took the self-guided tour. So glad we did!  Also, the weather was outstanding that day.  We spent a lot of time just sitting on benches, soaking up the sun and looking at the view from way up there.  Got a lot of walking in. Great lunch at their cafe, too.  Outstanding day!

The Hobby-Eberly telescope, taken from the site of the other two large telescopes.

On the way back from the observatory we saw a passel of javelinas along the roadway!  I only got this one shot of one pig before they hurried along into the forest.  I'll bet the group we saw numbered about a dozen.  After we had driven on I looked back in the rear view mirror and there were MORE going across.  Yikes!  They are smaller than the javelina we saw in AZ.  Two days ago we saw one right in town, about three blocks from "home".  You don't see that in Indiana!  LOL!

Well, that's enough for Pete's sake! Don't want to bore you.  Hope you're having a great day, wherever you are and whatever you're doing. Take care and God bless!

Mountains, mountains and more mountains ...

I've been enjoying our last few weeks here.  We've taken several interesting day trips.  Also, had some pleasing times here in town.  For instance, yesterday was extra special.  The Church of Christ here in Ft. Davis had a community lunch following everyone's church services.  All churches in town begin services at 11 a.m. so it works out well.  It's an annual thing they tell us.  In Ft. Davis there are Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Church of Christ, Catholics, and a non-denominational cowboy church.  They served smoked brisket and ribs!  Yum!!!  Helpings were generous and everything was delicious.  (I'd love to have the recipe for the potato casserole they served!)  And the desserts were pretty special, too.  As we were leaving I stuck my head into the kitchen to give my thanks and regards to the head chef (who did the smoking) and asked him if he was from their church (COC); he said, no, he was a PresbyMethoBaptaEne!  Got a good laugh out of that!  It was a fun day.  Met some very interesting people, too, sharing lunch with two very interesting couples.  God is good!

It started raining after we got back to our rental and it's been raining, lightly, ever since.  They really need it here.  There's a burn ban in effect and it's posted everywhere.  Tomorrow it's supposed to be clear and we're going up the the MacDonald Observatory for the day.

Well, here's some of the places we've been with just a small selection of pictures.  I must say, I have tons of pictures from most of these places though ... Don't want to bore you with all of them of course, so here goes.

We took a hike at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center & Botanical Garden.  Here's looking east toward Mitre Peak from a rocker on their back porch.  They have a really neat desert garden trail which we took and a great bird watching blind that we enjoyed.  Their cactus green house is unique and I took tons of pictures in there!

We toured a mining exhibit at the nature center which was sort of interesting if just for the rock samples alone.  Here's the recreated casa dinamito (dynamite house).

I've gotta show you two interior shots of the best business in town, BeaTea. K.  I've been there two times now and have my eye on one more thing to bring home with me ... so I gotta go back!  It's just packed with neat 'stuff'!  I did buy a lovely piece of hand-dyed fabric from Kenya.

A side room at BeaTea. K.  I LOVE the coiled laundry hampers!!!

We went to Valentine one day.  The drive was enjoyable.  Not much there but I thought this church was special.  Other than the school, it's about the nicest building in this small, dying town.  Saw four really beautiful quail right before I took this picture but they scattered into the desert before I could take their picture. 😩

One day we went to Fort Davis State Park which is about 3-4 miles out of town.  Went up what they call the Skyline Drive.  Wow!  And I must add I've used the word "wow" so many times Wendell is probably sick of hearing it.  The panoramic view from up there is amazing.  Wow!  The tall mountain is Mt. Livermore.  And the small white 'smudge' is their large adobe pueblo-style inn.  Wow!

Looking south from the old CCC shelter at the end of Skyline Drive in Fort Davis State Park.  When we got back to the bottom of the mountain, we went into the Interpretive Center and enjoyed a film about the CCC in America during the Great Depression.

A very eclectic antiques shop in Alpine in an old home.  Front view.  I took lots of pictures here!  Ended up buying an old canteen that we found on the front porch.  Cool!

Another pic inside this antiques shop.  Lots of western ware!  We spent a lot of time here!

Another shot inside the antiques shop; I was especially taken with this unusual rock fireplace (actually, every room had a fireplace).  Outside the chimneys were the same material that was inside, so this chimney was this white stone, another adobe brick, another plain red brick, etc.  Unique! 

Well, I'll stop here.  Probably post just a little more later in the week.  We'll be preparing to leave for home late in the week.  Say a prayer and send us positive thoughts for our trip back to Indiana!  I'll probably be ready by the time we get packed ...  know what I mean?  😃

Beautiful west Texas ...

We've really been enjoying the weather here.  Especially when our friends & family back home tell us what was going on there last week!  Now I hear rain is coming to our part of Indiana and hoping our road doesn't get flooded at the wrong time!  LOL!

We have been enjoying checking out this small town.  There's a neat strip of shops in an old motor court that is fun to go to.  And there's a wonderful market with a deli and super coffee (I enjoy the flavor of the day!).  Also we both like checking out the thrift store ran by the local Humane Society; always something new there.  I've found a couple little treasures there already.  (I have to remember that we don't have as much room in the back of the car as we did when we drove the pickup truck.)  And we usually get to the library at least once a week; there's a great used book shop there and W. has read about half a dozen large-print books from there.  We like the drug store with the old-fashioned soda fountain.  I actually had a chocolate malt last week!  Haven't had one of those in years!  (W. had a cherry float!)  There's a broom shop, a hat shop (cowboy style), and a nice large antique mall next to an ice cream shop in a caboose.  We've enjoyed going out to the Ft. Davis State Park and eating Sunday brunch in the lodge dining room.

We haven't gone out farther afield as much this year as in prior years.  For one thing, I haven't been feeling as good as I'd like, and for another, we've been near this part of TX before and have seen some of this area before.  But that was in 2011; we've forgotten some of it and other things have changed.  But the beautiful scenery here about hasn't changed at all!  Anyway, here's what we've been doing lately...

This interesting mountain with a volcanic caldera on the top side is easily visible from the loop road through the Davis Mountains.

I was sitting in the car, waiting for W. to get something at the Stone Village Market, when I really paid attention to the doorway in front of me. It's the employee entrance to the store.  It says "Ojinaga Brain Depository Co. S.A." on the top and at the bottom says "After 5:00 p.m. slip brain through slot".  Someone has a sense of humor!

This type of rock formation is very prevalent in the area.  Awesome!

We drove out a neat road recently just north of here between Ft. Davis and Balmorhea.  It ran about 15 miles and dead-ended at the Boy Scout Ranch.  Cool place!  The coral was full of horses and one lone longhorn bull.  Lucky boy scouts around here.  The drive was AWESOME!  Lots of open range with cattle along and on the road ...

And this one mama was out by herself, right along the road, and had just given birth to this little guy.  Still tired and wet!

Another day we drove to Fort Stockton.  This is the Annie Riggs Museum in the old hotel building.  It was VERY interesting (but then, we both enjoy history).  It's right across from the Pecos County Courthouse.  When we left there we drove their in-town historic route which included a spring/pool, the old fort (Fort Stockton), the first church west of the Pecos River, and an old mercantile.  

Here's Annie herself. Quite the pioneer woman!  Besides managing the hotel she raised 11 children!  And it sounded like her husband was quite a handful, too!

Each old hotel room had a display.  It was quite extensive and really enjoyable.

Well, I'll stop there and come back later to fill you in on what else we've seen and done.  As a real plus we found a wonderful church family here.  Very welcoming!  Wendell went down last Tuesday and helped with what they call Tuesday School.  They feed the jr.-sr. high school students each week.  And have an opportunity to give about a 5-minute devotion, too.  More on that later.

God has been good to us here.  Our time her is slipping by quickly and will miss being here but it will be good to come home, too.