I left Arizona on Monday December 23. It was a great visit. I had terrific weather throughout the three weeks. It was so nice at Catalina State Park, with the great weather and bicycling. I visited Catalina in 2022 and 2023. It was colder, down near freezing at night, fifties daytime, and there was snow in the mountains. This was much better. I would have stayed another week if there was space available.
I drove into New Mexico, stopping overnight at Rockhound State Park near Deming. I had never been there, but it was convenient as a stopover on my way to Davis Mountains State Park at Fort Davis, Texas. It was an interesting surprise with fantastic scenery. The park is on the slopes of the Little Florida Mountains. Who knew?! They rise out of desert flatlands, as is the case with many mountain ranges that I passed as I drove I-10 all day.
I would characterize much of this part of New Mexico as flat, but I was never out of view of some mountains. When driving through the Las Cruces one sees a number of mountains, with the Organ Mountains being the most dominant. These rugged formations are an impressive sight when driving through the area. There are other areas where the mountains are well away from the highway. One unexpected feature of the park itself was the proliferation of Prickly Pear Cactus. I have seen plenty of this specie in my travels, but I have never seen so much. It looked like a Prickly Pear Forest. There were many Yucca plants as well.
There were two other interesting features present along I-10. One is there is a rail line that runs parallel to the highway for some distance. There was a train going east as I was driving. It was going faster than I was. I drive slow, doing 60 mph. The train had five engines, three in the front and two about two-thirds of the way towards the rear. All of the cars had tractor trailer containers on them, most of the two high. There were over 100 cars, too. That’s a lot of freight. The other feature is the potential for dust storms. There are signs warning drivers of this, with directions to pull over, turn off the engine and headlights, take your foot off the brakes, keep the seatbelt fastened, and just wait it out.
On Tuesday morning I departed and headed to Davis Mountains. My route took me through a border checkpoint at Sierra Blanca, TX on I-10. I went through quickly. The border agent asked if I was a US citizen. I said yes. I didn’t have to show identification. I didn’t even have to take off my sunglasses He said happy holidays and waved me through.
I was at the same border checkpoint two years ago when it was not so smooth. There were dogs that day, K-9 patrol. The agent told me that my van was “marked” by the dog. He asked if I had any guns, contraband-drugs, or other people in the van. I said no. He asked me if I had any rodents. I told him that mice were trying to get into my van the night before. My traps actually caught two mice. He said that wouldn’t have alerted the dog. I wondered why he asked me in that case, to myself.
I had to pull over, exit the van, and stand with another agent while the dog and handler went through the van. The agent standing with me was professionally friendly. He asked me again if I had any drugs, and specifically, even if I had any CBD, now would be the time to say so. Again, I told him no.
After about twenty minutes, the dog and handler exited the van. They found nothing, and I was told I could continue. I looked in the van. The ceiling cabinets on one side were open, there was a cereal box open in one of them, and cereal was all over the floor. I didn’t clean it up until I reached my destination in Van Horn.
Back to 2024, from Sierra Blanca I drove to the Van Horn exit, where I left I-10 and continued south on TX Route 90 until I reached Prada Marfa. Prada Marfa is an art installation on the north side of Valentine, TX. It is a novelty. I took several photos before continuing to Davis Mountain State Park on some beautiful roads through the mountains. I did not drive the additional thirty miles on US 90 to Marfa. I went to Marfa in 2022 and 2023. I took this year off. I’m also skipped two of my favorite national parks this year, Organ Pipe Cactus in Arizona and Big Bend in Texas, opting for some new places to visit and spend time. I had been to Davis Mountain SP in 2022, but it was only for one night. This time I spent five nights. It was a very different experience as I had time to look into the area in more detail. It has some good hiking trails. The highways in the area are great for bicycling. I went to McDonald Observatory, part of the University of Texas Astronomy program and a world-renowned research facility.
The sky at the campground was amazing at night. It appeared to be darker than it was at Zion, Valley of Fire, Death Valley, and other places. I am not sure why that is the case, but it seemed to me there were more stars visible here. Of course, those other places were fantastic, too. No complaints, just a subjective observation.
One of my neighbors was a guy named Don. He and his wife were here celebrating that it had been thirty years ago they were here, before they were married and had kids. He was reminiscing happiness. They were taking a drive to Big Bend one day, too, as they had visited there as well on that trip.
Another neighbor was a couple from Belgium with their two young girls, who seemed to be around seven and nine. They had their small RV shipped over to Halifax and were doing a year-long tour of the USA and Canada. It was very interesting talking with them about travel, both here in the states and in Europe. I had a lot of questions, as I am pondering what to do in 2025, and Europe is a possibility. They had a lot of answers. I can research things online of course, but talking with someone with knowledge and experience seems so helpful. And talking with them, they were so nice, that was fantastic.
I did a few bike rides here. On Christmas Day, I rode in the town of Fort Davis. It seemed everything was closed. There were no cars park downtown. I did not see one business that was open. It seemed a ghost town. However, I stopped at the library, and they had left out two book carts of books, magazines, and videos. There was a sign to take what you want, pay what you think is fair, leaving the money in a slot used for book returns. I bought one book, a paperback originally published inn1932: Black Elk Speaks. Black Elk was a holy man of the Lakota Ogalala Tribe. I’ve read the first ten pages or so. It looks to be quite interesting and eye-opening.
The next day, I rode through town again, heading towards Marfa. I went out fifteen miles and turned around. It was a great workout due to a very strong cross wind. The wind can be such a nuisance, if you let it. Don’t let it. Just ride. On the way back, I picked up another thorn in a tire! This was my fifth flat tied in about three weeks. I couldn’t believe it. I found the thorn, pulled it out, and my slime-enhanced self-sealing tubes did the trick. I pumped up the tire. The air pressure forces a substance in the tube into the puncture hole, seals it, and off I rode.
I did a hike on my last day here on the Skyline Drive Trail. It is 4.2 miles and climbs about 500 feet to one of the higher points in the park. The views are great. The Davis Mountains are quite spectacular. The campground sits at about 5000 feet elevation. The highest mountains reach up over 8000 feet.
It was only about thirty-five miles from Davis Mountain State Park to my new home, Balmorhea State Park. The drive was short and absolutely stunning visually. There was a great deal of volcanic activity in this area about 35 million years ago. It left rock formations that are magnificent and inspiring.
I will be here at Balmorhea for three nights, including New Year’s Eve. Balmorhea has what it calls “the world’s largest spring-fed pool.” The water temperature stays a constant 72-76 degrees, with 15 million gallons of water passing through the pool daily. I’ll check it out …
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