On Monday the Road Scholar group was taken in buses toward Big Bend State Park. We are staying in a motel outside Terlingua, Texas. That’s a 5.5 hour drive. So to break up the drive some we stopped at Fort Davis National Historic Site on the way for lunch and our first hike. We also had some free time to explore the fort.
Six Flags over Texas 
Texas Welcome Center 
Road Scholar picnic at Fort Davis – Greek salad, Hummus, pita 
Lunch with a view 
Post hospital in process of being restored 
Two-story officer’s quarters 
Shared Lieutenant’s quarters 
We are going to be hiking along the plateau to the right. 
Aoudad. These animals are hunted in Texas for meat and sport. 
At least half the hike was through ancient volcanic rock. 
From the top – looking across the valley 
You don’t want to land on this!
We finally got to our destination – The Longhorn Ranch Motel outside Terlingua, Texas. We would be here for four nights and have it as the center of our travels to Big Bend National Park. It is owned by a couple that has been in the area for a long while but they still speak mainly Spanish. They raised their kids here – one is with the National Park Service. Along with the motel they run a restaurant here – Tivo’s Place. It is named after the father. They had our dinner ready when we got there: chicken or steak tortillas – with freshly made tortillas, rice and beans. Tiger was the resident kitten. We all vied for who was going to get to play with her next. There was a beautiful view of the mountains from the motel grounds. There was a pool but none of us swam.
Terlingua is one of the darkest skies in the United States. One night we had an alfresco lasagna dinner and then walked over the hill, away from the restaurant to view the stars. I didn’t go to the stargazing but those who did said the Milky Way was great.
Tiger – the Road Scholar kitty
Travels with Pam 