Meeting new friends, accidentally

My former High School band director, Mr. Banda, had been urging me to meet another one of his students that lives near Big Bend National park in Terlingua, Tx. while we're here.  Melissa is a school teacher there.  Mr. Banda sent several messages, to both of us and in 5 months we had not managed to meet up in Big Bend NP or Terlingua.

So each time I'm driving through Terlingua or shopping there, I have not called or messaged her and I feel bad about it but just go on thinking she'll not have the time to just meet us at the store or a restaurant. It's always an impromptu visit.  That day we had traveled through Terlingua to Lajita, then to the state park.  And the same thoughts had run through my mind.

Starlight Theater Bar

So, after hiking Closed Cayon in the Big Bend Ranch State Park we went to Starlight theater for dinner.  We walk up to the bar and, strangely, there were 2 spots next to each other so we sit down, order drinks and chips (it's happy hour) and start to relax.  There is a woman sitting next to us drinking her water and she looks familiar, but I'm not sure why.  So, I guess that she might be the Melissa that Mr. Banda had mentioned multiple times.  Hey, we're in a tiny ghost town so..

Automatically, I'm going to Facebook, trying to look at common friends with Banda while she and I have a casual conversation about our hike in the state park.  She talks about Terlingua and why she's there.  I'm not quite to the common friends yet when she mentions she's a teacher there and, I say 'do you know a Mr. Banda?'

Accidental friends

Well, of course, she did; we laughed at the coincidence and the many times we had both thought about the other while passing through.  Anyway, it was great to finally meet Melissa, and now we can let Mr. Banda know we've met, thanks to his generous prodding!

Day trip to Alpine Texas for outdoor Theater and more

You wouldn't think outdoor theater would be a good idea in West Texas, in July, but we really wanted to get out of the park (Big Bend National Park) and Sul Ross State University's Theater of the Big Bend in Alpine Texas was performing 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' at the Kokernot Outdoor Theater. And we wanted to see the Museum of the Big Bend and explore Alpine's downtown murals.  So, off we went.

downtown Alpine exploring the murals

We headed out early to Terlingua for some lunch at the Chile Pepper Cafe, on the suggestion of a friend that likes his food really, really hot like we do.  And the food was good, and Lupe burned his mouth on a taco (but I don't have a picture of that).

The trip from Terlingua to Alpine was uneventful, sadly, because we were warned about the wild burrows and were on the lookout the entire way. But no burrows.

Once we were in Alpine, we hit the Natural Grocery Store, went crazy on food as you do when you live in the middle of nowhere and get to a real grocery store, and then headed to Sul Ross State Univerisity where we spent several hours at the Museum of the Big Bend.

Museum of the Big Bend 

We were anxious to see the Museum and 'Foto Texas II: People, Place and Culture' a Texas Photographic Society exhibit located in the museum.

The Fallen Officer Memorial outside the Museum entrance

Museum entrance

The museum has a regional topographic display that gives you a sense of where things are located and their physical relationship to each other in this large this west Texas area.

pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus recreation

Among the many interesting things you'll find walking through the small museum, are recreations of the largest known flying creature of all time, the giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus, whose fossilized bones are only found at Big Bend National Park and

The Tall Rockshelter display

The 'Tall Rockshelter', a 2-story, prehistoric Native American rock painting found deep in the canyons of the Davis Mountains.  The Center for Big Bend Studies, also on the campus of Sul Ross State University, is currently conducting an analysis of materials and data collected from the artifact.

Also, in the museum are areas describing the Big Bend Legacy with informational displays following the human occupation of the region from the original Indians that settled the region, its discovery by Cabeza de Vaca to the expansion of the United States into the region with the stagecoach and trains.

Foto Texas II: People, Place and Culture

Even though it was closing time, the gratious museum staff allows us a few moments in the exhibit room for Foto Texas II the curated exhibit of regional photos.

panorama of the photo exhibit

Theater of the Big Bend

Then we were off to the Theater.  It had been so long that we jumped at the chance to go to a regional theater, and it was an amazing evening with two friends who also worked at Big Bend.  The first thing they announced as the performance began was, of course, that no photos or videos were allowed. So, I only have a collage of the stage and photos from the playbill.

Stage, Cast & Crew from Smokey Joe's Cafe

The performance by the Theater of the Big Bend of 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' was very energetic.  We all really enjoyed the college student performances, and it all brought me back to my Singing Cadet days at A&M.  Oh, and it was a pleasantly cool evening once the sun when down; so west Texas at 4500 ft isn't so hot after all, in July.

4th of July in Terlingua Texas

The 4th of July has always been a big deal for Lupe and his family as they are a large Military family. Being in Big Bend we could not find anything to do in the area that was not less than a 2-hour drive.

Ladies who tossed water balloons at Bert

With that in mind, we decided to drive to Terlingua and get a drink and do some grocery shopping. When we pulled up to Cottonwood our local grocery store (1hr away). We saw a bunch of people lined up for what looked like a parade.

Parade float

Horses that lead the Parade

After talking to the two funny older ladies that work in the store we found out more about the parade and its route. Luckily for us, the route went right in front of the liquor store. 

The Parade was only about 5 minutes long but we were so happy to come across it. 

a snippet of the 5-minute parade

After the parade, we went to dinner at High Sierra Bar and Grill