The end of January and start of February was a road trip to Far West Texas. The itinerary from the Dallas area: Midland/Odessa for one night, the far-out community of Marfa for one night, Willow House near Terlingua to explore Big Bend National Park for three nights, and then a long drive home. The weather, however, demanded an extra night near Abilene instead of the eight-hour drive.
That’s the thing about travel. You can research and plan and reserve and sometimes you have all of that to rearrange at the last minute. Thanks to using the WAZE app for our travel home, though, we were able to avoid an overnight stay on the highway. Many trucks that night were unable to move for nearly 12 hours. We took some very interesting (and very slick!) side roads and made it to a Fairfield Inn that night.
We often stick to the Marriott brand of hotels because that’s where – you guessed it – Tom has status from his business travel. Unlike the airline status that has to be renewed every year, he spent so much time on the road that his Marriott status is for life. It’s a handy thing to have, too, as our first night in Odessa came with a two-room suite upgrade.
After we’d checked into the room, we ventured out to see the Stonehenge replica at the University of Texas Permian Basin. Tom is really good at searching out these kinds of extras. While at first I wasn’t all that interested, I confess that it was a lot more fun than expected. The time of day also allowed for some fine photo opportunities. Mostly the outing made me determined to see the real thing someday soon.
The next day we drove through the Permian Basin to Marfa. We’d grown up in a refining town in Oklahoma, so oil fields weren’t new. The Basin was something we’d never expected. So much production in one place! Drilling everywhere. Lots of open flares. And pumping as far as an eye could see. What was also interesting was the invisible line where it all ended. That also happened to coincide with a rise in elevation. We were headin’ to the hills.
Marfa, at an elevation of 4,685 feet, is still desert. (For comparison, Dallas is at 430 feet.) It’s quirky. It’s sparse. But it was a good stop on the way to Big Bend National Park. We stayed at the Hotel Saint George for one night. It was fine. We started the evening at Planet Marfa which could have easily been our only destination. The outdoor bar has $2 beers and a nice snack menu. There’s also a teepee and live music. The entertainment that afternoon – provided in both Spanish and English – was a gentleman running for County Commissioner.
We finished with dinner at The Waterstop. Since it’s known for the chicken, we had the chicken and two sides. I also had my first prickly pear margarita. This new (to me) concoction is highly recommended and it looked to be popular in the region. The restaurant is experiencing the same difficulties as others as we travel. The wait staff was sparse and the one server was rarely spotted. Still, we were fed, and it was good. Another surprise, but it shouldn’t have been given we know this is common, is that prices for these quiet little corners of America are higher than you expect them to be. Combined with inflation, we found that prices sometimes landed in the “Huh, what?” category. We often maneuver around that by sharing a meal.
The next morning we stopped at one of Marfa’s newer attractions, an installation by artist John Carney in 2018. The solar panel powers non-stop country music by Michael Nesmith of The Monkees. You can’t help but fall in love with what at first feels kitsch, but wins you bit by bit as you admire the detail.
From Marfa we drove the long way to Terlingua. Driving straight south to the Mexican border, we turned at Presidio and made the beautiful drive through Big Bend State Park.
One of the economies we made with this car trip was to pack a cooler and a sack of groceries. That allowed us to stop at the entrance to the state park for a picnic. From there we marveled at how much of the Rio Grande was right beside the road. We stopped here and there to snap photos or put a hand in the water. We also came across several beekeeping setups. Finally, there were stops at the hoodoos trail and a boat launch.
Our destination was Willow House, a unique group of casitas centered around the main house, three miles out from Terlingua. We checked in, grabbed the cooler, and ogled the view of the Chisos Mountain Range from our comfortable covered patio. For the next two days we’d be exploring Big Bend National Park.
Thanks for taking us along with you. The food at Planet Marfa looks delicious and the hoodoos are very interesting formations. I expected the Rio Grande to be much larger than it appears to be?
Surprisingly, Deby, the Rio Grande isn’t that wide. There were dozens of places along the drive where you could simply walk across. And in fact we did cross it a couple of times in Big Bend National Park. I’ll try to get to that today!