Weird, Wild, and Wonderful: West Texas and New Mexico

As we headed west from Austin, Texas, the climate got drier and the tumbleweeds bigger  And then we stayed at a house made of newspapers (think mass scale paper mache), La Loma del Chivo (though no goats or hills were involved).

The house was strange with a kitchen outside and the bathroom in a nearby building. However, the varied library contained some delights and the stars at night were big and bright.... deep.... in the heart of Texas. We could observe them from this amazing viewing deck. 

Incredible to be in dark sky country. No way to capture it properly on a camera phone but it was absolutely magical.

Big Bend National Park in west Texas is not easy to get to but it is incredible. We drove through three different planets from Star Wars, according to some of our local experts.  Pictures can never do this place justice but we are going to try anyway.

If you ever travel this way be sure to stop in the ghost town of Terlingua, Texas, stay at the Holiday Hotel and eat at the Starlight diner.  Bonus points if your musical family can serenade you from the patio. Might be one of our best stays and views.

In the realm of weird road side stops, this Prada Store outside Marfa, Texas, may win. While it appears to be a classic-looking Prada store, Prada Marfa is actually a "pop architectural land art project." It makes no sense and is located along a highway with few cars and very little other than sand, brush, and tumble weeds. Jo was very confused.

Next, we descended 800 feet under the earth for these otherworldly scenes from Carlsbad Caverns.  We missed the bats but also the crowds - at some points the only sound was the quiet dripping of water.

Of course we had to check out Roswell and the oddly comprehensive and detailed International UFO Museum. 

Do we believe? They do...

Next weird road stop - the biggest pistachio in the WORLD.

While our friends and neighbors back east enjoyed a record snow storm, we went sledding on the slopes of White Sands National Park.

Our next stop: Arizona. We were ready to get off the road and settle down for the holidays and to ring in the new year.