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Davis Mountains State Park

19 03 2017

Davis Mountains State Park #7

The Davis Mountains of west Texas never disappoint. Our nicely wooded sites #7 and #10 PARK MAP along the (dry) creek bed provide plenty of privacy and shade as the temps climb into the 90’s. Unusual for this time of year, this heat wave has been with us since Phoenix and Tucson where they were breaking records and running 20+ degrees above normal.

Our weekend in Ft. Davis includes a McDonald Observatory Visitor Center tour, wandering through the old western downtown and a visit to the Ft. Davis Army Fort. On Saturday we make the short trip to Alpine to make reservations at the Lost Alaskan RV park where we’ll spend 2 nights on our way south to Big Bend. On Sunday we head down to famous Marfa with a good friend that has joined us from Las Cruces, NM. A bit of a disappointment, about the only thing we could find that looked open and inviting was the Planet Marfa beer garden. The folks were friendly, the beer was cold and the peanuts were free – what more could you ask for in a beer garden in the middle of West Texas?

After Ft. Davis we’ll make our way south toward Big Bend where we’re planning to stay next weekend. We’ll spend 2 nights at the Lost Alaskan and then 1 or 2 nights at Maverick Ranch in Lajitas. More from Big Bend country…

: Davis Mountains SP Site #7

: David Mountains State Park

: Davis Mountains SP Site #10

: Davis Mountains SP Site #11

: McDonald Observatory Visitor Center

: Downtown Marfa

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Tags: Davis Mountains State Park, ft. Davis, mcDonald observatory, tx
Categories : Spring Road Trip 2017

Davis Mountains State Park

20 03 2016

Davis Mountains State Park, Site #51

Good Morning from the Davis Mountains in West Texas.

We’ve visited the area several times, even before we had the truck camper. We’ve stayed at Indian Lodge, but have never managed to get reservations at the Davis Mountains SP campground. It seems that we’re almost always through Ft. Davis during Spring Break, when all campsites are busy and the town is full. However, with better planning this year, we managed to reserve a campsite for 2 nights, apparently right at the end of Spring Break. One of our favorite spots in West Texas, the McDonald Observatory always has special spring break Twilight Programs and Star Parties. However, with the moon nearly full this Saturday evening, there’s little chance of seeing much through the telescopes. And with temperatures dipping below freezing overnight, we opt to forgo the evening programs.

A nice change from Van Horn, our first night in the campground is quiet, relaxing and peaceful. With all sites nearly full on Saturday when we arrive, we’re almost alone on Sunday after the spring breakers head home. The nearby Black Bear Restaurant at Indian Lodge offers a tasty lunch buffet on Sunday. In the afternoon we head out to the observatory for the daily Solar Program. It’s always interesting to watch the sun “live” (as opposed to real time, which isn’t possible since it takes 8.5 seconds for the sunlight to arrive on Earth). Watching the coronal flares and molten gases on the surface, we’re more inclined to slather on a bit more sunscreen and be better at wearing hats. We’re also reminded that the Star Party includes one of our favorite aspects, the constellation talk, followed by telescope viewing. At least the telescope viewing is best enjoyed outside of Spring Break and Easter weekends – and both are better on darker (new moon) skies. We may check schedules for our return trip.

Technology somehow still completely escapes Davis Mountain State Park. Hidden up a valley, there’s no cellular service or over the air TV. The park offers some WiFi, best used at the entry gate or the interpretive center. However, with just the right placement of a PC next to a window, we’re able to slowly download email. We’re parked in site #51, a nice creek side water/electric site nestled into the trees. There are two loops with full services including cable TV – the pull-throughs creek-side (#1-#8) are very nice. The “upper loop” (#28 – #28) are located on a fairly steep loop and will take a fair amount of front to rear leveling and have fewer trees. The rest of the sites are best left for tent campers, low trees and narrow roadways would make RV entry very difficult.

Tomorrow we’ll continue east, with a overnight stop in Del Rio, then on to one of our favorite spots, the Texas Hill Country west of San Antonio. More from there…

Davis Mountains SP, site #51

Black Bear Restaurant at Indian Lodge

Indian Lodge at Davis Mountains SP

Skyline Drive at Davis Mountains SP

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Tags: davis mountains, ft. Davis, mcDonald observatory, tx, van horn
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Ft. Davis Inn & RV Park

18 03 2015

McDonald Observatory

With all sites at Davis Mountains State Park full with spring breakers, we’re once again parked in the somewhat impromptu sites behind the Ft. Davis Inn. The 10 or so sites all offer 30 and 50 amp electric service, water and sewer. There are also about 30 channels of cable TV available, with a few too snowy to watch and a couple with bad audio. We were here at Ft. Davis Inn 3 years ago, right after the current owners took over. They have made considerable progress on the RV services area which includes a restroom, shower and a washer/dryer. They have also upgraded the WiFi by adding an extended range access point. However, with a huge Class A coach between us and the transmitter, the WiFi is nearly unusable. But, the Verizon cell signal is strong and we have no problem getting good internet access. With a site closer to the motel, WiFi access would be excellent – I achieved nearly 5Mb when downloading an audio book while sitting at the picnic table at site #4.

Since leaving Carlsbad we’ve encountered wet, stormy weather. In fact, the drive down from Carlsbad along US 285 was perhaps the worst drive we’ve made with the RV. With what appears to be nearly constant traffic of heavy drilling equipment, the highway is a collection of potholes and patches made even worse with the heavy rains and muddy conditions. By the time we reach Pecos, TX the roads are running over the curbs in a red river of mud. Once we crossed over I-10 and continue south through Balmorhea, the storms have passed leaving only cloudy skies.

After working on Wednesday morning we decide to go check out the Observatory to see what’s happening for Spring Break. The visitors center is surprisingly quiet giving us quick access to the Solar presentation. There is no live solar viewing due to cloud cover, however the evening forecast is expected to improve enough for the scheduled Star Party. A few years ago we attended a Star Party with perhaps 100 other guests. This evening, the entire outdoor amphitheater is packed, standing room only – there could be nearly 1000 here! The Observatory staff has arranged for several additional telescopes, and after about a 30 minute introduction to the night objects that we will be viewing, the crowd disburses and forms lines at each telescope. Even with the crowd, the lines are fairly manageable, and we enjoy our evening viewing the Galilean moons of Jupiter, the Orion Nebula and several other objects added as slight cloud cover drifts overhead.

We’re staying here in Ft. Davis until Friday when we plan to move into Big Bend National Park. There’s very little cellular or WiFi access in the Park, so no updates until we leave the park on Sunday afternoon.