Alpine Texas

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Lots of locations we have seen deserve some mention. Travelling thru Monument Valley was a great experience; just flat for miles and miles with these huge rock formations jutting up.Also we went through parts of the Painted Desert 3 times. The terrain is just a mass of colours. Both of these were in Arizona and the colours in this desert are brilliant.
In Alpine , Texas (there are 13 places in USA called Alpine according to the internet weather channel info)there is a university called Sul Ross State University. This campus has a stone building on it built in 1936. And this building houses a museum called "Museum of the Big Bend. In it there is a one -of-a-kind exhibit on a yearly basis. It is an art exhibit called"Trappings of Texas". We viewed this year's art items which consisted of paintings, photography; sculpture,a saddle, knives, bosals, reins, silver jewelry, and custom pistol grips. The main focus of the art work is the cowboy and his life. The permanent display reveals the history of the Big Bend back about 500 years. It takes you through the people who settled in the area and how they arrived here. It is an excellent display. We took the Alpine trip on friday past and took pictues of huge yucca plants in bloom at a roadside park. By now R has over 500 photos taken since we left home.
Today we travelled through Imperial and Grandfalls. And it was bird day! There were few other vehicles on the back roads we took. The road was paved and very smooth, though narrow. And the speed limit was 70 MPH! We saw many mocking birds, the Texas state bird; they darted across the road right in front of us; and one huge hawk who lingered quite awhile before we made him nervous ; so R has good photos of him; a vulture. and then back in the motel courtyard the grackles , the mourning doves and smaller birds, maybe sparrows. We watched the mourning doves mate yestarday!! Today the female(s) kept flying away from the male(s)! Much of the area here in fort Stockton has oil wells pumping; some of them are in the Permian Basin. This basin has also been used as a water source for many years by drilling wells there. Many minerals have been mined from this basin.
For late lunch I ate at a restaurant serving Mexican fare, buffet style; they had a great assortment. I still hope to try some Mexican chili. Then we watched the Talledaga race on TV; then I had a swim! Today it has been just over 80 and the wind has finally died down; in all it is very comfortable as the heat is a dry heat.

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Comments

[darlene]

love following your trip
and...look forward to the photos...the wild flowers sound beautiful...No news at home...Norm and Kevin and Rose will play golf on thurs. I am getting my pots together for show on the 8th of May...and my trip plans are in order...Will attend a birthday party lunch for Heather.. Visited Rusty who has opened a resteraunt in the old trade winds...soup was good...and saw Vance. Bob Dube said that Jay will not be able to play golf so asked Norm to see if Kevin would play. I guess that is news for Rick. The weather has been summerlike..although too cold to swim...lololo...take care...love to you both...darlene