West Texas Archives | Funky Texas Traveler

May 02 2018

5 Reasons to visit Big Bend National Park

If you have not visited Big Bend National Park, I’m going to give you five compelling reasons to pick a date and go. These reasons drove my son and me over 600 miles across the state of Texas to experience an incredible adventure in this isolated wedge of the US. You can skip ahead to that story here.Whether you are a native, transplanted or temporary Texan, the true west still waits for you at Big Bend National Park

#1 Big Bend National Park is large and lonely.

Whether you find Big Bend National Park hauntingly beautiful or beautifully frightening depends on how enamored you are with neighbors and nearby conveniences. This isolated area about the size of Rhode Island is one of the largest, most remote, and least-visited national parks in the lower forty-eight United States. [Read more…]

Apr 10 2018

Marfa, Texas

Marfa was to be our bit of luxury at the end of our West Texas Wander but being in Marfa on a Monday put a different slant on the visit. Now I think Monday is the perfect time to visit as part of any West Texas adventure.

Marfa is in big danger of becoming the Aspen of Texas. It used a rail stop between El Paso and San Antonio and a watering hole for ranchers. Now, “local Marfans are losing ground to transplants from New York City and Seattle, the kind of people who thought they’d never set foot in Texas,” Mallika Raowrites in the Huffington Post

Why we visited Marfa on a Monday

We’d left Big Bend National Park later on that November Sunday afternoon than planned. It was a long drive on the River Road that follows the Rio Grande River to Presidio. The River Road passes through terrain that can look like another planet, but we didn’t stop to absorb the scenery. We were anxious to be off the road before sunset, but it would be worth it to linger as long as there is daylight.

Coming into Presidio as it became full dark, we were antsy to reach Marfa. Like horses headed for the barn, we’d been on the road for five days and were starting to get the traveler’s sense that it is time to go home.

Sunday night in Marfa

We finally got to Marfa, checked into the Hotel Paisano and went downstairs for a late dinner. Never one to sugarcoat things, Shane said, “I love you, Mom, but I’m ready to be around someone else.”

“I completely agree with you,” I told him. We toasted his conquest of Big Bend’s Emory Peak earlier in the day, both realizing the trip we’d planned and dreamed about for months was almost over.

[Read more…]

Feb 15 2018

Camping in Texas – Tent to Trailer Adventures!

POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS- READ DISCLOSURE FOR INFO.

One of my Jazzercise instructors loves to make fun of me because I like to camp. Just wait until she hears that last weekend, my husband took me camping in Texas for Valentine’s. So sad she hasn’t discovered this vital escape technique. The more hectic your life and the world is, the more you need to go camping. It gives you breathing room essential to revive you. And in my experience, absolutely no other vacation every does it so thoroughly.

It doesn’t matter whether you camp in a tent or a trailer or whether it has been decades between your camping moments or you go every month. Sleeping and eating in nature will unplug you in a way that luxury hotels or cruises can’t deliver. Just be open to the moment, like my friend Joyce Doyle. Read about her recent and long-ago camp experiences, and I guarantee that you will be on the Texas Parks and Wildlife site this weekend.

Tent camping with daughter

“Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom.” Through my barely awake stupor, I tried unsuccessfully to stifle a groan.

“Are you sure you can’t wait?” I whispered. After hearing the response I knew was coming, I began to move out of the comfort of the warm sleeping bag and reached for a flashlight. We found shoes and threw a jacket over our pajamas, trying not to wake the rest of the family. Slipping out of the tent, I noticed that the night was cool but not too unpleasant. [Read more…]

Nov 16 2017

Frontier faith in far West Texas – Bloys Cowboy Campmeeting

Before Sutherland Springs became infamous for the killing of twenty-six people at a Baptist church service, that little town had a lot in common with the 128-year-old Bloys Cowboy Camp meeting we discovered outside Fort Davis. Both towns once helped pioneer religion flourish with their giant outdoor gatherings. Bloys Cowboy Campmeeting is still practicing frontier faith in far West Texas in a compound little changed in all these years.

Camp meetings were a phenomenon of frontier Christianity. The concept was brought west by thousands of settlers of Scot-Irish roots. These settlers were moving into new territories without towns or churches or ordained ministers. Itinerant preachers filled the void, finding an open patch of ground for a pulpit. Word would then spread to isolated settlers who traveled miles and days to get a religious experience and some feeling of community. [Read more…]

Aug 01 2017

Wedding haunted by Bonnie & Clyde memories

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Inside: How we found ourselves at an unintentional Bonnie & Clyde Texas wedding celebration in Llano. Simple, stressless and interesting with a whiff of outlaw danger.

Take away a propensity to rob banks and murder people and the couple whose marriage we were celebrating on a hot July night could be Bonnie and Clyde.

Both couples loved road trips, taking goofy photos, Fords and spending time with family.

While the love of family and visiting kin helped Texas Ranger Frank Hamer track down and kill Bonnie and Clyde, our friends had no qualms gathering with close and extended family on this special night.

I didn’t know about the Bonnie and Clyde connection to the setting of this wedding until I did some research on the area.

That discovery thrilled me. I believe weddings don’t have to be stressful and expensive, but they should be interesting, whether intentional or not. This bride and groom took advantage of a legendary place to unknowingly infuse an outlaw mystique to their Texas wedding.

And create a memorable weekend for themselves, their family and friends.

[Read more…]