Davis is a long drive from San Antonio so we spent 2 nights in Junction enjoying the South Llano river. Thanks to increased funding for our parks, SLR has an interpreter who presented a few programs while we were there. Ranger May is great with kids and had plenty of answers for the kid's questions.
We did have a lucky incident at the truck stop in Ozona. My son found a $100. I asked the man in front of us in line if it was his, after all, he did just reach in his pocket to pay cash for his gas and the bill was next to him. I quietly asked if it was his and he insisted it was not. I asked him to double check since it was a large bill. He said no and that it was my son's lucky day. He and his wife went to get a burger and after paying, we stopped at the restroom where the man's wife came in. She said "I just have to ask, how much was it?". She was happy for my son and wished us a great trip.
The check in line at Davis was moving pretty slowly but the lady doing all the work was very nice and gave plenty of nice service to each person she waited on. Why is it that there might be 2 others behind the desk but only one person is doing the work? What's that about? Any how, I informed her that we were tent camping and would really appreciate a shady site. She said she would give us the best one in the park. She was super sweet. I asked my son if she reminded him of anyone and he said Gramma Grace. (So, GG, if you read this, hi!)
Our site was at the end of a dead end so there was no traffic. No other campers were put over there, in those 10 sites, for our entire stay. We made camp and discovered that there are no lantern stands. I backed my truck up to fasten a hook to a tree branch. I only smacked my head on it twice. We went over to a worship service which was nice, came back for dinner, and then the animals started to come by. First it was an old mule deer doe. She was not afraid and seemed to like being photographed. Next was a pair of grey foxes. They stayed just far enough away so photographing them was more difficult, but I did get one nice shot. The last animal was a skunk. He inspected the area around the water faucet, brushed his tail on some laundry I had hanging on a branch, and then left. The weather was so pleasant for sleeping. I had the box fan going to help drown out some of those little noises, the windows unzipped and the moon shone through. Now I've forgotten all about the reality of work. I always get some good sleep when camping.
Monday we drove into town, Fort Davis, and stopped at a rock shop. The lady there directed us to the Woodward Rock Ranch just south of Alpine. We drove down to do that all morning. The couple who own the place are real nice. The woman a retired teacher, had loads of information on the rocks we could find. The man told us of the history of his ranch. We set out in the truck onto their property and found an exposed hill with drainage ruts so we wouldn't have to look that hard. The ranch man rode up on a palomino quarter horse over the hill from behind us to check on our progress. That was pretty neat. When we finished, they inspected our rocks, telling us which ones were just junk rocks, and which were red plume agate.
In Alpine, we stopped at the Trading post. We looked around a while and then watched a video about the lights in Marfa. I told my son we weren't going to go see the lights so enjoy the video. We went for some ice cream at the caboose across from the fort and got rained on. It was raining in the mountains for a few hours and I knew I had left the windows of the tent open. When will I ever learn. Our gear was fine, but the floor was wet. The tent was over a shallow depression so there was a puddle underneath it. I made the decision to get a room at the lodge for the night. We got one in the original part of the lodge. Those are some great rooms. FYI, don't bother eating any meals at the lodge, drive to town to eat. They were having some problems with enough staff and didn't bother bussing any tables. Once the table was used, it sat, full of dishes, even if someone came and sat down. Several customers, who waited at dirty tables, left. The food was like college cafeteria food. Maybe this was an isolated incident. The Old Texan, downtown, had a nice menu, nice prices, and good food.
In the morning we cleaned up the campsite, determined the camp stove was flooded and wouldn't start. We visited the fort, the Chihuahuan desert center, then drove to Balmorhea to swim for the afternoon. While at Balmorhea, we snorkeled, chasing fish and soft shell turtles. My son also made a new friend and they were determined to catch some spotted Mexican ground squirrels which live in the lawn at the pool. He fed them handfuls of trail mix. They loved the golden raisins.
Upon returning to our site at Davis, I pre packed as much as possible. As soon as I finished, the rain came. We were still in swim suits so who cares. He continued to build a fort in the dry creek behind the site. Once the rain subsided, we drove to the top of the mountain and had sandwiches for supper and enjoyed the sunset.
The park is nice. The community tries very hard to provide tourists with consistent top notch service. They are friendly folks and enjoy having people come see their little part of the world, they are proud of their town. There is enough to do that you could spend a week there.
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