Relaxing in Alpine

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Today was a very relaxing and fun day in Alpine. I need to tell you the saga of our hotel room. Last Thursday, we were called by my father to tell us that the hotel we had reservations at was sold and would be closing on Monday (we arrived Sunday night). So we called my brother and asked him to find us another place to stay. Now, I had made our reservations back in January and I knew then that the town's hotels were filling up fast. Alpine is one of three gateways in this area to get down to the Big Bend National Park and there are not many hotels down that way so when people come from afar to visit the national park they stay at Alpine, Marathon or Marfa. So, I was a bit worried about even getting a room and I was just as leery about what kind of rooms would be available! Well, luckily for us, my brother knows a lot of people in his town (he's lived here 30 years now!) and we ended up getting a small apartment (called Apline Guest Lofts) at 1/3 the regular cost for the 4 nights we'll be here! It's a really pretty place with a nice living/dining room/kitchen area plus a bathroom and one bedroom. See the photos 😊 So for today, my brother came over to our "loft" at about 9:30 am and we went for some breakfast. Then we walked over to the grocery store and bought some food to stock the fridge and with an eye to having a steak BBQ for dinner. So, it turns out that the carefully (!) laid plans for today went out the window because the golf courses in this area are all closed Mondays! So, we did a bit of driving around and decided we'd go and check out the Museum at Sul Ross State University which is located in Alpine and my brother's alma mater. We got up to the university and, lo and behold, the museum is closed on Mondays! So we went into the Student Center and Ken bought a Sul Ross t-shirt and I bought some Sul Ross pencils for my students. They were having a new student orientation so we saw a bunch of fresh-faced freshmen getting toured around the campus. After we left the Student Center we went out to the front of the university and walked around the very interesting cactus garden. Man, it was hot! After all that heat, we went back to the loft and sat around, had some beer and chatted out in the loft patio. My brother invited a couple of his co-workers over to have dinner with us. Just as we were getting ready to start up the BBQ, a huge storm passed over us and it rained for a good 2 hours. We ended up broiling the steaks LOL It was a very fun evening of conversation, laughing and good food....what more could you ask for?! We're going down to Big Bend tomorrow and maybe we'll try golfing down there!

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Photos

Main area of the Loft
Looking from the entrance door

Main area of the Loft
Looking from the bedroom

Blooming cactus
Arizona Barrel cactus

Comments

[Mary Ann May]

Wish I were there!!!
I am so sorry I didn't snap up the invite to meet in ElPaso.. Oh well I didn't need to be the 5th wheel but I am so-o-o- jealous. Love that country!!( Rick too)...have a full feed of Tex Mex and "Marg's" for me as you indulge.. Hugs Mom