WestTexas

A Long Pause in Marfa, Texas

Sunset over West Texas

It was a drawn out and chilly stay in Marfa, Tx. We ordered car parts quickly upon arrival, but they were delayed, extending our stay to 11 days total (we originally “planned” on 5, ). With all the waiting around we got a little lazy, sleeping in to sometimes as late as 8:30! (We are still not adjusted to central time, so that’s an acceptable 7:30 Mountain time.) The mornings always started out in the 20’s, some days even in the teens, so there wasn’t much to do except stay snuggled inside our blankets with three heaters blasting until we were warm enough to start moving around for the day. Not having a car limited what we could do, but the RV park we stayed at was an easy 1/4 mile walk into town. Art galleries are something that Marfa is known for, but most were closed or by appointment only due to COVID. This could be a really depressing read for anyone up to this point, but we really did enjoy our stay at this quirky place! The people here made all the difference for us.

We loved the old west charm of this place from old and untouched to beautifully restored. There was something in every category architecturally. No cookie-cutter plan here.

It started when we were getting our tow figured out from the last stay. I got in touch with the Tumble In RV Park to ask if they knew of a local tow company we could contact. We got Robert’s name from Melvin, the Tumble In owner and made a call. While we eventually went the AAA route with our tow, Robert was a fountain of information for us. He sent me the name of every tow truck company in the area, he let us borrow tools and a jack and stands to work on our car when our parts finally arrived, he had so much to share about the area and surrounding communities, he was the epitome of southern hospitality going above and beyond with all of our interactions. Melvin was equally kind and understanding with our flexible stay at his RV park. The Tumble In was the first established park we stayed at where we didn’t feel out of place or obnoxious with all of our stuff and outdoor living style. The other businesses we frequented in Marfa were Para Llevar for wood fired pizza and our first side order taste of pimiento cheese 😋

The Stop & Read was a cute garage converted to a bookstore with new and used books, Kendall’s dog Pepper was particularly sweet with the kids. I wish we could have gone back again but with physical books we can only get so many before the cabinet is full again and we have to get rid of them at the next Little Free Library.

  • The Tumble In RV Park neon on point
  • A light installation waking distance from our trailer
  • Door details get me every time
  • Creative solution to cold winds blowing through old Flossie
  • The excitement when the new suspension parts came in was palpable

The Get n Go was our favorite little grocery store for organic and specialty items, oh, and Dr. Pepper with real sugar. We hope to swing back through Marfa for a few more days in February when we start heading back to mountains and New Mexico.

Racing in our backyard
Easily entertained (and so grateful they have mostly got along this whole trip)
Beauty is all around us if we’re willing to stay still and observe
Marfa sent us on our way with a stunning sunrise

West Texas

Still managing to find some mountains to climb, even in Tx.

We made it to Texas! (It should really be like four states, but don’t tell anyone from here that I said that)

After a rough and anxiety-inducing two days at a city RV park located under interstate 10 in El Paso, we made our way southeast, first to a hipcamp south of Van Horn. We’ve arranged a longer stay in Marfa, and eventually plan on ending up near Austin for a longer stay around there as well.

Sometimes reality is camping under a busy highway in a big city.

We hiked up a wash adjacent to our hipcamp with lots of evidence of people crossing through the area. After spending so much time along the US/Mexico border through three states now I am determined to find any organizations working with asylum seekers and any other people crossing that border to seek a safer and better way of life. It can’t be a passing thought for me anymore, there has to be people who think similarly to me about a humane solution to this predicament, I want to work with them moving forward.

Artifacts both past and present in the wash we hiked. Was so good to be back in a quiet and isolated place. We had a lot of rich discussion about the strewn out camps here too.

We ran into a major hiccup at our remote destination. Our rear air suspension on Lafawnda the Lexus has officially kicked the bucket. This happens occasionally with her (old sensors that get finicky so it lifts when you want it low or stays low when you want it lifted) all other times this eventually self-corrects or Zach fiddles with it and it resolves but this time no amount of tinkering would help, it was the end. This predicament made it impossible to tow Flossie to our RV Park in Marfa so we called AAA and got a tow out. Now we are extending our time in Marfa so we can get some parts delivered and get Lafawnda back in good shape for trailer hauling.

Our first encounter with car troubles but we won’t let it dim our spirits. Also, cheers to being conservative with water since we had to stay here an extra day AND help our tow truck driver find us for about 2 extra hours.

This gives us good pause for getting back into a regular school routine for the kids as well as lots of time to explore this funky community. Some folks on our nomad forums suggested we return to Van Horn for better access to parts, but since Zach knows what he wants and how to fix it we can wait in this quiet town very far from I-10, and the community is such that we can likely borrow jacks or tools from the locals as we began inquiring shortly after arrival. More on Marfa in my next post!