Only a few hundred miles of Texas to go! The penultimate stop statewise being the McDonald Observatory - which, it turns out 'is equipped with a wide range of state-of-the-art instrumentation for imaging and spectroscopy' - fancy eh? I arrived too late for the guided tour though you can wander around and look at the big white things. That evenings 'star party' (a chance to look through some of their smaller telescopes) was hampered by lots of clouds so it was indoor lecture and demonstration time. This was still worth buying the ticket for and lasted just long enough for the clouds to clear as we left...

One can not traverse the width of Texas without strolling through a portion of it. So the last stop was the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Steepish mountain roads led to the park headquarters where many trails were on offer. I chose to take the McKittrick Canyon trail, an 8 mile round trip raising 3000ft (mostly the last half mile) - refreshing indeed to be out in some true wilderness.

So, goodbye Texas, hello New Mexico! A pretty rainbow welcomed me into yet another state - ahhh good omens thought I.... Ho ho ho. First up I was once more caught out by the time change which actually occured back in Texas, then I was once again too late to catch last tour of the day this time around the Carlsbad Caverns and finally the van broke down. Bah! My guess is that a wheel bearing had seized and I sit on the roadside awaiting a tow. Three hours and $75 later I'm in Roswell - home of the alien shinanagans and all that jazz.
It was indeed a wheel bearing and the quote to sort it all out comes to $260 +/- eeeek! This represents quite a slice of the budget and could well modify my California plans. So I'm inserting this shameless link to my donations page here and prehaps I'll see San Francisco yet. :)

STOP PRESS: Reporting live from the UFO museum and research center.... A large building filled with alien tat. Roswell turns out to be a very long main street (about 8 miles) with cute street lights and 10 of those ever popular commandments.

One begins to appreciate just how big Texas is when you start hitting its western regions. It just goes on and on and on. As luck would have it there's something of interest every 100 miles or so and I latched onto the historic line of border forts that pepper the region. These, for the historically challenged, were set up in the 19th century to add a touch of security and stability to the expansion westward in the face of understandable resistance from the Native Americans. Naturally once the natives were dealt with they we left to rot and now live on as little museums for the likes of me to stretch my legs around. 1, 2, 3, 4.

Another historical draw was the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg. Having missed out on the National D-Day memorial in Virginia due to their sneaky signposting this was a must see. It turned out to be an excellent exhibition, well constructed, very informative and not at all gung ho. A nice touch was the Japanese peace garden to the left of the big guns - balanced it all out nicely.

It's warm enough down in these parts that I gave the pop up top its first run. Nice to be able to stretch around after conditioning myself to stoop these past few weeks.
Change of plan direction wise. Big Bend is off the itinerary. Looking at the map it seemed a long way to head South just to retrace my steps a couple of days later. Plus there are National Parks aplenty to the North so it's all good.
I eventually hooked the van up with an oil change by buying a filter from an auto parts store (actually two - one for next time) and taking it along to the changers of oil. The van has been good so I treated it to the expensive, high mileage stuff - the least I could do.
To add to the fun I spotted a Texas Highway Patrol car checking me out along highway 10. It shadowed me for a couple of miles, pulled alongside, dropped back a little and followed along for a few minutes. I can only assume that Wendy has no outstanding warrants and that I didn't look too dodgy as they eventually turned around and faded away. Phew!
The day ended just outside of Marfa where I learnt that every night they are visited by mysterious lights in the desert. There is even a custom made viewing area to make the whole experience more comfortable. People came and went - a few fuzzy lights also came and went. It was fun to hang out and feel part of a genuine mystery! It also made a nice place to spend the night.

I awaken to the sound of engines revving, doors clunking, sun rising and generally friendly sounding chatter. A peek out the curtains reveal my new neighbour's to be a small fleet of early morning fishing folk . Must be quite the early morning activity in these parts - most industrious. So off to an early start for once I decide to make straight for the Texas border no more than a couple of hours away. These last few miles of Louisiana out of New Orleans turn out to be the best. Tranquil streams , meditative cows , school flag day and a ride on a ferry all add to the fun.

And so to Texas. The border town is a pure delight of architectural wonders (for oil folk at least). On one side of the street you would have a quaint neighbourhood of little houses with neat gardens and on the other industrial hell. Pays to have a good set of curtains in such circumstances. Safety is not taken lightly naturally, oh no. As you will see from this picture the protective wooden palette of shielding is tied firmly in place. Most reassuring...

Texans seem to like barns for their cars, obsolete cartoon merchandising opportunities and bridges. All of which lead me to Austin, Texas. Home, as I am sure you know, of Omega's newest friend The Crossings. How could I pass through this fine state without dropping in for a nose around? I arrive as the sun is setting and proceed up the steep and winding road to the campus. I park up, introduce myself at their guest services and have a wander around. My first impression is that there's a good energetic feeling and a sense of well manicured order to it all - though I can't shake the feeling that I'm walking around a science fiction film set.

Their day pass ($20 + tax - no staff discount) seemed to be the best way to check it all out thoroughly so I decided to crash in the parking lot overnight and spend the next day here (the nice lady in guest services said it should be OK).
At last I could sleep peacefully knowing that I was in a safe space without the chance of angry bears or mad axemen visiting me as I slept. Many is the occasion over the last three weeks where I had fallen asleep with all manner of worring noises fueling my dreams.
Alas I had not accounted for Chuck the ninja like night security man. In a display of duty that would have make Jordan proud he rousted me at 1.30am and began the interrogation. Name? Why was I there? Could he see my pass? Had I asked to be there? etc etc. My pathetic excuses weren't cutting it. There was no sympathy for my plight. Last years Omega staff sticker in the van window meant nothing to him (which to be fair is about it's exact value). So for the first time on my journey so far I was evicted from my resting spot. That it should be from Omega made the irony all the more delicious.

I'll be back!