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.
