Today we travelled to Marfa, Tx.
These first 3 photos are taken above I-10 with less and less grass growing each time. Also windmills in the oil fields.
The Davis Mountains on the south side if I-10
There are lots of operational VW Beatles down near Marfa.
Marfa’s ‘Mystery Ghost Lights’
One of the things Marfa is famous for is the Mystery Ghost Lights in the desert.
The Marfa lights or the Marfa ghost lights are unexplained lights (known as "ghost lights") usually seen near U.S. Route 67 on Mitchell Flat east of Marfa, Texas, in the United States.
The first published account of the lights was written in 1957, and this article is the sole source for anecdotal claims that the lights date back to the 1800s. Reports often describe brightly glowing basketball sized spheres floating above the ground, or sometimes high in the air. Colors are usually described as white, yellow, orange or red, but green and blue are sometimes reported. The balls are said to hover at about shoulder height, or to move laterally at low speeds, or sometimes to shoot around rapidly in any direction. They often appear in pairs or groups, according to reports, to divide into pairs or merge together, to disappear and reappear, and sometimes to move in seemingly regular patterns. Their sizes are typically said to resemble soccer balls or basketballs.
Sightings are reported occasionally and unpredictably, perhaps ten to twenty times a year. There are no reliable reports of daytime sightings; the lights seem to be a nocturnal phenomenon only.
According to the people who claim to have seen the lights, they may appear at any time of night, typically south of U.S. Route 90 and U.S. Route 67, five to fifteen miles east of Marfa, at unpredictable directions and apparent distances. They can persist from a fraction of a second to several hours. There is evidently no connection between appearances of the Marfa lights and anything else besides nighttime hours. They appear in all seasons of the year and in any weather, seemingly uninfluenced by such factors. They sometimes have been observed during late dusk and early dawn, when the landscape is dimly illuminated.
It is extremely difficult to approach an ongoing display of the Marfa lights, mainly due to the dangerous terrain of Mitchell Flat. Also, all of the land where the Marfa Lights are observed is private property, and access is prohibited without explicit permission from the owners.
The Marfa Lights viewing center.
In 1883, the wife of the president of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad named a small West Texas railroad water stop Marfa after a character in a Russian novel that she was reading at the time.
Presidio County Courthouse
A landmark of the Big Bend, the large dome is visible for miles. Constructed of native stone and brick made at Marfa the stucco was added later. Built 1886 in this county’s third seat of justice. The First County Seat was Fort Leaton on the Rio Grande, the Second was Fort Davis.
This hotel was built in 1930 and was the home to the movie stars in the movie “Giant” filmed in the 50’s
The movie stars Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean and features Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Rod Taylor and Earl Holliman. Giant was the last of James Dean's three films as a leading actor, and earned him his second and last Academy Award nomination – he was killed in a car accident before the film was released. Nick Adams was called in to do some voice-over dubbing for Dean's role.
One the the local businesses. LOVE THE NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All that is left of the Stardust Motel. That is our motorhome in the background.
In the evening we went to watch the Marfa Lights and spent 2 hours in the desert with many others seeing nothing but headlights on a rural road.
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