Ashes to Ashes

The smell of the carnage after a big fire is unique.  It immediately hit me when I got back near the place.  My nose and senses learned it many years ago as young paramedic.  Unfortunately, then there were other, more terrible smells to add to the process.  No one injured this time but a lot of things black.

My question is this.....any amateur looters out there on my facebook.  You know who you are?  What in the hell is in this photo that you would want to sneak around in the dark and steal?  I just don't get it.  I guess that begs another question.  If you don't want it anyway and someone sneaks in and takes it without permission, is that stealing?  Anyone able to shed any light on the subject let me know.  If anyone is in need of burned tin....I have a source.

What gets me even more than that is the sight of what I took in the back of my truck and what was left.  I'm going to do some serious evaluating on the material side of my life starting now.  I'm not sure I'm ready to do another downsize right now but some of the things I had always considered valuable will be given away to someone who is more oriented to take care of them.  So if you get a package from me in the near future...don't be afraid.  If you don't,  consider yourself even luckier.  I have some strange things.  And NO, I'm keeping the Vacuum.

The Night the Mountain Burned

It was just shy of 3:15 AM on Saturday morning when I heard the car alarm though the open window.  The Villa is usually a very quiet place so any strange noises get your attention.  A short time later I was startled by someone banging hard on my front door.  No yelling or screaming just a hard solid banging. As a good Texan would do, I got my gun and prepared to meet some strange intruder.   What I saw out the window took my breath away.  A wall of flames rising high above the narrow row of buildings in front of me.  Then I heard my neighbor calming shouting that the mountain was on fire.   My first thought, "NO SHIT".

What happened next was a strange series of thought processes that I will never forget.  After I managed to get some clothes on and realized that I had a minute or two before the Villa was gone, I started looking around for things to save.   What do you save?  You can't even come close to getting it all.  So what do you take?  I hopped around on one foot then another and couldn't decide on anything.  There were all kinds of things of value.  I just couldn't figure out what to get.  I picked up a guitar (which I don't really play), and the vacuum cleaner.  Now don't get me wrong....it's a good vacuum cleaner but as a few of you might know about me....I don't like to vacuum.  In fact I would have burned the vacuum myself if given half a chance , but was it really the most important object I owned?  The crazy thing is that I put it down and picked it up several times over the next 3 minutes.  In the end I left the vacuum and took the guitar, some masks, an empty camera case, and my dirty clothes.  You know, all the most important things in ones life.  That was all that I was allowed to get as the police forced everyone to evacuate.  Flames were more than 30 feet in the air just a few yards from the Villa.  It was time to say goodbye.

Most of the early morning I was sitting with the crowd and watching the fire.  More and more mutual aid fire support came in from surrounding cities and slowly the progress of the fire was slowed.  Somehow the Villa had a chance.  It all hinged on one large building across the street from the Villa.  No wind, wet weather and some good fire work managed to keep the other building from going and in the end the Villa was saved.   Not everyone would be so lucky.

A few more thoughts on this later.  These are a few pictures from my porch

Ernest And Me

The Plaza del Castillo is a bustling place during the Festival of San Fermin.  Most are not familiar with San Fermin but know the fiesta as “Running the Bulls in Pamplona”.  There are many bull runs in the world but none compare to Pamplona  for it’s pageantry and mystic.   The tales of Pamplona have been chronicled for years in Stories of courage, risk, and bravado.  None compare to Hemingway’s account of the fiesta in the Sun Also Rises.  Hemingway became an iconic part of San Fermin many years ago.  Today his books and likeness are spread all over the central city in Pamplona.  What would this kind of party be without a look a like contest.  

My encounter with the Ernesto came on a lazy Wednesday afternoon on the Plaza.  People had slowed from the Adrenaline packed morning of the run.  Even the fluffed up details of the near death runs had died down in the warm Spanish sun.  I first noticed a group of men all resembling Ernest standing near a table filled with Tapas and wine.  Some looked more like Papa than others but all were a pretty decent likeness of the man.  Little did I know the contest had just ended and the winner had been crowned.  

Securing a choice table near the Bar Txoko I was well into my third Kaiku, a strange vanilla and cognac mixture,  when Gian Paolo Bonomi strolled by accompanied by another Hemingway clone.  The conversation was still hot from the earlier competition when he noticed that I had raised my camera.  Not missing a beat he turned repositioned his scarf and smiled for the photo.  A mutual smile and nod and Ernest was gone.  An hour or so later the mysterious Ernest wandered by again only this time alone.  I caught his eye and motioned him over.  A drink was in order as it turned out for the number two Hemingway in Pamplona that day.  Gian Paolo was a travel writer who was in Pamplona for the second time.  He had traveled all over the world taking photos and jotting down notes about extraordinary places.  Pamplona would be a great entry he said to me in broken English.   There really is no joy more intense than sitting with a new friend in a beautiful place trying to overcome a language barrier with laughs and smiles and strange hand  gestures that no one ever understands.  Gian Paolo and traded cards and it was only then as he looked at the card I gave him that he realized that I was somewhat in the family of wandering adventurers.  Gian Paolo’s card was one your grandfather would have made on the new “Desk Top” he got for Christmas.  It had a sincere quality to it that was hard to match.  Simply a man who loved to travel and wanted to tell his Italian friends about it and maybe the world if it would listen.

Over the last couple of years, I have asked Gian Paolo many questions about romantic places in Italy.  What makes the best pasta?  Favorite travel destinations.  His responses always begin with, “well, it depends”.   After that he has always come up with some unique locations that were worth the effort.   Gian Paolos website can be reached at www.gianpaolobonomi.it  There used to be English there also but now I’m not sure so enjoy the puzzle of Italian. 

Adventure Prep

Getting a Visa always seems to be a pain in the ass.  No matter how pretty the application looks it still has it's bugs.  So, this trip I decided to go to Houston and say hello in person.  The Consulate in Houston reminded me of some sort of Alfred Hitchcock movie.  One big room with 4 desks by the window and millions of chairs.  Of course at 9:15 AM  there was no one at the desks.  The place opened at 9:00 AM.  There were however lot's of people sitting in the rows of chairs.  It sort of looked like the DMV office but without any number system or sign in.  I was lucky.  Somehow I managed to get a front row seat and when the crew came in I rushed the desks.  My handler was a wonderful American woman.  The only one and certainly the only one smiling.  She helped me with my screwed up application and sent me off to UPS, OFFICE DEPOT twice, and the ATM before the "place got crazy" as she put it.  Imagine 100 people trying to keep calm and orderly when the next agent yelled, "next person please".  No sign in and no number system", did I mention that.

So, this trip is going to be a long one.  Two months driving in an expedition truck the circumference of India up to Nepal.  Some camping and lot's of off the beaten path places along the way.  I am loaded with camera stuff so not much room for anything else.  A change of underwear....socks....some Immodium....and duct tape.  That should do it.  If the Visa ever comes that is.

The most remote Oasis in Texas

The Tub

Campsite View

Alone in Paradise

It occurred to me on the crazy drive to Chinati Hot Springs that this has to be the most remote guest accommodations in Texas.  I think I was right and I will do it again as soon as I can get back to that beautiful quiet expanse of West Texas.  The hot springs have been soothing visitors for hundreds of years.  In modern times it has been the Kingston Hot Springs, Ruidosa Hot Springs and now Chinati Hot Springs.  The current name is the backdrop for the lodge and on the other side, the famous Mitchell flats where one goes to see the Marfa lights  

Having roamed around the region for many years I was amazed at what I have been missing.  It was Ed who was sitting on the porch of the Terlingua Trading Post who said it was a must see destination.  With firm advice from a beer swilling nearly local it was put on the agenda.  

Chinati has seven cabins that are well appointed and very clean.  Two of the separate cabins have their own hot tubs.  One with an inside tub and the other with an outside tub that has a huge view of the sky.  There are also two bathhouses that provide showers and private tubs to the other cabins.  There is nothing like some privacy on a cool desert night with a sky that is on fire with stars.  They also offer some primitive camping that is close to the cook cabin.  The cook cabin is a super cool place with all you would ever need to make a gourmet meal in the wilderness.  Two huge fridges eliminate the need for ice and there is every pot and pan ever made along with stoves and coffee.  It’s a cook as go type place so don’t forget the groceries. after a home cooked meal it’s time for a soak.  The community hot tub is under some trees at the base of the spings and while I don’t think the water is 109 as the brochure tells you, it’s a welcome and wonderful mineral bath under the broad Texas sky.  

The busy season is late September to April and the cabins fill up quick during those times.  They max at 20 people which is awesome for the quiet little place.  They also have a cold pool with a ridiculous view of the sunset if you there in the hot.  Rooms are from 90.00 to 137.00 and camping with the outside shower and tub rights are 20.00 a person.  To get there you have to work at it.  From Terlingua it’s about 110 miles on the river road FM 170.  If you come from the North and the Marfa direction you have a chance to take a FM 2810 through Pinto Canyon.  It’s about 53 miles and will take a couple of hours plus.  High Clearance and 4 WD is the way to go but we saw a few folks get through in a 1994 Yugo or something so it just depends on the road conditions.  It’s worth the time.  Bring some La Crema and a lawn chair so you can take a break.  Very sweet.   You can get there from Presidio it’s about 37 miles with about 7 of those on the dirt.  

Chinati Hot Springs will not disappoint you if love quiet and solitude.  “It’s hot water and quiet we sell”, so says the managers Dan and Diane.  Let me know what you think? 

Chinati Hot Springs
Box 67, Candelaria Route
Marfa, Texas  79843

(432) 229-4165

info@chinatihotsprings.net

The Rape of Lajitas

It isn’t often that I post an entry that touches home with me in a disgusted negative way.  Please accept my apology for this one.  The town of Lajitas lies about 17 miles west of Terlingua on the river road.  The only reason the town came into being is because of the old Lajitas trading post.  It was the center of commerce next to the river for a hundred years serving the locals on both sides of the river.   If you have ever bought Clay Henry the beer drinking goat a cold one you know how special the old adobe building really was.  I have spent a few cold night around the fire outside listening to cowboys who have come in for a couple of cold beers, play a guitar and sing range songs.  It was just one of those places.  

And now?  I am aware that development is in the same box with death and taxes.  It’s inevitable.  But I will also maintain that development must always embrace and respect the past.  What happened to the old Lajitas trading post is criminal.  A ritzy development company purchased the surrounding property and the trading post for a hotel/golf course development.  I have nothing against golf.  I have even chilly dipped a few divots myself but there is a responsible way to do things.  The Black Jack Crossing golf development decided the old Lajitas trading post was a better golf cart barn and halfway house than what it always used to be which was the historic cement that held a region together.   No more interaction from two nations, no more Clay Henry, no more songs around a warm fire.  All destroyed by greed.  In my view it makes the situation worse that they left part of the building and had the nerve to put an historic marker on it.  Right next to the EZ GO 300 battery power hook up cables.  

There has to be a give and take with nature and history.  The needs of the many have to be balanced with the needs of the few or so says the pointy eared dude in Star Trek.  It is never more true than in Lajitas.  The green of the golf course just doesn’t fit in a place meant to be wild and remote.  It never has and it never will.  It’s just my opinion and I could be wrong......but I’m not.

Viva Terlingua

Terlingua, Texas is one of those places that you really shouldn’t like except for the view and the breathtaking surroundings.  Well, Maybe that is enough.   Terlingua is old, run down and eclectic.  I have not been here in a few years and to tell you the truth it has not changed much.  It’s still the local crazy folks trying to hang on and milk the tourists out of there last few bucks.  It’s rock and sky mixed with hard purples and browns of the surrounding mountains.  

Sure I guess it’s the Chili capital of the world.  The cookoff is next on the calendar for the region on November 2 and 3rd.  Still there just isn’t much here.  Big Bend National Park just reopened from the government shut down and there were no tourists on the road.  There were plenty of park police....45 MPH in the desert?  Really.   Still there is something about bringing your beer and wine from the car and drinking it on the steps of the Terlingua Trading Post and the Starlight Theater on a perfect Friday afternoon.  Hell, it’s hard to beat a mixed six of imported beer for a ten spot in the Trading Post.   I would be willing to bet if you ever get here you would be confused and a bit off balance....but glad you came.  It’s really hard to believe you are still in Texas.