A few details about our travels

There were a few things that we both noticed along the way. I thought I would mention them as we headed through the last stretch of the drive home.  First, we have to talk about the car.  

Turbo Wagon:

Cas went on a trip when he was still a single man.  He flew to South Dakota and rented a Nissan Versa to drive around.  It was silver in color, and he had fond memories of the trip.  When we got to the car rental place, they told us the car we would enjoy would be a black Nissan Versa.  Cas said he nicknamed his car in South Dakota the Turbo Wagon.  He said it was a reasonable mode of transportation, and our car for the last week has been perfectly fine.  It’s nothing great, nor is it awful.  We named our rental: Turbo Wagon 2: Electric Bugaloo.  

It’s comfortable enough, and the gas mileage is good. The man at the rental counter wanted to up sell us on everything- a car upgrade, added insurance and so on.  We just stuck with the turbo wagon.  It’s been pretty comfortable.  

The Javelina

When Cas and I were at the McDonald Observatory, the person who taught our last class of the day before the star party was a really spectacular teacher named Marc.  In spite of the fact that I have been taught my whole life to spell Mark with a k, this man was a very, very good teacher.  He was so good with the kids in the room- it was like he was a child whisperer.  As the class drew to a close, he cautioned everyone who was headed to the star party that it was awfully cloudy.  As he was discussing the arguments for and against sticking around.  He talked about how to leave so headlights won’t shine in the faces of the star partiers.  In this same speech, he warned about the probability of hitting deer in the dark- or what he called “Suicide Pigs.”  

Cas and I spent the rest of the trip looking for the famed Suicide Pigs of West Texas.  Everywhere we went after that, there were stuffed javelina toys in shops, books about them, We looked everywhere for a javelinas.  We looked on roadsides, during hikes, while floating down the river- no javelinas.  We struck out.

Why Cas can’t have nice things in national parks.  

Cas has apparently done the exact same frustrating thing twice in his life.  He went to Big Bend once many years ago.  When he was hiking there in his 30s, he managed to shred and destroy a pair of hiking boots.  Apparently, he spent time in that adventure waking around in duct-taped footwear.  

This time, I was walking behind Cas at the Chihuahua Desert Research Center hike, and I saw that the soles of his current boots were flopping about a little.  He has totally killed off two pairs of hiking boots in or around Big Bend.  Cas can’t have nice things, I’ve decided- not in national parks.  

Anyhow, we’re almost home.  It’s time to hang up the blog until this summer when we head to Canada.  I’ll get back on here then.  Until that, here is that link to Cas’ photos again.  A few of them are mine, but they’re mostly his: https://photos.app.goo.gl/l8PlrGxUhLMOcgi22

See you back home!