Lunar Eclipse

We spent the night in the Marfa Lights viewing area so that we could watch the lunar eclipse of the super-red-blue moon. We also looked for the “Marfa Lights” but saw none. The moon is super because it is at the closest point to the Earth in its orbit. It is a blue moon because there are two full moons in January. It is red at totality because it is lit only by sunsets all around the earth. The banner above shows the moon just before totality.

We got up just after 5:00 to watch all the stages of the eclipse to totality. It was a great place to view the eclipse except it was cold and the traffic on US-90 was a bit annoying. We got great pictures until the moon started to set when it began to disappear into a light mist.

As we headed out of Marfa we stopped in town to mail Geleta’s birthday card. We were pleasantly surprised by some of the architecture in town — very eclectic: 1880 Texas prairie, Art Deco, Spanish mission,… This was once a very busy town because of the stockyards from which 70,000 cattle per year were shipped by rail. It boasted an opera house that was the largest such venue between San Antonio and El Paso. If time permitted, I would like to take a local history and art tour. Next time.

About two hours of driving took us to Guadalupe Mountains National Park where we will spend the next 4 days. Other than grasslands and scrub, the only roadside attraction on our route to report: In the outskirts of the town of Valentine (north of Marfa) is a Prada Store. Actually an art installation, an unexpected sight. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prada_Marfa

The campground at Guadalupe Mtn NP is just a large asphalt parking lot with lines marked. Some are pull through, some have picnic tables. No fires permitted so no fire rings. No hookups. We were lucky to get a space on the edge of the lot, so when we look out the windows on one side, we feel we are in the mountains and scrub. The AT&T data and phone are strong with our boosters.

The hiking is supposed to be great, though rugged, here. Tomorrow.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)