08 March 2006 Wednesday

We decided not to hike this morning, we’re both still pretty sore and tired form our backpack.  We just took our time getting breakfast and packed up.  As we were heading out of the park, we stopped at the park office for a minute and passed a camper that looked a lot like our old camper, a SunLite, the one we sold two years ago in Georgia.  As we pulled in, we took a closer look at the bumper stickers on the back… IT IS OUR OLD CAMPER!!!  How strange!  We sold it in Georgia and now we run into it in one of the least visited parks in the National Park system!  We found Greg Scott, the new owner, just coming into the park.  He’s a birder and a photographer.  He’s never been to Big Bend before so we suggested a few spots and some likely birding areas.  We exchanged camper info and suggested places that shouldn’t be missed.  He told us about Maderas Canyon and we told him about the Arches/Canyonlands area.  We went into Alpine, the nearest little town, for some groceries and errands.  About dinner time we headed for the nearby “Marfa Mystery Lights” viewing area.  It seems there are these mysterious lights that have been seen for a hundred years or more in this area that haven’t been identified.  The Native Americans knew about them, cowboys and settlers reported them.  When approached, the lights disappear.  We waited all night, but didn’t see any lights.  The wind, however, was ferocious!  We felt the truck rocking all night in the gale force winds.