Take a hike

This morning started quite a bit earlier than I had hoped.  At about 6:30 am, the people in the hotel room just next door to us turned on their television to a news program.  They also began a great philosophical debate about American Presidents, past and currrent.  They had lots of things to disagree about- and they were not shy to vehemently defend their opposing views.  I assume it was a married couple, based on the practiced rythym of their arguments.  I had planned to wake up a little later, but they decided for me.  Cas was only up to hear a little bit of the conversation.  

But no matter, that was all done when we checked out of the hotel in Alpine and headed down the road.  We went to that research center we’d scoped out yesterday, and when we got there, we went on a nice hike.  Given that my first hike was a less than pleasant experience, I have to psych myself up for this sort of thing.  I mostly enjoyed this one, though there were a few moments when I wondered why this activity is so popular with people.  Probably because everything is so darn pretty: 

It wasn’t the easiest walk I have been on, but this time, I had hiking boots and hiking socks.  It really made a difference.  I felt bad for Cas, though, because his boots had apparently decided to start shredding themselves on this particular walkabout.  I guess he’s adding a new pair of hiking boots to the old birthday list, because the ones he brought on this trip are not worthy of packing back in the bag and taking home.  I’m honestly not sure how they held together as long as they did when we were walking around.  

After the hike, we left and headed to Fort Davis for lunch.  After the multiple places we had tried to eat, only to find that the world grinds to a halt in spring break in a college town, we decided to try a different tactic.  Fort Davis was happy to feed us.  In addition to that, we stopped by an old fashioned soda fountain on the way out of town.  I had a proper root beer, and Cas had an old fashioned Vanilla Coke.  It was pretty cool.  We sat at the counter, and drank our sodas, just to have that experience.  When we went to pay for the drinks, they had homemade fudge for sale.  It’s like they saw us coming.  We’ll be enjoying that after dinner.  

After that, we went back to the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute for a stroll through their mining exhibit and their botanical garden.  The mining exhibit was cool, and the botanical garden was full of things that were not having a great season.  There were few green things, and of those, the really interesting ones were few and far between.  At the end of the botanical garden, there was a greenhouse absolutely full of cacti.  That was pretty great.  

Anyhow, we took off from there and headed to Marathon.  We have checked in to our room at the Gage Hotel.  It’s several buildings, now, having been opened at first in 1927.  We’re in the Captain Shepherd house this evening,  and it’s pretty nice.  I can’t see much else to do in Marathon, but we have reservations at their fancy restaurant later on and we plan to check out some of the cool features of this sprawling complex.  There is an outdoor heated pool, a game lot, some walking trails and a bunch of other stuff.  I think we’re headed to the White Buffalo Bar in a few moments, actually.  It’s only a short walk, not a hike.  

In case you need it again, here is a link to the photos: 

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPO8ikKHEHPkImSA77sqhgs7050rEyuaN9SnT523PxkZGx08FXdMvIu396fu-7VAA?key=d1N1RmplaVUxX0FFcElfOWpvUlhfTXZaR1U4X0F3