Dinosaur Valley State Park

I'm taking some time tonight to play catch-up on a few of our family events. Back in October after visiting family in McKinney & Ft. Worth, we drove over to Glen Rose, Texas before heading home. Brenna had been studying dinosaurs in her 2nd grade class, and I thought it would be neat to pop over to Dinosaur Valley State Park and see some actual dinosaur tracks.

However, when we arrived at the Park Entrance, a handwritten sign told us the tracks were not visible because of high water caused by recent heavy rains.

Bummer.

Since we had some leftovers for a picnic lunch, we decided to go ahead and enter the park, walk around for a bit, eat, and then hit the road for the six hour drive home. We really enjoyed our side trip. It turned out to be a beautiful, perfect day to walk around the Paluxy river.

We started in the Visitor Center looking at maps and replicas of the preserved tracks found in the riverbed. We all found it hard to believe that Glen Rose used to be the "beach" on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico.

We drove over to the river and got out to see if anything at all was visible. But all of the tracks were under about two or three feet of rushing water.

Since we couldn't see any of the tracks, we still enjoyed the beautiful day strolling along the river and following the trails up to an overlook.

After some walking, we ate our leftovers at the picnic area, let the girls play on the playground, and bought a souvenir. Before we left, we walked over to get a closer look at the two fiberglass dinosaur models built by the Sinclair Oil Company for the New York World's Fair 1964-65.

McDonald Observatory

After spending the morning and early afternoon at Fort Davis, we drove out to McDonald Observatory. You can see two of the larger observatories on Mount Locke ahead of us. The Hobby-Eberly telescope is on Mount Fowlkes just to the right of the photo.Driving up the 6,791-foot mountan is half the fun! More twisty roads with impressive views. We stopped first at the Visitor Center where the girls ran around the courtyard and posed with the sundial. We walked the kids through the gift shop while Dad checked out the next available tour time. Then we all drove up higher up Mount Locke to the cluster of observatories on top. In addition to two or three smaller telescopes, the two main observatories are the 1938 Otto Struve telescope with an 82-inch mirror and the 1968 Harlan J. Smith telescope with a 107-inch mirror. At the time each was built, they were the 2nd largest and 3rd largest in the world respectively. Now the Hobby-Eberly telescope is the 3rd largest in the world, specializing in spectroscopy (breaking down light into its component wavelengths.)

Before going into the Smith telescope building, we took in the view from Mount Locke. Below in the valley is one of ten Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescopes used to collect extremely faint radio signals from objects in space. (It's a tiny white dot in the upper left portion of the photo, down in the valley.)

Just as viewing telescopes need to be as high as possible in an area of very little light pollution, the VLBA has to be down in the bowl of a valley to avoid picking up stray radio signals from all around.

Our tour actually began outside, on the very windy, cold, side of Mount Locke. (Where he explained about the VLBA and the current observatories.)

Inside the observatory we walked up three or four flights of stairs and gathered in the telescope room. Definitely impressive, the whole room is telescope and computers. I had trouble getting a good photo, so you can't really see the scale of the object.

The telescope tube is 32 feet long and 12 feet wide. It weighs 160 tons. When most people think of telescopes they think of looking through an eyepiece. This particular telescope isn't necessarily measuring objects seen by the naked eyes.

The end where you might find an eyepiece hooks up to a computer. There are three additional openings that can feed the data straight into one or two specific data collection rooms below.

Our guide rotated the dome ceiling and opened the door in the dome and raised the wind screen. Many factors go into housing these large telescopes, including keeping the inner room approximately the same temperature as the outside during evening hours (so it was pretty cool in there...)

There's even a population of employees that live at McDonald Observatory on Mount Locke, primarily engineers and mechanics tasked with keeping the grounds and telescopes in perfect working order. They have a guest dormitory for UT researchers.

I hope you can read this plaque.

If you know me, you know I work in the UHCL Archives with the Johnson Space Center History Collection. When the guide started talking about lunar laser ranging - basically pinging lasers off of three reflectors left on the moon by Apollo astronauts starting with Apollo 11 - I was thrilled. As a result of this laser ranging, scientists were able to successfully calculate the distance between the Earth and the Moon within... centimeters.

After our tour, headed back into Fort Davis where we stopped at this big green Caboose for ice cream.

Yep, this real-life, formerly working, Burlington Northern was brought to Fort Davis to become the town's first Blue-Bell Ice Cream shop in 2004.

See that "wall" in the center left? Kind of behind Ashley? That's the original "2nd story" Conductor's Chair mounted in the cupola.

Pretty cool, right!

After ice cream, the rest of the family drove back to Indian Lodge. Completely on a whim, Bryan and I stopped with our girls at the Rattlers and Reptiles museum. No kidding, this is supposedly the largest live rattlesnake museum in the world with over 100 snakes, spiders and scorpions.

It didn't look like much on the outside--especially with a car repair shop on the side--and inside wasn't the Smithsonian, if you know what I mean, but it was very interesting! It's one thing to read about the many various kinds of rattlesnakes in the world, but it's quite another to go from one case to another to see them - alive - big, small (some were tiny) from all over the world!

About six weeks ago I remembered what kind these were, but now I've forgotten. (I should always write down everything when it happens.)

Brenna wanted me to take a photo of the Gila Monster.

After our very busy day (remember this started with a 14 mile hike for Bryan) we picked up pizza for everyone at Murphy's Pizza, which wasn't bad... I especially liked looking at the Ellis Island registration forms mounted on the wall. We have a couple of those in our family as well.

So this concludes Thursday. Friday we headed to Sonora, but I'll tell that tale another night.

Spring Break: Fort Davis

What? You thought I'd forgotten to report on our last three days of the Spring Break trip? Here's another short update covering Wednesday evening and the first half of Thursday.

After leaving Cibolo Creek Ranch we drove north through Marfa to Fort Davis. A quick note about Marfa - this is quickly turning into the next "Fredericksburg." What do I mean by that? Fredericksburg used to be an adorable hidden getaway, but now it's super popular (and rightly so) with massive amounts of tourists descending over weekends and spring break. Marfa is very artsy and I predict it will soon (if not already) become THE place to go in West Texas and it will grow.

But we only drove around the courthouse on our way north. Once in Fort Davis we checked into the Indian Lodge at the Davis Mountains State Park, a beautiful historic hotel originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Our rooms were added on much later, but we had three rooms together on a corner that formed a little patio area where the kids could play.

I won't deny that it was something of a shock to arrive here after two nights of Cibolo Creek, but we did find the Lodge very charming.

We found a Mexican restaurant for dinner that agreed to seat 15 people for dinner. They gave us three tables in a "party room" which suited us just fine. For the first time in the whole trip, the adults sat together and put all of the kids (except Megan) at their own table.

Surpringly the restaurant lacked a liquor license, employing a BYOB policy. So the guys made at least two trips to a place conveniently located across the street for margaritas.

I won't pretend we had really good food and I won't pretend that the customer service was any more attentive that every other place we've eaten. (Outside of Cibolo Creek, we'd had very... indifferent.... servers.)

The next morning (Thursday, for those who are trying to keep up), the guys left early for a long 13 mile hike from Indian Lodge across the Davis Mountains and back again. Meanwhile, the girls and I had breakfast with customer service issues again. (Seriously, how hard is it to bring me a cup of coffee without sighing and rolling your eyes?) We were joined by everyone else eventually and spent a long time in the Black Bear restaurant. After breakfast, I watched the kids play in the original Indian Lodge courtyard with a fountain and porch swings.

Then we loaded up to drive up the Scenic Overlook and head down into Fort Davis National Historic Site.

Can you see McDonald Observatory on the mountain in the distance? During the drive up to the Overlook and while taking photos, we kept an eye out for the guys hiking. But it wasn't until we had reached the campgrounds that Leah spotted the guys on the far side hiking around the last mountain back to Indian Lodge.

If you can see them, they are on the right hand side. David is in blue, Dad in yellow, Brian in blue stripes and Bryan in the white.

Fort Davis National Historic Site, established as a frontier military post in 1854 to protect travelers on the El Paso - San Antonio Road, was named for U.S. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. It remained active, with some exception during the Civil War, until 1891. After 1866, African-American units, aka Buffalo Soldiers, were assigned here.

We tried to get a group photo at the main entrance.

After checking in (through a gift shop) we watched a short movie and walked through their main historical museum exhibit. Portions of the Fort were still standing, while others were marked by ruins and foundations. Various buildings have been restored and set up to reflect how they looked when in active use.

The National Park Service offers a Junior Ranger program for kids ages 4-14. Mom picked up the programs for the big kids. Walking through the various buildings, the kids had to answer questions about the exhibits or mark off their BINGO spaces for items they found.

Here Lisa and some of the kids watch a Ranger in period costume describe life for the soldiers in the long barracks.

Here we are in one of the Officer's Cabins looking for clues. The Jr. Ranger program was a big hit with our kids and made touring Fort Davis much more enjoyable because they took an active interest. We heard, "Which building are we in!" "I see the sewing machine!" "Let's find the hospital!" and so on.

Sadly, we didn't get to turn in our completed programs because the guys showed up and we immediately left for lunch. I'll talk about our late afternoon visit to McDonald Observatory in another post.

Things to do at Cibolo

As long as our Spring Break trip was, it seems incredible that I can't find time to finish blogging about it. To catch you up from the previous posts, we spent Saturday driving to Marathon, Sunday and Monday hiking in Big Bend, before arriving in Cibolo Creek via the River Road. (I still have five days left to blog about!)

Monday night we arrived in Cibolo Creek, checked in, and went to dinner. After dinner, the family gathered outside at the fire pit, where our hosts had provided all of the fixings for S'mores. Despite the fire, it was cool enough to need jackets. While the kids (and some grownups) focused on toasting marshmellows, I couldn't get enough of that vast Texas sky with billions of stars. It's so easy to lose focus on the universe with all the light pollution across the Earth today, but the night sky at Cibolo offered a brief respite. Amazing.Tuesday morning we split up. While the Jones went paddleboating and the Henleys went fishing, we walked around getting ready for a hike to the Indian Cave. Armed with drinks, hats, walkie-talkies and a topographical map we set out.

The trail wasn't very hard to follow and the managers had given us directions on which gates we would go through. We crossed small streams, met other hikers, and aside from birds we saw no "wildlife." Our family really enjoyed the quiet and peacefulness that comes with hiking together. We pointed out blooming cactus, various geological rocks, and views to each other. We talked, laughed, teased.

After some time we found the first of two Indian pictographs. We wouldn't find out until tomorrow that experts from Sul Ross estimated that the pictographs are at least 2500 years old!

We followed the trail father and round the one moutain and eventually came to the cave. We had been cautioned to throw a rock inside to make sure nothing "alive" was resting in there. Every time Brenna came across a good-sized rock. she picked it up and carried it to use for this purpose until her pockets and arms were full. Bryan had us stay back while he approached the entrance and looked around before calling the all clear.

Very well hidden from the outside, the cave appeared to be a large overhang with large rocks in front. Other rocks had been stacked up to create a short protective wall with an opening. Smoke soot blackened various portions of the ceiling. The angle of the opening allowed in plenty of morning sun, which made it difficult to take photos of the interior.
We later learned that the caves were most likely used by Jumano Indians and archeologists uncovered numerous artifacts and arrowheads dating back at least 10,000 years. On the way back to the Fort, we passed Dad, Lisa, Brian, David, and the kids on their way. We had been talking to them on the walkie-talkies, giving them clues about where things were. After passing them, we sidetracked to explore an area around a little creek.

When we first walked up to the creekbed, a Killdeer (we looked it up later) started chattering and strutting around trying to lead us away. We're not birders, but you couldn't help watching and pointing out all of the different varieties of birds found all over Cibolo Creek Ranch.

Upon returning to Fort Cibolo, we had a delicious lunch in the main dining area with other guests. I peeked into the various museum rooms, including the chapel on the way back to the lake where we took our turn paddleboating and fishing.

The lake offered catch and release fishing and I think Cameron was the first (and only?) one to catch a fish. A storeroom on the edge of the lake housed mountain bikes, life jackets, fishing poles, lures, and anything else you needed. We saw other guests who fished from their paddleboats.

Brian, Lisa, David, Mom, Dad, and Bryan had an appointment for wine tasting in the early afternoon.

Leah kept the three youngers and I took the four olders to the swimming pool. Ashley and Daniel are fantastic swimmers and Cameron is improving, but Brenna still struggles when the water is over her head. I sat on the steps for a while watching them and then we got into the hot tub for some splashing. When they went back into the pool, I put a life jacket on Brenna so she could keep up with the others and I could sit in a lounge chair on the side. At 4 p.m. Bryan came out to tell me it was "time" and I brought everyone inside to change. They were so well behaved! No one whined about getting out and all did a great job getting dressed.

At 5 p.m. Dad, Brian, Bryan and I had an appointment to do a little target shooting. David and Leah went mountain biking and Mom and Lisa took a turn watching all seven of the kids.

The guys and I went out in the Humvee to the designated pistol range. All manner of targets dotted the landscape like a lifesize arcade game - metal deer, little round targets that flip, and boards at all distances. Each of us fired six shots per turn using three different guns following all of the rules. We shot a compact .40, a 9mm, and a .44 western style revolver with a hair trigger. Bryan shot the best of all of us, then Dad, and Brian and I vied for third depending on the gun. (I shot better with the .40; he did better with the 9mm).

Mom and Lisa took the kids for a walk all around El Fortin Cibolo, stopping for photos in various places, including this assembly of wagons and stone walls on the outskirts of the paddock.

After everyone returned from activities, it was time to freshen up and go to happy hour and dinner again. Brenna and Ashley decided they were quite grown up with their virgin daquiris and toasted each other every single time they took a drink. (Really, every time.)Dinner is quite an event and a bit lengthy when the ranch is at capacity. After our exciting day is it any surprise that this happened near the end?

Wednesday morning we attended a Cowboy Breakfast beautifully hosted at the Wagon location just outside the paddock. The staff fired up an outdoor fire pit and cooked coffee, eggs and tortillas outside. Wool blankets covered hay bales for seats, and stone walls for positioning the orange juice carafe, biscuit basket, and fresh fruit trays. Two horses and the official ranch dog rounded out the ensemble.

After breakfast we were signed up for a Mountain Tour in the Humvees. What fun with all of us piled high in the back of two Humvees driving up a steep dirt trail into the mountains above the Fort. Our drivers also played guide, with various stops along the way to point out native and introduced plants, the effects of all the rain forcing the agave plants to bloom...and then die.

From this view, you can follow the road back to the Fort in the far distance, which gives you some idea of the elevation covered during the tour.

The second tallest waterfall in the state is on Cibolo Creek property. We stopped to look at it three times, the first from this angle.

Next, we pulled alongside of the dam funneling water to the falls. Last we viewed it from above. At this height you can see the road we were on below.

When we reached the highest elevation on the ranch - 5300 ft.- we climbed out of the humvees to enjoy the view. From here you could see Shafter and Presidio, Texas and Ojinaga, Mexico.

Of course, when you go up, you must come down... Here is the view from the back of the Humvee as we approach "Coronary Hill."

Coronary Hill is a very steep decline from mountain. We braced ourselves with our feet against the center storage piece and the girls hung onto the back of their seat laughing and squealing all the way down. Mom is afraid of heights and we were joking how glad we were not to be in the Humvee with her because while one side of the narrow road faced the mountain, the other had a dizzying drop off. I'm pretty sure our driver didn't actually have the Humvee in drive and I know he never took his foot off the brake. For the rest of the tour we went down into the lowest elevation of the Ranch and explored the old Squatters Cabins. During the 1880s, many families arrived to work in the mines at Shafter, Texas and several families squatted on Faver's land, building stone cabins.

Everyone spent a little time poking around looking for broken shards of old glass bottles and pottery. The guides were helpful in showing us various areas where they had found some. They had a few tales about about Tommy Lee Jones and the movie crew using these cabins for location shooting of The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada . We still need to watch that movie....

The tour swung by and stopped at the Indian Pictographs, but not the cave, and returned to the Fort just in time for lunch. After lunch we rushed to pack the car and check out of our rooms. That night's occupants had already arrived and were wanting to check in!

On our drive to the main gate, we saw this family of antelope saying "farewell".

We can't wait until we see this sign welcoming us again. Maybe next year?