Happy New Year from Alpine, TX

We have been staying in Alpine since Wednesday, 12/26 and are now able to say that we have fully explored West Texas. As the terrain started changing from hill country to desert during our trip, one of the first signs that we should change our priorities was a sign in a rest stop. I've attached a picture so you can draw your own conclusions.

On Thursday, my brother, Bob and his wife, Cindy joined us and made sure that we received the proper introduction to the area. Bob leads survey crews who lay out these great Texas highways so he knows the area well. We went to the McDonald Observatory and to Fort Davis (both the state park and national historic site). It was chilly but sunny for most of the day as you can tell by the picture I have attached of Bob and Cindy.

The next day, we went to the Marfa lights viewing area, but we are not sure we saw the phenomenom that is described there. I can tell you that the stars here are absolutely amazing. I thought we could see a lot of them at our place at the lake, but there is no comparison to what you can see here with a pitch dark sky! We also visited Big Bend National Park but were just a little disappointed that you could walk across the Rio Grande at that point; after all, I was expecting a roaring river! The Chili Capital is in Terlingua and we returned to Alpine via this little desert town.

Tomorrow, we will go back to Fort Davis State Park for one night so that we can attend the "Star Party" at the Observatory tomorrow evening. After that, we are headed to Carlsbad Caverns for a couple of days, then to the Guadalupe National Park. From there we will head south, staying one night each in Alpine, Seminole Canyon SP, Bracketville, Laredo, Falcon SP and finally stopping in Donna. We plan to stay there for two weeks to visit with Dean's brother, Tom and his wife Judy. So, we'd like to wish you all a Happy New Year and the best of health!