Hit the trail this morning and hiked to the rim of the canyon and got some great views from a couple of hundred feet up. Finn was loving it and even scared up a couple of deer out of the brush. The land here is not much good for anything aside from the odd cattle, sheep and goats we occasionally along the highway. Lots of cacti of various varieties, along with lots of other plant types, most of which have thorns!There is also a museum here that details the history of the area from prehistoric to modern times. It was very well done but we had to breeze through because Finn wasn't allowed in and it was too hot to leave him in the truck. Apparently the Texas State government doesn't know he is a person in dog's clothing (or is that a dog in people's clothing?) It was overcast again today but the temperature hit 25 so we're not complaining.

However, we decided it was time to move on so we loaded up hit the road. The terrain is getting more hilly and mountains are visible to the south in Mexico. We headed west and passed through the town of Langtry, which, I'm sure you all know, is the home of Judge Roy Bean. Roy was the only law west of the Pecos river during the late 1800's and basically did whatever the hell he felt like. Quite likely a few people ended up in the end of rope due to his rendition of the law. The town, and I use the term loosely, had a museum with Roy's home/bar along with a really well done garden with specimens of the native plants of the area. As for the rest of the town, there was a snack bar, RV resort (read gravel parking lot with no services for the low, low price of $20 per night) and a gas station which sold all grades of gas as long as you only wanted regular.

Ended up tonight in Marathon Texas (too bad we weren't here in October as they actually run a marathon road race. Now that would be cool to run a marathon in Marathon! Once again Sam did a great job finding a spot for the night which ended up being a motel with RV and tent sites. Unlike most places we've seen, this place has a Mexican Hacienda feel with nice, neat grounds, full service including cable and internet that actually works, and a courtyard with fireplace. All for only $17.

Now, there was a small notice on the wall in the office while we were signing in explaining that it is the law that train engineers blow their whistles when approaching road crossings and that some engineers view this as a personal expression of their character and, as such, lay on the horn for extended periods of time. The management stated that they had tried to address this but to no avail so they would be happy to provide ear plugs to their guests. Sure enough, 30 minutes after we set up a train came through with the tracks only a couple of hundred feet from the resort. Kinda "My Cousin Vinny"ish! On the plus side, we're in the middle of nowhere so I'm sure trains don't come through here too often.

This area is also know for being a class 1 dark sky (in other words, as dark as it gets with no ambient light from any inhabited areas.) I just went out for a look and it's BLACK out there. I'm talking inside a closet with a hood on and your eyes shut black!!!! However, true to our luck, it's overcast tonight so we won't be getting a Planetarium view of the sky.