My Chariot

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After a few warm days in Big Bend we got back to winter’s business… We treated ourselves to a night at the Paisano, a fine old hotel in Marfa Texas, and then headed north to Fort Davis to camp and visit the McDonald Observatory. If you listen to national public radio you may have heard a short program about the stars called Star Date, which is sponsored by the University of Texas’ observatory at Fort Davis. Our afternoon tour was great, but when we went back for their nighttime program “a Star Party” the clouds had moved in. Bummer! A cold rain battered the van’s roof all that night, and the next morning we drove through 2 inches of snow to get through a remote pass. Yee-hah, the van did great!

A few months ago, when we bought what I lovingly refer to as “my chariot” (the gypsy outhouse!) from Robert Moorehead, he said it had a double bed. When our friend Carol Lynn looked inside for the first time she said, “Oooh, a baby-maker bed!” Our friend Deb said, “looks like a nice twin to me!” After a few trial and error adjustments, including a head-to-toe sleeping position as well as a new soft mattress cover, we are now sleeping comfortably head-to-head. So far, very little snoring has occurred, and although Steve’s new beard is coming in a bit rough… it’s still safe to say, there will be no babies.

For most meals we feed ourselves. The neat little refrigerator that Robert built into the van has both a refrigerator and freezer setting. What we decided to do was freeze 2
1-gallon water jugs and keep switching them out of our cooler, which is working great - no drippy ice bag hassles! The freezer hums quietly during the night as it draws energy from the auxiliary battery, which thankfully doesn’t bother us sleeping companions.

The 2-burner Coleman stove, borrowed from daughter Emily, is working great. We also have a small lantern, which runs off of the same fuel as the stove. We have one plastic tub for non-refrigerated food and another tub for kitchen stuff, which we store under the bed. Living out under the stars has set our biological clocks a little differently. We witness almost every sunrise and sunset. We hear owls hooting and coyotes yipping. We limit how much liquid we consume before we crawl into bed because getting up in the middle of the night is close to impossible. Our first cup of steaming coffee in the morning has taken on a whole new appreciation!

We love hearing back from you. Drop us a blog line, and drink a marguerita, clinking your glasses to our adventures in Mexico!

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