Texas Travel – Getting Reacquainted With Home Part III
As we continued to travel in Texas we decided to visit West Texas. We had never really traveled to West Texas and I had only been there once quite a few years ago just passing through on a drive from New Mexico to Houston. We had heard about the desolation and desert in the area and Big Bend but didn’t know a whole lot else. In September of 2020 we took a flight to Midland/Odessa and visited the large area that is West Texas. We visited the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, The George W. Bush childhood home, The Odessa Meteor Crater and the Monahan’s Sand Dune’s State Park in the Midland/Odessa Area. We went to Fort Stockton, Pecos, Alpine, Marfa and Ft. Davis in the Big Bend area. We of course visited Big Bend National Park and had the first chance to view another country since the pandemic began. West Texas is a wild area that is so different from the other regions in Texas and a great place to visit.
Midland/Odessa
We flew into Midland/Odessa to the relatively small but nice airport. Most people were continuing on to Las Vegas but a few of us got off. The airport had few people there and was easy to get through. We immediately started touring the area after we landed. We have always heard with the Permian Basin that the region around Midland is heavily centered around the oil industry and that is definitely true. We headed over to the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum to see the history of the area and the industry. The museum is a great museum showing why there is so much oil (the shallow ancient sea) and what it takes to get that oil to consumers. The museum is highly interactive and also showed the importance of oil to the modern society and the variety of jobs you can get in the industry. The museum also had the Chaparral Auto racing exhibit showcasing more local industry. Outside you can see many different types of rigs and drills used.
After the Petroleum Museum we drove through the city to the George W. Bush Childhood home located in a neighborhood in Midland. While driving through town we saw the heavy influence of the oil industry boom and many temporary living conditions such as RVs and stacked up trailers to house the many workers in the area. We took a short tour of the Bush’s home while George H.W. Bush helped run an oil company he helped start. It was a modest home and was restored to what it was like when they lived there. You can see toys on the ground in George W. Bush’s room for example. So the oil patch in the area attracted two future Presidents and Governors to that area. Texas has such a varied history with many facets and the Bush family is just one of those many stories
We decided to visit another unique site in Odessa called the Odessa Meteor Crater. Its from a meteor that struck the area over 60,000 years ago. From rain and soil running into the crater its not as deep as the famous crater in Arizona but you can still tell its a crater. There is a nice free museum there and information about meteor strikes around the world. Its located outside the city in the countryside near many oil rigs so important to the area. Its a really nice place to see something you can rarely see elsewhere. One thing we did notice is like some other areas of Texas there was a lot of garbage along the roads. On the way to the crater we passed by abandoned couches, many tires and all kinds of other garbage. After leaving the crater and driving further outside the city the garbage along the road did not stop for miles.
Our last stop in the area was a completely different landscape. The Monahans Sandhills State Park is located a short drive South of the Midland/Odessa area. Its one of a few places in the United States where you can see large desert sand dunes that you would expect to see in somewhere like the Sahara Desert or the Middle East. You can walk on the dunes in the park and we saw people sledding down the dunes. The park also has a way station from the 1800s you can see. We spent an hour walking the dunes and came back with shoes full of sand. Its once again one the wildly varied landscapes you will find in Texas.
Fort Stockton
We stayed the night in the small West Texas City of Fort Stockton. Its one of the few small cities along I-10 on the way to El Paso. A long the way from the Midland/Odessa area we drove through many small towns. One of the many towns was out for a parade and others getting ready for football games. The small towns are close nit that is for sure. Fort Stockton was one of the many frontier forts that protected the wild Texas West. We visited fort that still has buildings you can visit that were from the 1860s. Fort Stockton is also home to Paisano Pete which is one of the largest Roadrunner statues in the world. We saw multiple roadrunners while out in the area. Like many small towns we went to a great restaurant that served country cooking. Like we always did during the pandemic we brought that dinner back to the hotel room to be safe.
Big Bend National Park
Its a few hour drive from Fort Stockton to Big Bend National Park and with that drive you pass through very desolate countryside and only the small city of Marathon in the area. We made sure we had a full tank of gas as we headed South. Its a lot of ranch land and an arid landscape throughout the area. There is a small tourist alcove in Marathon that gives you some Maps. The National Park itself is huge and includes once again a completely different Texas landscape. Its full of desert mountains, canyons, cacti and so much more. There are multiple ways to get into the park and we first visited a great exhibit area on an archeological dig where they found many dinosaurs and ancient creatures at the park. The covered but outdoor exhibit has many original and replica bones. The main visitors center (they have a few visitors center in this huge park) is Panther Junction and it does have a gas station and supplies that we took advantage of being so far away from any true city. This is an area you can truly get away from everyone and everything and enjoy a beautiful place with an abundance of peace and quiet. We drove down to the Rio Grande visitors center area and stopped and hiked a semi rugged trail that overlooked the Rio Grande River and Mexico on the other side. In that area there is no cell phone service and few people around. Its truly rugged country in that area. You can see from the overlook a small Mexican Village of Boquillas Del Carmen. In normal times there is a small border crossing where you can cross the river by row boat for $5 and go in and visit this little town that just recently got its first land phone line and electricity. A few people from the town that survives on tourism had crossed to sell crafts to try to support their families. The crafts were well made and we bought one. We would like to cross and visit the town someday but the crossing and the visitors centers were closed due to the pandemic. We made one stop where we could walk right up to the banks of the river with Mexico a few feet away. We finished driving through and stopping at different stops along the way. We unfortunately couldn’t drive the canyon drive since it was closed as well. Thankfully being September it was only mildly hot as we hiked but they warn you to only hike in the morning at the park due to dangerous heat. We left a different route than we came and we really enjoyed going to the park and seeing this Wild side of Texas. It was a couple hour drive through more desolate but still beautiful terrain before we made it over to the next town we stayed in.
Alpine, Texas
After the drive from Big Bend National Park we ended up staying in the largest city in the area called Alpine. They have a very nice downtown district with shops and restaurants. This city also has a small Amtrak station we passed by that is the only real long distance transportation to the city outside of driving there yourself. The city is flanked by some hills/ mountains so we could see the very nice Sul Ross State University that up on some higher ground. We were surprised to see a fairly large University in a small town in West Texas but in Texas you can expect the unexpected as you travel. There is a nice museum at the University but we did not have a chance to visit it as we got to the city later in the day. There are some great local restaurants in the city and we went to a cash only small Mexican Restaurant located in a neighborhood not too far from the downtown area. For us we try as much as we can to visit some of the local or regional restaurants to try to further dive into local culture. We once again took it to go and ate at our hotel. Alpine is a short drive from a mysterious and well know site that was our last item to visit that day.
Marfa, Texas
Around fifteen minutes West of Alpine you can see the Marfa Lights Viewing area. The Marfa lights have been said to have been seen for many years back into the frontier days of the 1800s. They are small orbs that seem to float and move around above the desert. We drove the extremely dark and lonely drive over to the Marfa Lights Viewing area park. Watch for animals crossing the road in the cooler night air. We got there fairly early but the parking lot was already nearly full. There is some historical marker displays you can read, restrooms and a viewing platform at the park. We found our spot and watched. We did see a variety of orbs in the distance but it was difficult to see if those where the Marfa lights or cars coming down from a mountain in the distance. We stayed for a little while watching and then headed out for the evening.
Fort Davis, Texas
This was a short weekend trip so on Sunday we started our way back up to Midland/Odessa to fly back home. On the way we stopped by Fort Davis and the Fort Davis National Historic Site. Its a very well preserved large frontier fort that was built to protect a road from San Antonio to El Paso. This fort is very large and you have a lot of buildings you can tour. Not all were open due to Covid but we visited the Enlisted troops quarters that even had replica food sitting on the mess hall, a building that housed officers, and took a tour of a large hospital at the fort. One interesting part of the tour was they had a sign listing people who had visited the hospital for help and what the issue was. When you toured the hospital different exhibits explained what ultimately happened to the troops and civilians they mentioned before the tour. Some survived just fine and others were not so lucky. The fort is located near some steep cliffs (its located below the hills) so you can hike to the top for a nice view but we did not. This fort is once again a good representation of what was needed to tame Texas’s Wild West and how hard it was to live and travel in Texas during those times. In many ways Texas still can be difficult to live in and travel with the intense weather we deal with sometimes. Nearby is the McDonald Observatory located in the mountains near Fort. Davis. You can look through the large telescopes while there but we did not have time to visit but would like to some day.
Pecos, Texas
As we drove out of the sparsely populated Big Bend Area that we found was pretty clean we got closer to Midland and noticed the miles of litter and debris began again. We stopped in the city of Pecos that is famous for Judge Roy Bean and his “Law West of the Pecos”. They have a replica of Judge Roy Bean’s house at the West of the Pecos Museum. The museum was unfortunately closed on a Sunday but we walked around it. We also saw the gravesite of Gunslinger Clay Allison that has the interesting quote “He did not kill a man that did not need killing”. Its a nice city with an interesting history that includes a lot of agricultural areas and the oil and gas industry. One things we noticed in this small city was once again the large amount of RVs and temporary living spaces, some very poor condition roads including a road in downtown that had devolved into a dirt road but you can tell it was once paved, and quite a bit of litter and debris as you left the downtown area. We finished up the visit and headed back to the airport to head back home.
My take on West Texas and Big Bend Country
The Good
Once again this area of Texas is completely different from the rest of Texas. You have high rugged mountains and canyons and desert landscapes you cannot find elsewhere. The Big Bend National Park is a must see place for everyone, especially native Texans. There are also so many other places you can see that are unique like the Odessa Meteor Crater, huge sand dunes in the Monahans State Park, historic frontier forts, and museums that chronical Presidents and the importance of the oil industry on the region, state and modern society in general. This is an area you can truly get by yourself and enjoy nature and some piece and solitude. Its also an area you can view an international border which is something you can’t do everyday. There are many great and friendly people in the area but if you want to live alone this is the place to do it as we passed by many secluded ranches as we drove the area. For me this is a great area of the state I would like to visit again and take some time to visit the small village in Mexico and see more things like the McDonald Observatory.
The Bad
One of the largest takeaways from visiting this region is that Texas really has a serious litter, garbage and debris problem. We drove many miles as we visited our many stops and the number of tires, furniture, bottles and cans and much more laying in the roads and fields is extreme. I have seen litter issues all over Texas and other states have issues like this as well but I have never seen a region with more of an issue with this as areas of West Texas. Also many of the roads are in disrepair if you get off the main freeways especially around Midland and Odessa. There are some serious infrastructure issues in West Texas that needs to be solved. While the solitude is great if you run into trouble with your car or anything else help can be few and far between as cities can be many miles away so be prepared. In the Big Bend Area especially heat and wild weather can be something to watch out for while visiting this area.
In Conclusion
West Texas is a very unique region in Texas with so much to explore and is a place you can truly get away by yourself to explore nature and see many different places. The Big Bend is a must see place for everyone but especially native Texans who are used to the relatively flat and more semi tropical environment of other areas of the state. You can learn about and see for yourself the wild environment that settlers coming to the state saw. Its as close as you can get to being a pioneer crossing desolate landscape. Seeing some of the areas we visited Texas has a lot of work to clean up litter issues and fix crumbling infrastructure that plague this region but also other areas of the state. Texas has such great land resources and wildlife so we have got to as a state start properly disposing of our trash. Lets take “Don’t Mess with Texas” to heart and make our state a clean one. Despite some of the issues its somewhere that is great to visit that has a varied landscape, and vibrant history! If you want to see pictures and more details on the places to visit please visit my travel page on West Texas (click the title below to see the full page):