Vacation Favorites and Other Notables

Over our two week trek through west Texas and southeast New Mexico, we experienced many things, but as is always the case, certain things stood out.

Favorite restaurant: La Trattoria, Alpine, Tx. Their dark chocolate hazelnut cheesecake is possibly the best dessert I’ve ever tasted in my life.

Favorite lodging: The Maverick Inn, Alpine, Tx. This quaint motel with a Zen cowboy atmosphere is owned and operated by a family of cats, but they have a couple humans working for them.




Favorite lodging lobby: Hotel El Capitan, Van Horn, Tx. This place is an old renovated hotel in a teeny town off I-10. I asked the desk clerk about the bullet holes in the stairwell window. “I don’t know, but it used to be a bank,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. I’m always looking for a good story.



And while I’m in Van Horn, this was our quirkiest discovery: “Fancy Junk.” No one was there to talk to, the place wasn’t officially open, but someone there has a knack for making artwork out of scrap metal . . . insects, spaceships, dinosaurs, etc.




Okay, while I’m still in Van Horn, what the heck is a Haul of Fame? No, we did not eat there.


Favorite critter encounter: This had to be a tie. I couldn’t decide between the colorful lizard or the tarantula. Both were photographed during a hike on McKittrick Canyon Trail, Guadalupe Mountains National Park.



Most nostalgic moment: At the Carlsbad Museum and Art Center, there’s an exhibit of 3D photography of the Lecheguilla Cavern. When I looked through the lenses at the first photograph, I immediately was reminded of “View Master,” one of my favorite toys as a kid.

Longest drive: Alamogordo, NM to New Braunfels, TX – over ten hours.

Biggest disappointment: So few bats flying out of Carlsbad Cavern at dusk.

Most educational visit: McDonald Observatory. This place has an awesome deal. For eight bucks, you get a three hour astronomer-led tour of some of the largest telescopes in the world. I learned more about the sun and how telescopes work – it’s all about mirrors – than I ever knew I wanted to know. Great place!





Most physically challenging endeavor: Hiking to the top of Emory Peak, Big Bend National Park. (See previous post.)

Most pleasant surprise: There are no mosquitoes in west Texas or SE New Mexico!

Big Bend National Park

Big Bend is a study in rocks, geology, a rugged arid cragginess hugging the Rio Grande River. It’s desolate, deserted, barren, and yet beautiful in a majestic sort of way. We camped for three nights in the Chisos Basin.

Camping is very different in west Texas compared to what we’re accustomed to. Because of the severe drought and risk of wildfires, there's a burn ban in effect. No campfires or lanterns. Later, at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, we weren’t even allowed to use our camp stove at the site. Camping isn’t quite the same without toasted marshmallows and s’mores. I don’t know if it’s true for all national parks, or only the ones in the desert where there’s not much water, but there are no showers at the campgrounds! We got pretty good at sponge bathing.

The mornings and evenings were comfortably cool, but the afternoons were stinkin’ hot. We escaped the heat by sight-seeing in the car or hanging out at the Visitor’s Center. West Texas boasts some of the darkest night skies in North America, providing some pretty amazing star gazing.

Rio Grande River


Wild horses over on the other side, in Mexico.


Casa Grande


This opening into the basin is called the “Window.” Great spot to watch the sun set.


These Century plants are everywhere here. They grow for about a decade, bloom once, then die.

I kept meaning to ask a ranger what made some prickly pear cacti turn pink, but I never remembered. Does anyone know?

When we weren’t sweating profusely, the only thing to do was hike around this rugged landscape. Our best, longest, and certainly most challenging hike was climbing to the top of Emory Peak, elevation 7,832 feet. Here’s a shot of Emory Peak from our campsite. It’s the tallest peak in the center of the photo.

The ten mile trek took us about seven hours. We rested frequently.

The effort was worth it, not only for the sense of accomplishment, but for the spectacular views.

Here we are reaching the summit.

Guess what we found at the top? Ladybugs!