C&C Retirement Adventure, Volume 3, Alpine, TX

Due to the high winds predicted for Wednesday, we chose to stayTuesday and Wednesday nights here at the Lost Alaskan RV park in Alpine, rather than fight the gusts on the highway going to Lajitas.  We enjoyed a very nice dinner at Reata's, a small house-converted-into-a-restaurant on Tuesday evening, then drove out to Marfa, a town about 15 miles west.  The brochure we picked up at the RV park listed the Marfa as a "must go to" place to see the mystery lights that have baffled residents and visitors for years.  So, of course, we HAD TO GO!

Here's what is printed in the brochure:  

“The Mystery Lights of Marfa:  The ghost lights of Marfa are as mysterious today as they were when they were first seen by early settlers who drove their cattle into the Marfa area in 1883. 

The lights appear almost every night and can be seen from the Marfa Lights Viewing Site located on the south side of Hwy 90, nine miles east of Marfa.  Ghost light watchers scan the southwestern horizon, looking toward Chinati Peak.  Using the distant red tower light as a marker, one can be certain that any light to the right of the marker which appears and disappears is a Marfa Ghost light.”

And here's what is on the signage at the Viewing Site:

“The Marfa mystery lights are visible on many clear nights towards Marfa and Paisano Pass as one looks towards the Chinati Mountains.  The lights may appear in various colors as they move about, split apart, meet together, disappear and reappear.
 Robert Reed Ellison, a young cowboy, reported sighting the lights in 1885.  He spotted them while tending a herd of cattle and wondered if they were Apache Indian campfires.
 Apache Indians believed these eerie lights to be stars dropping to the earth.
 Many viewers have theories ranging from scientific to science fiction as they describe their ideas of aliens in UFO’s, ranch house lights, St. Elmo’s fire, or headlights from vehicles on US 67, the Presidio highway.  Some believe the lights are an electrostatic discharge, swamp gases, moonlight shining on veins of mica, of ghosts of Conquistadors searching for gold.
 As explanation as to why the lights cannot be located is an unusual phenomenon similar to a miracle, where atmospheric conditions produced by the interaction of cold and warm layers of air bend lights so that it can be seem from afar but not close.
 The mystery of these lights still remains unsolved.” 

So, off we go into the night (and believe me it's dark, dark, dark out here on a lonely TX highway).  After driving past the viewing site (because it's so dark, dark, dark), we hang a uey and find the turn-off to the viewing site which is actually a dimly-lit rest-stop with porta-potty-type facilities and a deck/veranda where one can stare off into the darkness.   Neither of us was impressed.  I must admit, though, that I did see distant lights fade out and then brighten again several times during the 10 minutes we were there.  Mystery lights?  Maybe.  I guess I was expecting something a little more Twilight Zone-ish.  The three other people we happened upon at the viewing site were equally unimpressed!  We chuckled at our gullibility as we returned to the RV.

Wednesday was really windy, so stocked up on a few groceries, lunched at the "Cowboy Grill," and spent a couple of hours at the Museum of the Big Bend on the campus of the Sul Ross University.  The Museum's displays depicts the history of this area from the Jurassiac period with its Texas Pterosaur (fossil was discovered in 1971 by a geology student), evidence of early cultures, pioneer settlements and the wild west era through to the present day.

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Thursday was a perfect travel day for the 100 mile trek to Lajitas, a golf & spa resort outside of Terlingua, Texas right on the Rio Grande not far from the entrance to the Big Bend National Park.   The half-price special the Maverick Ranch RV Park was running was very hard to pass up.  We checked in on Thursday afternoon and spent the rest of the day checking out our new surroundings.  

More about Lajitas tomorrow.