The Cheese Weasels Do Big Bend, Texas

[Stichill]

Day 4 - 26 March 2018 - Presidio to Fort Davis



Leaving Big Bend State Park, we gassed up in Presidio and turned north toward Fort Davis.



As we descended in elevation north of Shafter, an immense expanse opened before us. We could see for miles in all directions west, north, and east across a vast prairie interrupted only by distant mountain ranges. It wasn't safe to stop on the highway until we'd reached a lower elevation, but these images nevertheless hint at the impressive scope of the landscape we encountered.





We reached Fort Davis under increasingly overcast skies and cooler temperatures, and parked in a spacious lot. Then we walk a short distance into town and immediately found an inviting drug store lunch stop.





The wait staff and local customers were very open and easy to engage in conversation. The lunch crowd was sizable and told us that this was the right place to eat the noon meal.




Creative drug store plumbing

We ran short of time to do the entire Fort Davis loop that Redbirds recommended, but we did have a chance to run up and down TX 118 and stop at the McDonald Observatory (hat tip to junipash). I absolutely loved riding 118 and was enthralled with the beauty of the countryside in that area.




















We went further up TX 118 and turned around in a wayside picnic area. Here I am punching in a new route to take us through Alpine, back through Marathon and Sanderson, thence onto secondary roads heading northeast toward Sheffield.