Marathon Motel and RV Park Day 2

Our second day here was a do nothing in particular day. Again, it was very chilly last night but it warmed up quickly. It was actually hot for awhile this afternoon. After a morning stroll around the motel grounds and taking some pictures we drove into town to the only grocery store to pick up some essentials.

The morning was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky and no wind. We decided to walk into town and look at what it had to offer. There is really a first rate Hotel in town, the Gage Hotel www.gagehotel.com.
We really enjoyed our two days here it's a very laid back place with a very good climate. Marathon Texas averages 350 days of pure sunshine a year.

After a quick lunch we jumped back in the car and drove to a park that is located five miles south of town.We were very surprised because it was a lot larger then we thought. It is suppose to be a very good spot to spot many different species of birds in this part of Texas. Didn't spot any today however. Back to the RV and relaxed until supper. Tonight we are going to watch some TV, the campground provides cable with HBO, Showtime and Cinemax. Tomorrow we are going down into Big Bend National Park and I'm sure posting to the blog will not be an option.

Out door kitchen area at Marathon Motel and RV Park

Boots on a fence, what else.

Outdoor fireplace in the kitchen area

Walk in meat smoker

Entrance to kitchen area

Wall around the outdoor court yard

Marathon Motel and RV Park

Once again we battled high winds today on our way to Marathon, we were happy that the drive was a relatively short one. The town of Marathon is small but cute we are planning to go into town tonight for pizza at a restaurant Richard found out about on the internet. We just have to wait for our laundry.

The laundry here at the park has only one washer that works and one dryer and there are no laundries in town. The campground looks pretty typical Texas, flat and dry but with beautiful views of the hills. Richard has some nice pictures of the RV Park it’s a real cute park. We are about 68 miles from Big Bend and we will be going into the park on Sunday.  

Let me set the stage, small southwestern Texan town (total cowboy). We find the 'happening' place in town on a Friday night, the 'snake pit', swinging saloon doors, peanut shells on the floor the whole nine yards. We mosey on in and order a Lone Star and I notice a small stage area in the rear of the room. This is it, this is where you can throw your bottle at the band playing behind a wire cage. I've seen this on TV so I know it happens. No one was playing at the moment but it being Friday evening there had to be some entertainment tonight. So I ask the bar keep if they had something going on tonight, you bet was the reply, he should be here shortly he plays the accordion and he's very good. We were gone by the time he arrived. 

Marathon Motel and RV Park

Marathon has five two room buildings that make up the motel side of the business

Seminole Day Two

It was so nice to have our little electric heater running overnight, we can go without the convenience of electricy but it sure is nice when you have it. Another chilly night but a beautiful sunny morning, it warmed up to around 72 degrees by 10:00 AM. The desert is starting to green up and some plants are beginning to bloom it smells so pretty.

 Today we went on a six mile hike along the rim of the Seminole Canyon and Rio Grande River, just beautiful. We were actually looking across the river into Mexico. There were signs warning about snakes and the Javelinas (wild Pigs) in the area but we saw nothing.

 Tomorrow we will be heading out of the park and going to Marathon Texas; we will be staying there for two days then heading down into Big Bend.

Site 16E Seminole State Park

Site 16E

Sunset

Caution signson our morning walk

Seminole Canyon

Seminole State Park Camp Ground

This is what tomorrow's 200 mile drive will look like

Siminole and Langtry Texas

We are still in the same area of Texas, we just moved a few miles up Highway 90 to Seminal State Park, we visited the park on Sat. and took a guided hike, we liked the park so much we decided to spend a few days here. The wind is really blowing again today but at 3:00 in the afternoon its 70 degrees. Due to the wind we thought doing some touring in the car would be fun and we drove into Langtry Texas. Langtry is the town that Judge Roy Bean lived and died in. It’s not much of a town but the Texas Dept. 0f Transportation Visitors Center has the original home (the opera house) of Judge Roy Bean, his tavern and pool hall perfectly restored along with a beautiful cactus garden on the grounds.

We are so close to the border that you can see Mexico right across the Rio Grande Rich took some photos of the confluence of the Pecos and Rio Grande Rivers with Mexico in the background. 

Judge Roy Beans Saloon and Billiard Hall

 Sounds Reasonable

 Judge Beans Restored House (The Opera House)

Looking across the Rio Grande at Mexico

 

Not quite sure about that border crossing

200 miles of the same for our next stop

Amistad Reservoir Day One

We got started about 10:00 today and headed out to the desert. The weatherman called for strong winds today and this evening, however so far it hasn’t been bad at all. Again the morning started out chilly but warmed up quickly. We are staying at a national recreational area that has four separate camping areas around a large (mostly dry) reservoir. The camp ground we are in only has five camp sites and there is only one other site taken besides ours. There is no electric or water and of course we have no cell service.

We took a short walk into the desert and found a herd of goats. These are the goats with large horns; I didn’t have the right lens with me so I’ll try tomorrow and see if I can get some pictures. I don’t know if these are free range goats or what as there are no fences and we haven’t seen anything that looks like private property.   We also saw what we think was a vermilion flycatcher. A very beautiful bright red and black bird, again no picture but will try tomorrow.  

It’s a beautiful warm evening with what looks to be a full moon.  

Amistad Reservoir Day Two 

If we had not planned on spending the day here already we would have by now. There is no way I am going to drive the RV in this wind. It is blowing constantly at 50 miles per hour.  It has been this way all day and even though it’s 60 degrees it’s too windy to do much of anything outside. We did manage a short walk in the afternoon and spoke to a ranger that was out checking the remote camping areas. The camp we are in is a least a half mile from water, he told us that water was right up to the campgrounds in 2010. He said because more than half the reservoir is in Mexico the Mexicans have been draining the reservoir for their irrigation. This area desperately needs rain.

Amistad Reservoir Day Three  

 Today we woke up to 36 degrees it was a tossup as far as who was going to get up and turn on the furnace, Richard lost again. The day ended up slightly overcast but warmed up quickly to about 65degrees. We are the only people in this park for the last two days, it’s very quite. 

This afternoon we went for a long walk in the area that used to be part of the lake and I found some interesting rocks, Joe will have to dust off his geology books because these are pretty cool.  Richard got some very nice pictures of the goats that graze in the area and a beautiful little Vermillion Flycatcher. We haven’t seen an Armadillo yet but I did find the shell of one, they are a lot larger than I thought. 

This evening Richard grilled some steaks on the BBQ and we are having a relaxing time listening to a Texas radio station called Outlaw Radio, we are starting too really like Texas Country music. This is our last night, at Amistad National Recreational Park, we really enjoyed the area, especially paying only $2.00 a night to camp, tomorrow we are headed to Seminole State Park for a couple of days.

 Say what?

Vermillion Flycatcher