Monday, October 4, 2010
Davis Mountains SP, Fort Davis, TX - Mar 24-30
When we planned this stop, we imagined a quiet, out-of-the way park, with lots of time for relaxation. When we actually started investigating the activities around, we had to RESTRICT ourselves to only 4 major outings. The rest of the time was spent just enjoying the park, visiting the nature center, walking around the lovely grounds of the Indian Lodge, going on a birding walk. We got a really nice look at a pair of nesting Common Black-Hawks (despite the name, these birds are quite rare in the US). We also saw our first Acorn Woodpeckers, very attractive birds which unfortunately have a fairly high nuisance factor.
Our first outing was to drive the 75-mile scenic loop through the Davis Mountains. This drive passes through lovely ranchland and wooded hillsides. It looks a lot like the Natl Forest areas in CO or NM, but it is all privately owned. It is lovely deep grassland, dotted with Pinyons & Junipers, with mountains & interesting rock formations jutting out. We stopped at several picnic areas and were able to climb around on the rocks.The second outing was to the McDonald Observatory, 13 miles from the SP. It is one of the major astronomical research facilities in the world and is open to the public with tours and special events. It is one of the darkest sites in the world for astronomical observing. They have a new visitors' center, which houses a gift shop & cafeteria, as well as a special exhibit on astronomical spectroscopy. We attended a guided tour of the 107" telescope facility and a solar viewing activity. In the evening we came back for a Star Party, getting to look through some large telescopes at Saturn, Jupiter, the Plieides, the Orion Nebula and the surface of the moon. At the end they showed us visible constellations in the night sky.
The third outing was to the town of Marfa. Marfa is most famous for the "Mystery Lights"; however, we found the Chinati Foundation first, an alternative to the traditional museum. It was created & founded by Donald Judd, who was searching for an alternative way to display "Installation Art", which are large works of art in which the site (installation) is an integral part of the piece. The major site is a group of buildings which were once an army base. The buildings have been renovated to fit the style of whatever art they house. Some of the very stark modern pieces have the simplest of architecture left, with large windows. The windows are kept exceptionally clean so that the incredible outside views become part of the works of art. The displays included large rectangular aluminum works located in a huge warehouse-like building, a re-created abandoned Russian schoolhouse by Ilya Kabakov, very large & stark & very visually appealing yarn art by Fred Sandback, some scrunched metal pieces reminiscent of crushed autos, fluorescent tubes installed in "hallways" in huge white barracks by Dan Flavin, a circular work done in Icelandic volcanic rock, and a large horseshoe by Claes Oldenburg. 
Outside were large concrete rectangular pieces which you could walk around & through and look at from all angles. Again, the setting, including the buildings in the distance, and the breathtaking landscape, were part of the art. In case you can't tell, we were quite overwhelmed by this place. We could have never have imagined such a place. Needless to say, we highly recommend a visit. We also strolled around the town square of Marfa, looking at the interesting courthouse and the lovely Hotel Paisano. We spent quite a while in the Marfa bookstore, which also is a wine bar and coffee shop. It was finally dark, and we could go out to the viewing site for the Marfa mystery lights. These unexplained lights have been seen since the late 1800s. There is no scientific explanation for them, and it is stated that you only see them about 1 time in 10 tries. We were here several years ago and saw them once. Unfortunately, since we wanted our friends Pat & Dennis, to see them this time, the lights never appeared. But just being out there with lots of other people scanning the horizon and wondering at various things you are seeing is quite an event. We decided that the lighted fluorescent tube art works by Dan Flavin were the "real" Marfa lights!
The last outing was to the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute, located just outside Fort Davis. They have a small visitors' center, which has displays of the regional interest & a small gift shop. We also went to a cactus greenhouse, in which most of the cacti were in bloom. They were beautiful! We took a short but VERY STEEP hike into Modesta Canyon, with an even steeper climb out (it was a loop trail!). At the bottom were a spring, pools of water & lots of green trees.This stop also marked the end of traveling with our friends Pat & Dennis Wood. We have been with them for a little over 4 months, so it will be quite an adjustment to be on our own again. We found ourselves to be quite compatible and enjoyed our time together very much. Very key in the success of our time together was each couple's ability to give the other enough space. So we weren't together enough to get tired of each other. We hope to meet up with them in the near future, but it won't be sooner than next winter.
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 9:43 PM 
