BajaNomad

Over 5000 miles - Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma

DianaT - 12-3-2014 at 11:41 AM

Just a few pictures from a few of the places we visited on our most recent journey. We try to stay off of Interstates and hit back roads when possible and go where we have not been before. I have not put together all of the journey on Snugmug yet, and I won't repeat many of our comments we shared on facebook, but I just wanted to share a bit of what was a GREAT trip. ---

One of the many interesting plants at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center outside of Ft. Davis, Texas --- GREAT place.



An old spirit lurking at Fort Davis



Big Bend National Park ---





Luckenbach, Texas



The River Walk in San Antonio --- too cold for many tourists.



An arrest that was quite gentle and humane.



Looking for the Jenny in Grand Isle, Louisiana


A couple of bayous on the coast of Louisiana





Plantation and graveyard along the Mississippi River --





A typical sugar cane factory in Louisiana



Why the colors of the hardwood trees in the Ozarks had lost their color.



The only high rise building ever designed by Frank Lloyd Wright --- Bartlesville, Oklahoma



Remnants of the Dust Bowl and dying towns --- Gate, Oklahoma





A re-created soda fountain and restaurant in Hooker, Oklahoma



Roy, New Mexico's only claim to fame.



Street Musician in the snow in Santa Fe New Mexico



We have visited Santa Fe many times, so we could not find a route we have not followed before, so we hit the interstate and headed home. Over 5000 miles in all as the distances between places in the west are great. Old Tommy Dog just looked frustrated at times being in the car, so he took a selfie.



Thanks for looking--- and keep on traveling!


Mexitron - 12-3-2014 at 11:54 AM

Wow, lots of travelling there! West Texas is awesome--Big Bend, Marfa, Davis Mtns., Caprock, and everything in between.

wessongroup - 12-3-2014 at 12:02 PM

And here I was thinking ... they are staying close to the house ...

Thanks for the ride along ... :):)

and a big WOOF to Tom ..

[Edited on 12-3-2014 by wessongroup]

TMW - 12-3-2014 at 12:13 PM

Wow, wow, wow. Beautiful pictures. I really loved the plantation picture with the trees. It looked like fingers folded together. I'll bet on a dark lonely night it would be scary to walk thru there.

Then maybe not.

tripledigitken - 12-3-2014 at 01:11 PM

Sounds like a great trip. Nice set of images. Guitar player is my fave.

chuckie - 12-3-2014 at 01:44 PM

Thanks so much! Just did part of the same route....GREAT places, great pics...

StuckSucks - 12-3-2014 at 02:09 PM

Super cool photos - thanks for sharing.

Big Bend NP is on my bucket list.

vandenberg - 12-3-2014 at 03:08 PM

Nice picture essay Diane.
Those back road trips have always been among my most favorite ways of travel, in the USA, Canada, Mexico and even Europe.

Natalie Ann - 12-3-2014 at 04:58 PM

Fantastic trip and pix, Diana. I too especially like the Santa Fe guitarist in snow.

Nena

DianaT - 12-3-2014 at 05:37 PM

Thanks for the nice comments --- We have a lot more and everyone has a story and history. On facebook we did much more of a narrative and many more photos, but this is not the place, especially since at times it included religion and politics. :-)

Ken and Nena, the guitar player is among my favs --- :-) I have a couple more street shots I also like.

Nena, it is always good to see you out of the shadows! Miss you.

When we sold the Baja house, a big part of the reason was to free us up for more travel. Since then we have had a few Oregon and Nevada trips, but this was the first bigger trip of many more to follow, we hope.

Two suggestions for those headed toward Big Bend --- stay a few days so you might catch some better light, but don't stay in Study Butte!

Mexitron - 12-3-2014 at 06:04 PM

Study Butte/Terlingua isn't the nicest place to stay--Marfa is a better alternative. And you can try to see the Marfa Lights...

DianaT - 12-3-2014 at 06:22 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Mexitron  
Study Butte/Terlingua isn't the nicest place to stay--Marfa is a better alternative. And you can try to see the Marfa Lights...


We drove through Marfa and it appears that it is really fading --- just did not have the feel we think it must have had in the past. Also, after reading the latest studies about the lights, we decided to pass. We had thought about staying there, but just visited instead.

Before we visited the Big Bend Ranch State Park, we ended up staying in Presido on the border --- enjoyed our dinner at a local "downtown" restaurant that was very much like places in Baja.

We ended up in Study Butte because we returned there out of the National Park so we could return to the National Park the next day. Everything in that area is overpriced, and we have no problem with some of the rather funky places we stay in rural areas, but clean is important. The last time we stayed in a place that filthy was when we rented a house in Baja.

A different motel, but we often stay in ones in the rural areas that are similar, and at times, I see the shadow of Anthony Perkins hanging around.





[Edited on 12-4-2014 by DianaT]

Ateo - 12-3-2014 at 06:32 PM

That one of the plantation and trees was insane. I always think about them planting those trees as babies and waiting like 150 years for them to connect into that tunnel thingy. Crazy.

DianaT - 12-3-2014 at 06:59 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Ateo  
That one of the plantation and trees was insane. I always think about them planting those trees as babies and waiting like 150 years for them to connect into that tunnel thingy. Crazy.


The oak tree lanes in that area are beautiful. This one is in contrast to the Plantation home

rts551 - 12-3-2014 at 07:28 PM

beautiful Diana.

Mexitron - 12-3-2014 at 08:10 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DianaT  
Quote: Originally posted by Mexitron  
Study Butte/Terlingua isn't the nicest place to stay--Marfa is a better alternative. And you can try to see the Marfa Lights...


We drove through Marfa and it appears that it is really fading --- just did not have the feel we think it must have had in the past. Also, after reading the latest studies about the lights, we decided to pass. We had thought about staying there, but just visited instead.

Before we visited the Big Bend Ranch State Park, we ended up staying in Presido on the border --- enjoyed our dinner at a local "downtown" restaurant that was very much like places in Baja.

We ended up in Study Butte because we returned there out of the National Park so we could return to the National Park the next day. Everything in that area is overpriced, and we have no problem with some of the rather funky places we stay in rural areas, but clean is important. The last time we stayed in a place that filthy was when we rented a house in Baja.

A different motel, but we often stay in ones in the rural areas that are similar, and at times, I see the shadow of Anthony Perkins hanging around.





[Edited on 12-4-2014 by DianaT]


What did you read about the Marfa lights? Hopefully not the conclusions that they are just headlights from Hwy 67---that fools everyone. The Indians knew about them long ago. Some of the pilots stationed at the WWII airfield there in the valley used to fly around dropping bags of flour to try triangulate their location. The lights probably have something to do with severe temperature gradients between Marfa and the Rio Grande Basin.
Marfa fading....hmmm. I was just there a couple years ago for a week and it seemed pretty lively to me but maybe people have lost interest.

Skipjack Joe - 12-3-2014 at 09:38 PM

I first saw this post on my mobile and could hardly wait to get home to see them larger.

These are wonderful, Diane. So many totally different compositions.

My favorites:
1. man looking through window. The lighting in room is so beautiful.
2. post office. Looks like a story tale building.
3. that maroon door. So many possibilities there.

The tree lined road reminded me of ... tadah ... Tara! They showed Gone With The Wind over the holidays and I saw it once again. Let me see if I can find a video clip of the ending "there's always tomorrow". LOL

Tomorrow .... is another day!

Skipjack Joe - 12-3-2014 at 09:49 PM

The land ... is the only thing that matters....


DianaT - 12-4-2014 at 09:16 AM

Thanks Igor for the nice comments --- love your descriptions and love the video.

Mexitron, in Marfa, a number of empty storefronts which is not a healthy sign for a place. Some art gallery was moving, and was closed. Maybe we missed something, but the karma just didn't feel right. I hope you visit again and tell us what we missed and maybe next time. :-)

I don't know about the lights ---probably more than the highway. But we took one look at the total mess that is around the viewing tower, and decided no.

Maron - 12-4-2014 at 10:25 AM

Great, thanks for sharing.

Cypress - 12-4-2014 at 11:03 AM

DianaT, Thanks. Life is sweet down on the bayou.:D

mtnpop - 12-4-2014 at 11:47 AM

If you ever travel to that neck of the woods again,,"Oklahoma Panhandle" you need to go to Boise City, on the north side of town is the Cimarron Heritage Center.. Absolutely one of the best history museums in the high plains area... You can spend a couple of days in it and still not soak it all up..
You were pretty close when you were at Hooker..
Santa Fe trial is just north of town also..
Lots of good family memories in those parts...

Mexitron - 12-4-2014 at 12:23 PM

Diane--I might stop there on my way back to Fort Worth after Xmas and check up on the place. I've always gotten a funny vibe there---like you wouldn't be surprised if a spaceship landed by the courthouse and aliens got out to cruise around, LOL. Heh, or maybe that Gold Malibu from Repo Man driving around...

DianaT - 12-4-2014 at 01:41 PM

Thanks Maron. :saint:
Quote: Originally posted by Cypress  
DianaT, Thanks. Life is sweet down on the bayou.:D


It sure was cold when we were there--- that polar express was in full force! There were some roads in Big Bend that were closed because of the rain.

And it was cold on the Bayou! It warmed up one day on Grand Isle to the mid 80s and was in the 30s the next day! But it was beautiful and interesting.

Quote: Originally posted by mtnpop  
If you ever travel to that neck of the woods again,,"Oklahoma Panhandle" you need to go to Boise City, on the north side of town is the Cimarron Heritage Center.. Absolutely one of the best history museums in the high plains area... You can spend a couple of days in it and still not soak it all up..
You were pretty close when you were at Hooker..
Santa Fe trial is just north of town also..
Lots of good family memories in those parts...


We stayed one night in Boise City and almost visited the museum. It was closed by the time we arrived there and we decided to not wait until it opened in the morning. Maybe it was not the correct decision, but we wanted to visit Black Mesa area and enter New Mexico through Kenton as we had never seen that part of New Mexico --- BEAUTIFUL. And we wanted to be in Santa Fe on Sunday because we really like the Unitarian Church there. Maybe there will be a next time and we won't miss it.

Quote: Originally posted by Mexitron  
Diane--I might stop there on my way back to Fort Worth after Xmas and check up on the place. I've always gotten a funny vibe there---like you wouldn't be surprised if a spaceship landed by the courthouse and aliens got out to cruise around, LOL. Heh, or maybe that Gold Malibu from Repo Man driving around...


Could happen! Just as long as they don't depart the craft saying, "WE come in peace, we come in peace." Run and hide quickly!