Fort Stockton to Terlingua Ghost Town
I woke later in the parking lot at Walmart in Fort Stockton. I did some grocery shopping at Walmart and picked up ice. I found a really good local coffee shot Gliitzy Brew on Main Street. The woman that took my order asked where I was from. Her husband had recently retired and was working part-time to help the shop. He made the coffee and they were interested in my travels. I asked them about the local library and they had been there in many years. They didn’t think the wi-fi service would be very good and invited me to come back and work in the space beside the shop. Apparently, many people come in and work while in town.
I went to the library and found that the wi-fi connection was actually very good. I tried to catchup on the blog and looked at a few photography books. They had a few interesting books on South West photography. I left mid-afternoon and stopped at Mesquite Tree Gifts for a coffee and ice cream. The coffee was also really good.
Trip To Big Bend
Big Bend was on my list of things to see in Texas. I already had decided that I would be cutting the Texas visit short and be returning later. The trip to Big Bend took and extra two hours because I stopped so many times to look at the scenery. A few times, I just sat and and took in the scenery.
Close to Big Bend, I realized I was running low on gas and stopped in Terlingua. There were many issues with the dispensers. It took about 40 minutes to put 5 gallons in the car. Meanwhile, I started to chat with a woman named Amazon. I inquired where I could camp overnight in the car. She initially suggested parking across the street near the intersection. That didn’t seem so appealing. She thought for a moment and suggested that I might be able to camp at the Boathouse near the Ghost Town. When I arrived, I realized it was an actual bar. I went in and told the bartender, Greg, that I had come to photograph the sunrise and asked if he would mind if I parked behind the building. It turns out that Greg is the owner of the Boathouse and he asked only that I leave early before the construction crew arrived at 7:30. I told him I’d be up early to take photos.
I moved the car and then came back in for a beer. The time was close to 8:00 pm. The beer turned into a couple beers and several shots of tequila. There was a small band playing in the back. They had an interesting sound, certainly country and not fully electric. I could hear and upright bass and went to check it out.
Back at the bar, a huge moth flew by and landed on the paper flags above the bar. I asked Greg what the significance of the Tibetan flags was and he told me they were festival flags, not Tibetan. He said he did have some Tibetan flags in the back. I asked if he had any stouts and he did. I ordered the milk stout which was 9% alcohol and very tasty.
Everyone in the bar was very friendly. I went to the car and got my camera to take some photos of the month. I had to get up on a stool at the bar and this generated a lot of comments and interest in the photograph. Terlingua is an arts community and there were people interested in photography. I had many conversations about photography throughout the night. People showed me photos they or friends had taken. A woman with bright pink hair came over. She was into art and photography. Everyone seemed to know her. She was also a local real-estate agent. I saw her signs scattered around town.
At some point, I met Connor from Washington State and his friend who lived nearby. We covered a lot of subjects including the war in Ukraine and geopolitical policies. Connor had just entered the military. We talked about travel and he asked if I had been to Alaska yet. I had not, I told him. I took notes on places to see. It seems like one could spend a few months in Alaska and just scratch the surfaces. Conner bought triple shots of tequila for himself and his friend and then said to Greg, he needs one as well. The tequila was distilled by LALO Spirits and was very smooth.
The evening only got wilder as it got later. Around mid-night I saw many people moving to the back of the bar were there was a large garage door that was open. This led to the the patio in the back. A guy had just ridden up on his horse. The horse was 16 years old and just enjoyed being around people. After about 10 minutes, he rode the horse into the bar and ordered a drink.
Discussion about a party a couple miles away ensued. The guy on the horse said there would be about 200 people there and most people said they were going to the party. I knew if I went to a party at this hour, I would not be waking early to photograph the sunrise.
The bar closed around 12:30 and I went out and prepared the car to sleep. I crawled in an a few minutes later someone tapped on the window. It was someone I was taking to at the bar. He said, are you going to this party. I told him I wasn’t. The guy on the horse came by as we were talking and ask the same question. I asked him how he was going to get to the party. He responded that he didn’t have a car and that he was going to ride his horse over.
It took about one second for me to fall asleep.