SW USA 2024: The Canadian Coddiwomplers*

*Coddiwomple: “to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination." 

Del Rio, Marfa, El Paso

When we took a look at the next leg of our journey, we thought we’d like to visit Big Bend National Park.  Unfortunately, there were no sites available in any of their campgrounds.  Oh well, when you’re coddiwombling you need to be flexible.  We decided to stay in Del Rio.  I spoke with the owner of the Hidden Valley RV Park.  I will kindly say that she was a little bit scattered – that’s actually an understatement.  For example, she asked if we had any pets, I said yes an indoor cat.  She then asked me if the cat barked.  By the end of the call, I was not overly confident that we had actually made a reservation.

We made sure to plan shorter days for this leg. We passed a sign that told us that all vehicles had to enter the border patrol station.  We spoke with a very nice customs officer who wanted to see our Canadian documents.  Yikes!  We didn’t know where they were.  I checked the glove compartment (the last place I’d seen them) and then told him they must be in the trailer and I started to get out of the truck when he just waved us on. Phew!  It was a good thing because we couldn’t find them until later that night when Jerry remembered where he’d put them!

 I have noticed lots of billboards on these Texan roads – most of them advertising law firms for accident victims.  One we saw on the way to Seguin caught my attention.  Two handsome rugged men in nice suits are pictured back-to-back with arms crossed and in very large letters is “Law Guns.”  That’s all.  At first I thought it might be an ad for a new TV show but nope … there’s a legal firm called Law Guns!

 We had a beautiful drive to Del Rio and arrived in plenty of time to sit outside in the sunshine.  The woman I’d spoken with did remember our call and she turned out to be a very nice and chatty woman.  She told us about the colony of feral cats that she feeds (there are lots of orange tabby cats).  There is a sign on a post with a bell on top.  The sign says, “Ring the bell.  Win a cat!”  The clubhouse at this park has the most unique fan we’ve ever seen.

Our Del Rio site

The most interesting fan

 The next day Jerry unloaded our trikes and we road into town to a hike and bike trail along the San Filipe Creek through Moore Park.  Along the route the GPS outlined for us we entered an area where there were lots of dogs running about, they even chased us as we rode honking our horns like crazy trying to scare them away.   I have read that you can spray a dog with your water bottle to scare them away but that was too complicated a manoeuvre for me at the time.

 The ride along the creek was very pretty, we saw lots of white herons.  Then we came to the end of the paved part and Jerry convinced me to continue on a dirt path that got narrower and narrower.  Finally we emerged from the desert brush and thankfully I saw streets up the hill.

 On the way back to Hidden Valley, we stopped at a H-E-B’s for groceries – just a few because they all had to fit in our panniers.  It was a nice day.  Since the pandemic, we have been placing our grocery orders on-line and picking them up.  Actually physically shopping is a novelty for us and by adding in an unfamiliar store and products, groceries become an adventure. 

 We discovered that Del Rio is an interesting area, close to the Amistad National Recreation Area that includes Lake Amistad Reservoir on the Rio Grande River at the confluence of Devils River.  The Amistad name comes from a Spanish word meaning friendship.  On our way out of town we crossed over Lake Amistad.  It is a most gorgeous turquoise and the largest lake in Texas. It would be a nice place to return to for a longer stay.  If we were truly coddiwombling of course we would be able to stay for however long we want but we did make reservations for a month at a campground in Tucson, AZ starting on Feb 17^th.  We’re often trying to balance between rambling and being sure there is a place to stay especially in a popular area like Tucson in Spring.

Our next camp was in Marfa.  We had a lovely day except for the very strong winds that blew the trailer around making it harder for Jerry to stay on track.  We also gradually climbed from 1000’ in Del Rio to over 5000’ in Marfa.  Clifford sucked back the gas that day especially due to headwinds.

Resting kitty

The landscape is very flat, no trees and unusual vegetation.  There were flat top mountains on either side of the large plain that the highway bisected.  We saw may gates for ranches but not many homes and no cattle until the end of the day closer to Marfa.  The few towns we passed through seemed to be abandoned – like Dryden, TX.

 Marfa is known for the Marfa Lights.  Mysterious lights that appear on the horizon with no explanation for them.  They appear in miles of desolate desert.  Marfa has a festival every year after Labour Day and there is even a viewing platform about 6 miles east of town.  

Marfa "Lights" viewing platform

We stopped there briefly but it was still daylight.  Jerry did watch for these dancing lights but alas did not see them.  (Every time Jerry got up through the night he would look out to see if they were out there but alas no luck.)

 Marfa is also known for The Chinati Foundation.  In 1986, Donald Judd, artist, created a site for permanent large-scale works of art on 340 acres of a former military base.  I was excited to get a tour (required) but (sigh) the foundation is only open from Wednesday to Sunday.

 As we approached the Tumble In RV Park, we noticed a pile of container cars in a field beside the railway tracks.  They seemed to be an arrangement of (truck/train) containers.  With a closer look, we saw other sculptures in the field.  The container sculpture was created by Matt Johnson and in 2023 was moved  to Marfa from its original location in Coachella Valley.  The Sleeping Figure made up of 12 abandoned containers, is 150’ long by 40’ high and was created for Desert X, a site-specific, contemporary art exhibition that is held in the Coachella Valley in Southern California.

Container sculpture was created by Matt Johnson

Our campground wasn’t much at all but it did have an art installation too.  Several iron coloured columns in a semi-circle.  Each column had cut-outs in amoeba-like shapes on the front and back and the cut-outs were backed by a white plastic like substance.

Tumble in "Office"

 

I later learned that Marfa is a centre for the arts with several galleries, artists and over 30 businesses related to the arts.  Another place that warrants a longer visit.

 (Jerry here) In Marfa, the temperature went down to -10ﾟC or 14ﾟF on our first night.  I brought the water hose in and all went well as we ran from our fresh water tank.  In the morning though, we had a frozen cold water pipe in the bathroom.  Luckily it thawed naturally and there were no side effects.  The next night I thought we had it figured out.  I ran the furnace more as it heats the insulated under belly and water was fine…inside.  Outside, the campground spigot and standpipe stayed frozen until after we were gone…but I could not open the valves to drain our grey and black water tanks*.  That’s ok.  They were fine and we dumped them at the next stop.  (That’s the advantage of being self-contained but also adapting and having workarounds helps.  I usually don’t drive with the tanks full as it’s extra weight.) *for those not familiar with RVs, we have 2 grey water tanks, sinks and shower waste water, one fresh water tank and one black water (toilet) tank.  These can be filled and then “dumped” into septic systems when required.

 Our drive out of Marfa was truly interesting and involved several stops along the way.  The first was at the Big Bend Coffee Roaster where Jerry got some Texan roasted coffee beans.  The woman even gave him a free bag of Mexican Chiapas coffee to try.

In the 1956, the movie “Giant” was partially filmed in and near Marfa and at the Wyatt Ranches.  This classic western starred Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean.  On Highway 90 there is a “mural” of these stars  and the director of the film, George Stevens, that was painted by John Cerney, a California artist.  Apparently, every year he reaches out to different cities and offers to donate an art piece to the community. As you are looking at these images (they’re not actually a mural but large cut-outs like individual billboards), there is music coming from two “stone” speakers powered by solar panels.  Incorporating music in the installation was a collaboration between Cerney and singer/songwriter Michael Nesmith (of the Monkees).

While approaching the “Giant” site, we spotted a white blimp in the sky quite far away.  This began some speculation on our part.  It wasn’t moving so it must be tied down somehow but to what and why?  Was it an alien craft hovering over the desert?  Was it monitoring the border for illegal aliens or perhaps aliens from off planet?  It grew larger as we grew closer and we kept a sharp look out for more information.

Strange looking alien spacecraft

However, there was one more stop along highway 90 at the Marfa Prada Store.  Yes there is a Prada store just outside of Valentine.

 

Jerry was looking for a Valentines gift.  (Luckily there is no entrance and so I saved some money that day!)

This is actually another art installation created in 2005 by artists Elmgreen and Dragset.  The work was produced by the New York-based Art Production Fund and Ballroom Marfa, a center of contemporary art and culture.  It contains real items donated by Prada from their fall/winter 2005 collection.  It is not and never will be a retail location – there is no door.  The building is completely sealed and will stay there and deteriorate over time.  There is a security system powered by solar.  Locks of all kinds have been left on the fencing around this piece of art.

 

Back on the road we were still interested in the white blimp.  In the distance there were several white structures and we surmised the blimp must be part of that complex.  A weather station perhaps.  Nope, we finally found a sign telling us this was a Tethered Aerostat Radar System.  It is used by customs to patrol the border for illegal/suspicious aircraft.

There are 6 of these installations and they are monitoring aircraft along the border to Mexico.

 

Continuing on our way to El Paso, we drove by a huge orchard – miles of trees and we  wondered what fruit they are growing.  The trees were nothing like any that we know.  Finally there was a sign – Pecan Grove Farms.  They produce ingredient pecans and supply container trees for other growers.

 Around Van Horn we turned more westerly and the landscape changed.  Instead of driving past mountain ranges, we were driving in the mountains.  They still appeared to be quite old to me because of the flat tops on most of the mountains although there were the occasional peaks.  The surface changed from grey gravel spotted with vegetation to a more sandy like surface of buff and slightly coral/pink dirt.  There was more brush and fewer of the unusual plants seen in the picture below.

 

Our campground in El Paso was not great – it was right between the convergence of two highways!  Noisy but it was just one night.  The next night we stayed in Lordsburg New Mexico...it wasn't great either...so we won't talk about them and there'll be no pictures!

 Some signs that caught our attention or tickled our funny bones:

·     Drive Sober.  There’s no instant replay.

·     This is God’s country.  Please don’t drive through it like Hell.

·     Hitchhikers may be escaping inmates.

·     Horney Toad Harley Davidson.

·     Keep lonely places lonely.

 

So long for now.

Love from,

Jerry, Elizabeth, Misty, FJ (Flat Jesus), the Guys, Miss Adventure Too, and Clifford the Big Red Truck.