West Texas, Part 1

We're midway through our first week-long vacation since November 2020! And our first major road trip with the dog. Lots of excitement, lots of driving, and lots of cash spent on gas, which is currently topping out around $4.29 for regular unleaded in Texas.

We left Jonestown midday Saturday, and D was excited to give the cats the reign of the house.

We stopped pretty quickly, in Marble Falls. James dropped Mal, the dog, and me off at Johnson Park and went to get us lunch from the Blue Bonnet Cafe (speaking of a homophone, we saw only a very few bluebonnets, which are typically in full splendor by now).

Mal had a lot of fun on the playground, and Luke got to run around the off-leash part, which I hadn't realized existed when we've visited the park sans-pet so I wasn't paying attention.

I leave the leash on because it's easier to grab him when we need control again.

After a delicious lunch (James had breakfast), we drove to Llano. We stopped at a neat place I'd seen on Roadside America called Texas Tin Lizard. We got to speak with the artist, and she was a neat person. She welds the metal for bottle trees. BYOB, and it isn't easy because everyone loves glass now so it's expensive!

Then we visited the riverside park where there is a lot of public art. It was very warm, but we enjoyed the river and the neat work.

We finished that leg of our trip in Sonora, Texas. I'd never heard of it, but it was midway between Jonestown and Marfa, so that was a good place to stop.

We stayed in a nice little Super 8 that is one of those old-style motor lodges. It was four different low-slung buildings across a couple of blocks. Comfortable, clean, and quiet, just like we likes it.

It's also very near a museum that was closed, but had some cool displays outside, like a mostly-broken-down old wagon and a hitching post with elevated platform.

Sonora has a nature center, so when Luke woke up at o'dark-thirty the next day, we walked in that direction. It is close to I-10, but easy to forget when you're not paying attention too closely.

Sutton County Courthouse

We got grab-and-go breakfast at the hotel, and were on our way further west.

Here's a case where sort of obsessively planning travel can really pay off. I was looking at Marathon on Google Maps to see where we might want to get out and rest a bit, when I saw a patch of green in the middle of this desert town. It really stood out, so I zoomed in to check it.

Turns out it's an absolute oasis called Gage Gardens.

Luke made some friends and wore himself out!

We spent a good hour or so in Marathon before taking off again.

In Marfa, we stayed at The Lincoln Marfa. It is right across the street from the Presidio County Courthouse, and it used to be the stables for the courthouse. It's been several things over the years, but now it's long- and short-term rentals, and it's a super fun place. Lots of room, neat little nooks and crannies and courtyards to hang out, and even a fire pit and movie wall. So much personality. I've been pictures of it when it's lush in the summer and it's breath-taking, but we thought the winter version had its own charm, as well.

The single tiny structure in the courtyard is the entrance to an unfinished bomb shelter.
You can stay in it if you're traveling with a party of one or two people.

At this time of the year, Marfa is pretty quiet (maybe it's always quiet?), and we were there on a full Monday, when most things are closed most places, anyway. But we had a great time walking around and admiring the varied architecture, as well as the fun way art is pretty much everywhere, from walls to garbage dumpsters. Oh, and the sunrises. Wow.

They also have a dog park, but it's pretty useless this time of year, as it's more stickers than anything else. In fact, if you're going to visit Marfa with a dog, I recommend staying as close as possible to the courthouse (there are plenty of options) because it's the only publicly-accessible place to take your dog that has grass that is treated for weeds. There is a nice playground for kids that is fully fenced, but it says no pets. Same with the athletic fields at the school (and they're installing synthetic turf right now anyway). Luke got SO MANY stickers that it makes me glad we don't live in the desert. We loved Marfa, though. It would be tempting if it weren't for the dry cold (that is brutal and that leads to stickers) plus the fact that real estate is no cheaper than where we live, anyway (meaning we couldn't afford the house we'd want).

This morning (Tuesday), we got up and drove just up the road to Fort Davis National Historical Site.

We had a pass to Davis Mountains State Park, and drove in but mostly just drove in and back out because the dog was exhausted (he walked around and got several stickers at the historical site... but he really did seem to have a good time climbing up the hill that's immediately next to the barracks.

We had a pretty quick 2-hour drive to Monahans, where it's dusty as heck because we're in the Permian Basin and it's windy.

Our plans are to go to Monahans Sandhill State Park tomorrow, then drive on to San Angelo for three nights.