The Marfa Lights....What do you think?

The next morning we headed out but there was a delay in departure. Mary Jane was leaving us and heading over to Tucson to visit children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren while Carolyn and I were headed to Big Bend country. Unfortunately, when Mary Jane started up her RV the lights weren't working. She thought it might be the cord going to her toad but we quickly eliminated that since the lights on the RV itself weren't working. We found a fuse under the dash that might be the problem so Carolyn changed that out but it didn't help. Next began the search for a mobile technician. Mary Jane found one that would come out fairly quickly. Guess what, we learned that there are another whole set of fuses hidden under a cover under the hood. Most of them are much larger than what we carry but the tech had one. He not only replaced it but recommended an inexpensive testing tool and showed us how to use it. After that, we all hit the road going east or west.

We made it through El Paso without any problems. Carolyn was surprised when we ran into an inspection station where everyone was pulled over. I told her it was very common as you could see Mexico right across the river. It didn't take long to get through and we were on our way again.

Van Horn was on our original plan as a possible overnight stop.....only because there are very few places to stop along the way. Carolyn pulled into a big station to get diesel and her battery light came on. Since she had just replaced it not long ago, she pulled out her manual to see what else might be causing it. She pulled out of the station to an open lot across the street. There was a sign that there was a mechanic there but no one answered her knock. She called the number on the door and got someone who asked if a certain vehicle was there. When she said yes, he told her to just keep banging as he was probably sleeping......not a good recommendation as far as we were concerned. I found another place on my cell and we drove a couple of blocks there. Two very nice young men checked it out and said they thought it was most likely the alternator but, unfortunately, they worked on fleet semi's. One of them called a friend who was very busy and then said his other friend was just down the block and he was very good too. Carolyn told him not to send her to anyplace he wouldn't send his mother. The guy said he was at the parts shop but would be right back. In the meantime, he checked and found that the parts store actually had the part she needed in stock. We went down the street to his shop and parked where he told us to park. An hour later, he had the new alternator in and we were good to go.

Since it was still mid afternoon, we decided to head on down the road. Carolyn was leading and she was past the Prada Store before I could get her stopped. I thought it was closer to Marfa but it is actually north of Valentine. People were stopped taking photos but it was too late to turn around. In case you don't know, it is actually an art project not a real store.

So we headed on to Marfa. Marfa has some history.....

But most people stop to see the Marfa Lights. The state has a very nice area set up like a rest area with picnic tables, etc. We arrived early and decided to spend the night since there was plenty of room.

The viewing area has a nice raised platform, restrooms, and free telescopes.

We walked around the area and read all the information while it was still light. And then we fixed dinner.

You can believe what you want about the lights. Some say they are carlights on a highway but there is no highway there and the lights have been seen since the 1800's.

The sky was getting darker.

Harley was out and about with us.

It is an interesting place.

More people arrived as it got later.

Check out that sky.

While the end of the story is that we didn't see the lights because we had a monsoon of a rain and the skies were lit most of the night with lightning. I woke up several times during the night for a potty break and I looked out the window next to my bed but saw nothing but lightning.

Fortunately, it was pretty clear the next morning. A couple of other RVs and a semi pulled in behind us during the night. On to Terlingua!