We hit the road at 9:20... Gina is taking the first shift... A bit later than planned...
Now, just after 10:00, we are clear of town and well into the desert... The
ladies are on line, on EBay, Gina needs a new pair of shoes, and the is a pair
of Christian Louboutin's, the auction is lively, and Gina is no longer
the high bidder... There is a overwhelming sense of absurdity, buying expensive
shoes, while driving across the desert... With two minutes to go, Gina is
once again high bidder... The bid holds... She wins...
1:00, Mountain time.. We have crossed the border a ways back, and are now in New Mexico... We have crossed the continental divide as well, and any water would, if there was any water to be found would drain to the east, and the gulf...
About 1:40 we reach Deming New Mexico, and leave I-10, headed for Hatch the chile capital of the world... We are in search of lunch, and it seems like a good place to look.. Tony Bourdain visited on his South West show... That by itself is a good recommendation. Highway 26 to Hatch passes though empty country... Grazing land, with little grass in evidence... It would be a hard land to make a living from. A little further along we see a modern wind farm... Windmills... Nearby, a livestock tank with an old school aero-motor, broken down. A new icon for the new west.
We reach Hatch, just in time to make last call for lunch at the Valley Cafe... Tony eat across the street at the Pepper Pot, but the Valley Cafe had better reviews on several web sites... We all had enchiladas... Gina had chicken with red sauce, Steph had beef with green sauce, I had chicken, half red, half green... We are behind the clock, or would have lingered longer... There were lots of chile shops and such, and other sites... Even a muffler man, repurposed a RV in place of the muffler... We cross the Rio Grande, then back on the interstate, this time I-25... Headed towards I-10.
We rejoin I-10 in Las Cruces... Then across the border, into Texas... Stuck in traffic in El Paso... Break free, then wait in line at the border patrol check point... Every vehicle stops... There is a dog, sniffing cars... Then a question, "Are you US citizens?"... We are waved on, or at least not detained...
1:00, Mountain time.. We have crossed the border a ways back, and are now in New Mexico... We have crossed the continental divide as well, and any water would, if there was any water to be found would drain to the east, and the gulf...
About 1:40 we reach Deming New Mexico, and leave I-10, headed for Hatch the chile capital of the world... We are in search of lunch, and it seems like a good place to look.. Tony Bourdain visited on his South West show... That by itself is a good recommendation. Highway 26 to Hatch passes though empty country... Grazing land, with little grass in evidence... It would be a hard land to make a living from. A little further along we see a modern wind farm... Windmills... Nearby, a livestock tank with an old school aero-motor, broken down. A new icon for the new west.
We reach Hatch, just in time to make last call for lunch at the Valley Cafe... Tony eat across the street at the Pepper Pot, but the Valley Cafe had better reviews on several web sites... We all had enchiladas... Gina had chicken with red sauce, Steph had beef with green sauce, I had chicken, half red, half green... We are behind the clock, or would have lingered longer... There were lots of chile shops and such, and other sites... Even a muffler man, repurposed a RV in place of the muffler... We cross the Rio Grande, then back on the interstate, this time I-25... Headed towards I-10.
We rejoin I-10 in Las Cruces... Then across the border, into Texas... Stuck in traffic in El Paso... Break free, then wait in line at the border patrol check point... Every vehicle stops... There is a dog, sniffing cars... Then a question, "Are you US citizens?"... We are waved on, or at least not detained...
Now INS approved, we continue east… on the horizon
we see smoke… we get closer to find a brush fire on the far side of the
railroad tracks… no fire response visible… we call it in to 911… continuing
eastward towards Van Horn, and the junction with Highway 90… we reach Van Horn,
find Highway 90 and leave the Interstate… some miles down the road some miles
from our destination we find the Marfa Prada, an art project… a small Prada
store, complete with shoes and bags and appropriate graphics, where no Prada
store should be found. We stop, walk
about, take pictures, laugh. A UP train
goes by across the road… we take more pictures, then back in the vehical,
headed east, through Valentine to Marfa proper… We find our hotel… a true
hotel, the Hotel Paisano, built in the 1930’s, the center of town life, James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor stayed here
while filming Giant…
We checked in, checked the room, and had dinner in
the courtyard… next to the fountain… It was a glorious West Texas evening… not
too hot, a nice breeze… good food…
Having eaten, we set out for today’s last adventure…
night had fallen… Marfa is known for many things… the hotels… its art
community… but also for the lights… the Marfa lights… strange unexplained
lights seen from the foot of the nearby mountains when looking to the south
west. The Texas Highway commission has
built a viewing area… We drove out of
town, found the viewing area… it was crowded… there was a festive feeling… some
were laying on their backs, looking at a broad night sky without light
pollution… the milky way, and more stars than would be believed by city folk…
others were watching the horizon, waiting for the lights, talking about the
lights… some were regulars and had seen them before…
We didn’t wait long before a shout went out… there
they are… There was a red beacon, stationary on the horizon, presumably a
tower, with navigation lights. Beside it appeared lights… some call them orbs…
they generally moved in a line from left to right, but some would rise higher, some seemed to bounce, they would go out them
appear…
As a rational person, I suspect car lights along a
distant road, but there were never beams, and cars don’t explain the bouncing,
and as we approached town, watching the lights, they didn’t seem to act in car
light ways… eventually they went away.
We have been to Marfa, and seen the light….
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