Fort Stockton and Van Horn

Fort Stockton is four hours west of San Antonio, 9,000 people live there and the grocery store clerks weren’t very cheerful or forthcoming Layne said. 

Fort Stockton is useful but I saw no great beauty, no there, there to quote that old chestnut. 

It was Saturday night and car washing was in progress all over town. I could hear people in the side streets joking around getting ready for the big day off. I could hear a cheerful community. 

I saw some sheet music tacked to a telephone pole which seemed odd, so I did what I tell anyone to do: Google it! I found the tune on YouTube, a simple bouncy melody to accompany the simple religious  sentiments. I get points for creativity I think. 

Shopping was done and with a quick stop at the porta potty in the corner of the parking lot,  an odd place I thought as I emptied our cassette, we were on our way. 

Texas has no public land, no Bureau of Land Management or National Forests which means there is no dispersed camping.  What there are is lots of rest areas, picnic areas and parking areas along freeways and state highways. 

There are lots of places to park between Fort Stockton and Van Horn one hour down the freeway. However all the apps said they are packed with semis desperate for a place to park. I did find a tiny county rest area on Texas Highway 17 just off the interstate and there were no trucks or anyone else. We slept the sleep of the just, cold but just as it went down to 31 degrees. 

We stopped near Balmorhea about 44 minutes shy of Van Horn. Layne slept  as I drive through the dark such that by the time we arrived in the town the sun was coming up. Rusty and I went for a walk and I liked what I saw. A small town with a decking population from 2400 ten years ago to 1900 today. 

We were alone on our walk and the air was cold but luckily there was no wind. Rusty did not want to go back to the van so we wandered for an hour. This is a little of what we saw, railroads, historic buildings, small business and through it all a sense of place. Yes there is decrepitude but I saw a certain style as well. 

I looked up Van Horn Barn and as far as I can tell, not very easily, it’s an art collective and performance space. At 7:30 am it was quiet. 

This photo below was inspired by Ansel Adams’ famous photo Moonrise, Hernandez New Mexico 1941 not my favorite of his pictures but I liked the comparison with all these spikes things pointing up at the moon which was setting! 

After an hour I made Rusty stop and we walked back to GANNET2 where he had some water and a snack. And I had a hot cup of Yorkshire Gold tea. 

And then it was back to the road. A moochdock in New Mexico awaited. What a night that was!