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| Amazing, huh? |
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| The yucca plants here are like palm trees and the blooms are so big and full! |
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| Looks like a tree, right???? |
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| This was a mystery for us. When we reached the CG we were told it is radar that is used by the border patrol! |
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| Anybody know what kind of trees these are??? We are thinking a nut of some kind!! |
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| The purple flowers along the road were beautiful! |
We arrived at Southern Star CG before noon, having stopped one time just to see the scenery and then 1 time for gas. This CG is a Passport America and is only $15.00/night. Quite a value, for it is a very nice park with level pull through sites, cement slabs for the picnic tables, and roomy!
After we were all set-up, we all ate together on the picnic table. It was sunny, but much cooler than yesterday, only in the upper 60's. Quite different from 96 degrees yesterday! We all decided to take a walk from the CG to downtown Van Horn. This area is certainly rather depressed. So many stores, shoppes, garages, etc. look like they were abandon. The main road in Van Horn used to be the road people traveled when going from Florida to the west, but when Interstate 10 was built, Van Horn got by-passed! Progress wasn't good for this town! We stopped at a store where the lady makes stained glass hangings that were beautiful and then she told us about the area. Then we went next door to the Clark Hotel Museum and met the caretaker, Miss Pat. Wow, does she know a lot about the area as far as history and she loves to share that info. She moved to this area about 7 years ago from the west coast and she has done a little bit of everything. She is truly a free spirit! She showed us all around the museum sharing her love of its history and all the collectibles that are a part of it.
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| Walking down the main street of Van Horn |
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| They have refurbished the front (this was at one time the back) of the Hotel that was built around 1907. It also had a bar/ restaurant and housed law offices, the court house, and various other shoppes through the years. The city of Van Horn now owns it and a board controls it! |
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| The original bar in the old Hotel! |
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| The very old stove in the kitchen area. It was huge! |
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| The lobby of the hotel as it was way back when! Miss Pat is sharing her love of the Hotel! |
From there we walked across the street to the El Capitan Hotel that was a hotel years ago, then a bank, and in 2007 it was bought from the bank and totally redone and opened again as a hotel. It is positively beautiful. I do wonder how this gorgeous hotel can "make it" in such an impoverished town, but I was told that it is full most of the time. This town is often a one night stop for people on the way to "somewhere else".
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| The lobby of the El Capitan Hotel! It is beautiful! |
We also stopped at Chuy's Mexican Restaurant on the way back to the CG. It's claim to fame is John Madden. He always stopped here on his sport travels (since he doesn't fly but always took his bus) and they have lots of memorabilia throughout the place of John and his teams.
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| It was established in 1959! |
As we walked into the CG Ken noticed two baby type strollers that were sitting outside of a travel trailer. When we were driving from San Antonio to Big Bend we had passed 3 young ladies pushing strollers and roller skating on Interstate 10. We couldn't imagine what they were doing and in such hilly countryside. So, Ken and Chuck walked over (Melissa and I followed) and asked if we had seen them skating. Sure enough, it was them. They left Cocoa Beach, FL on March 10 and are skating across country, ending in California. They will go 2,800 miles in 78 days through 8 states. States on Skates is honored to support the Joyful Heart Foundation's mission to heal, educate and empower survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. These 3 gals are amazing and have some bruises from falling and many blisters on their feet. Ken and Chuck supplied some tools and helped them replace the stops on 1 pair of their skates. We hope to see them again on this trip and maybe provide them with some transportation or a meal.
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| These are the 3 gals that are part of States on Skates. They got stopped 4 times in one day by State Troopers. People who passed them reported to the police that there were women skating on the highway pushing their babies and they thought it wasn't safe! |
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| They carry all the things they need in these strollers, including tents! |
We all grilled and ate together outside. It started to cool off and we decided to skip games tonight and catch-up on blogs, etc. We planned to go to Carlsbad Caverns tomorrow!
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