The Leh-Garza Expedition.
The forecast for Marfa was predicting snow over the 2 days we would be staying. We had plans to drive straight into Marfa, unpack, and go to the McDonald Observatory for a star viewing. Upon check-in at El Cosmico, Tina and John were greeted with the news that their pipes were frozen. We invited them to stay with us, so after we unpacked, we started on our way to the Observatory. Further and further into the mountains, Google was taking us into the the empty land as the clouds began to get darker. At some point we figured out that Google had lied to us, we were lost. It was here, that we decided to take our first group photo, in the middle of nowhere. Freezing rain and flurries began to fall.
We finally found our way to the observatory, but, the star party had been cancelled due to the snow. We decided to go back to the room, get warm, make dinner, and watch for more snow.
On our way back to Marfa, we had an opportunity to meet one of Ford Davis’ finest, who was kind enough to give us a souvenir of the road, a speeding ticket.
Once we were cozy in our space for the night we made dinner, listened to some music, and planned out day two. Tina brought her wedding dress on the trip, because this was to be Tina & John’s 1 year anniversary. This meant a “Trash The Dress” session was in order to mark the occasion.
It snowed through the night, and we were surprised in the morning, when everything was covered in white, and it all looked so magical!
On to explore Marfa. Tina suited up in her wedding dress and we hit the town. El Cosmico was our first stop for photos. We had all planned to stay there but, the weather didn’t allow it. Still, it is a Marfa icon, so we spent time there for shots with it as our backdrop. It’s grounds feature canvas & tipi tents, classic RV campers, hammocks and a great relaxing atmosphere, even as it was beautifully covered with snow. Next we headed to the streets of Marfa. We stopped on the side of the road if an area called to us. We all braved the freezing temperatures, but especially Tina, and had a great time doing it.
Somewhere in between all the madness of jumping in and out of the car, we decided we needed to warm up. We stopped at Memo’s Cafe and ordered 1 bowl of menudo, 1 cheeseburger with fries, and split it all between the four of us. It was heaven, and the hot coffee topped it off nicely. We then drove out of town, about 30 minutes, to the famous Prada Store Installation in Valentine, TX, by Artists Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset.
Tina eventually threw in the towel, but she was the most brave, wearing almost nothing in freezing cold. Blowing the snow into the camera was a highlight for me. It looks easy to do but it turns out it’s not. I made a collage to show exactly how it went down. Tina got it a few times, John, not so much… I laugh every time I see these.
The road back to Marfa was beautiful. We played in the snow back in town, made dinner, and got ready to leave the next morning to our final destination, Terlingua, TX.
The ice and snow was still thick when we woke up. We left our casita in Marfa, and went for one last adventure. We got some much needed coffee and hot coca from Frama, and took our last photos on the streets of Marfa. And of course we had to pose with the tumbleweed sign!
Big Bend was waiting.
