Busy Day in Alpine and Area

---

Today was a very busy last day in Alpine. We got up and had a bite to eat and then headed over to the Alpine Golf Club to play a 9 hole round before it got too hot. Well, it was already hot when we got there! And, the humidity was high due to the rain that had fallen the previous 2 days. It was fun even though I got a sunburn....I thought it was too early to get burned! Luckily, it isn't too bad. After the golf round we had a drink on the patio and then headed about 45 miles from Alpine into the Davis Mountains to visit the McDonald Observatory. This is a very cool place where students and scientists come to view the heavens. They have a number of giant telescopes but the newest is a 92 mirror, 11 foot diameter "star catcher". We had some lunch at the cafeteria and then headed back into Alpine so we could visit the Big Bend Museum on the Sul Ross University campus. It's a very good museum! We enjoyed reading about all the history of this area and it is a very interesting history! Truly the wild west 😊 After the museum we walked from our room to the Railroad Blues Bar for a beer (or 3!) and met a bunch of Rick's friends. We all had a great converstion for a couple of hours and then walked down the street to a café owned and run by another of Rick's friends - I think he knows pretty much everyone in this town! We came back to the room and chatted for a while and now I am doing this blog. It has been a very active day and as soon as I upload some photos, I am heading to bed! Tomorrow we start our journey back north!

---

Photos

McDonald Observatory
Frank N. Bash Visitors Center

Mirror disk
In the new observatory

Another view of Davis Mountains
Visitor Center at the bottom

Comments

[SandiB]

Thanks
Thanks for the update, Catherine :) We are praying for you :)