We were late risers! We were really tired, but anxious to start a new day of sightseeing/hiking.
Before we headed out Edith got online to reserve tickets for Star Date Party for tonight, but found out that the tickets were all sold out. It was even sold out for tomorrow night. Only Tues, Fri and Sat are available for night viewing. She discussed with Erwin about it and decided to buy tickets for a 11 am viewing/guided tour for tomorrow.
We skipped breakfast because it was already past 10:30 am. We stopped at the ranch office to pay camping fees. The ranch no longer accepts Passport America discount (it used to be $11 a night). The regular rate is $23 per night and we paid for 2 nights.
The lady at the ranch office suggested us to take the scenic wildlife viewing loop after we visit McDonald Observatory. The observatory is about 6 1/2 miles from where we camp at.
We could see McDonald Observatory as we drove along 118. The mountain scene is beautiful, very rugged and arrid terrain.
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| McDonald Observatory |
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| Adobe style house on the mountains |
At McDonald Observatory Visitor Center we checked with the receptionist if there is an interpreting service available for deaf guests during tomorrow’s tour. “No, we don’t have it”, the lady replied. They do offer transcripts, which will work out just fine.
There is an exhibit hall that is open to the public. There were information on how the observatory was built and the inventions made throughout the years. There were few hands on interactive displays that will tell you more about the sun and stars.
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| Actual Meteorite weighing 1,500 lbs! No need for chaining it down! |
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| Model of actual observatory! |
After we left McDonald Observatory we took the Scenic Loop. The view was awesome, but we did not see much wildlife except for one roadrunner that ran across the road. Edith did not have time to stop the car, change the lens and get out of the car to take pictures while the roadrunner was resting at the middle of the road. As soon as Edith got out the roadrunner took off into the bushes, but she managed to get just one good shot of it.
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| Roadrunner |
After completing the Scenic Loop we went straight to Fort Davis downtown to browse around for a bit. There wasn't much to see or do, but there were few interesting points.
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Fort Davis Courthouse
It was named after Jefferson Davis, the 23rd U.S. Secretary of War |
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Erwin had to go inside the bookstore just to see if
there was any book he would be interested in buying |
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| Deer Antler Door Handles |
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| Nice looking motorcycle... |
We visited Fort Davis National Historic Site, took a good long walk around the premises. It was built in 1854 and was named after Jefferson Davis. The purpose of the fort was to protect emigrants, mail coaches and freight wagons that commuted on the San Antonio-El Paso Road and also to protect against the activities of the Indians.
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| Wow, Erwin looked too serious! |
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| Clouds or smoke? |
We went back to Prude Ranch, rested a bit, then took a walk along the ranch property. There were some interesting stuff around.
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| You can see our Lil' Home in the background |
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| Old discarded Horseshoes |
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| Paul Bunyan's spurs? |
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Erwin was thrilled to see so many rocks that he
decided to build a cairn |
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| View of the mountains from the ranch |
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| Another RV site at the front of the ranch |
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| Edith having fun on the saddle swing |
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