It's a Dry Cold

Let me just say, for the record, that it is cold here in Texas.  It was cold when we aired out our sleeping bags and tent in Austin.  It was cold when we almost ran over a boar on I-10.  And it is cold here in Fort Davis where we're tucking in for a couple of nights.

I'm not talking about a little cold either.  I am talking wear your jacket, hat, and mittens cold.

And I don't want to hear about how it is a 'dry cold' either.  It is dry, and it is cold.  I've put on more chapstick in the last 24 hours than I've put on in my life.  Our faces hurt from the dry and the cold.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are not in Burke, VA, anymore.  Hitch on your belts, hike up your boots, and pull down your hats.  We're deep in the heart of Texas where a little mound of dirt can hide a heap of the angriest little ants you ever did see and even the grass can getchya.

The boys have learned more about staying on the path in one day than they have in years of my talking, lecturing, and threatening them about it.  It turns out there is no teacher like one inch thorns and prickers on every scraggly bush trying to grow knee high.

After all that, you may be surprised to learn that the place is ... well, cute.  Shhh.  Don't tell them I said so.  But get a load of that drug store in the first photo.  Very cute.

It comes complete with 'penny' candy available for a steal at a dime a piece.

We are in Fort Davis, Texas.  It is tourist town.  Kind of.  We saw a store selling 'Working Brooms and Walking Sticks.'  And a few stores that would be happy to let you look around, if you'd call them to let them know you'd like to do so.

The town is charming for its complete lack of pretense.  The kids liked the scenery, small houses, lack of traffic, the simplicity.

We are making friends with area animals.  This horse, at Fort Davis, along with another and two goats got plenty of love and attention from the boys.

We were there to see Fort Davis, a National Historical Site.  It was a military outpost originally set up to protect pioneers going west from Apache raids when Jefferson Davis was the Secretary of the Department of Interior.  When the Civil War came about, the federals left, and the confederates moved in trying to gain territory.  It turned out to be too much work for not enough gain.

After the war, Fort Davis was renovated and re-established.  It was the Regimental Headquarters for all four regiments of African American soldiers, nicknamed Buffalo Soldiers by the Native Americans, from 1867 to 1885.  They helped keep travelers safe on the San Antionio-El Paso Trail, laid 91 miles of telegraph lines, scouted and preserved watering holes.  You may not agree with Manifest Destiny and how it, well, manifested.  But the work of the soldiers during their tenure there broke critical ground.

The first African American graduate from West Point served there as well.  Breaking new ground does not come without a cost.  He was accused of embezzling, found not guilty, and still dishonorably discharged for 'behavior unbecoming to an officer.'  His rank was posthumously reinstated by President Clinton; his discharge changed to honorable.

When we walked on to the site, I encouraged the boys to imagine themselves 150 years ago, traveling for months, and then finally seeing these few buildings ... and knowing you've arrived.

We spent hours walking around the grounds.  It was a gorgeous day.  Picture perfect.  And cold.

At night we went to a Star Party at McDonald's Observatory.  We had the opportunity to see Jupiter and a few of its moons through a massive telescope; along with a few other treats, the moon, the Pleiades, Orion's belt.

It was a great time.  And cold.

Tomorrow we are heading to Big Bend National Park with a stop first at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center.  If the weather is warmer as it promised to be, we'll be camping for the first time on this trip!