Stayed o'night in Del Rio both going out to Valentine and coming back. Stopped by the News-Herald, place I'd worked as a Linotype operator back in '63-'65. I had a good time living in Del Rio and have good memories of the place. I went by the newspaper office to pick up a paper and noticed life inside, so I just went on in. Had a nice conversation with a very likeable and bright lady name of Karen Gleason, senior staff writer. She's a birder and funny and really enjoys writing for the paper. The paper's doing amazingly well, perhaps because of the isolation of Del Rio. They run a page of local news in Spanish, a translator right there in the newsroom. The old building downtown on Main Street is now a tony-looking restaurant called The Herald. Imagine that … Yuppies dining where I used to bang out lead type.
Couple of blocks up the street Charlie Sotelo's Val Verde Recreation, joint where we could run tabs for beer, is now abandoned, all dirty windows and desolation. Too bad. Charlie's pool hall was a neat place. I used to drink beer with railroaders and old cowboys and such.
I made the run out to Valentine on Saturday, encountering $3.20/gal gas at one point. Marfa is just incredible – arty chicks walking purebred dogs and painfully hip people all over the streets. Right out there in authentic cowboy country, the place they filmed Giant.
Valentine is 200-odd souls, no gas, no café, no groceries, but a dentist and spectacular mountains, high and dry.
I am conflicted about the house. You wanna buy a little adobe + two more lots for $8 thou? Guy owns it swears that you can keep it warm in the winter with one mesquite log in the little stove.
[Forgive the flare on the pix; I shot them with a disposable camera and then shot the shots w/the digital camera.]
4 comments:
Looks clean and spiffy to me. It depends on how much you love the surrounding area, since it sounds like it doesn't have even as much as **adrift has.
I hope this doesn't mean you will be moving. There are those around here who would miss you too much.
I feel like I was along for the ride, except that I don't have any sweaty, dusty clothes to show for it. Doesn't sound like the prop'ty is ripe for speculation......I'm familiar with the area, so I reckon if one has the change to secure it and have it available for the occasional necessary, open ended sabbatical, then it's a helluva deal. Pick a pile of those fresh figs, Myers lemons, and tangerines and hit Janie's for a seafood stash before you depart for even the shortest stay though........
I'd bet those who know how the high desert comes to life after dark, are few and far between......
Hubby and I were out that way a few weeks ago and decided that's where we'll end up eventually. Love Fort Davis, Alpine and Marfa. The sky is the most amazing blue I've ever seen. And the stars! Haven't seen that many since I was growing up in the Adirondacks. It was good to see that they're all still up there.
When you're westering at night, there is always some point when you stop to change drivers or find a bush, and you look up at the stars and just stand there, stupid and awed. It's liberating sky.
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