Guardian of the Non Sequitur

I awoke in the Airstream around 8:30, threw on my shoes and pants and went looking for the coffe shop. But the place I went to last September is gone.

I did stumble upon the new coffee place apparently, adjacent to the laundramat. But after hiking around a bit I decided to head to the trailer and raid my food rations and David’s RC Cola.

After breakfast I decided a nap would serve me well later that night. When I woke up after noon I headed to Padre’s, stole a shower, and had some gumbo for lunch.

Sat around at Padre’s while a gentle lumbering desert thunderstorm meandered over. Helped around the place a little, hoping for the rain to pass so I could borrow Yvonne’s bicycle and tour town.

Johnny Bush’s band did their sound check around 3pm while the back room of Padre’s with its tin roof had a constant pitter patter.

The temperature cooled off making me wonder if I wanted to bike in my short sleeved shirt. The rain continued till after dark, so that never happened.

Since it’s opening weekend for Padre’s, they’re expecting a bit of a rush, so David asked me to help at the bar for the weekend. In return I get free access to the $100+ of music, free food, and free drinks, add the free lodging, and it’s a cheap weekend in Marfa for me.

As the evening hour approached there were a fair number of nervous investors buzzing about. The Marfa regulars without tickets got bumped out and a good mix of locals an out-of-towners showed up to see Johnny Bush.

The show was amazing; Johnny Bush is a real Texas legend. The dance floor was full of two-steppers all night. The capper was of course Whiskey River, a nicely composed mellow version.

I did a lot of bussing of empties. The bar was very busy all night long, and even more toward the end when the $35 was waved and the locals started coming in after 11:15 or so. The bars close at midnight in Presidio County.

Padre’s recycles all their glass, aluminum, cardboard, and plastic. This leads to about 90% less trash for a bar. Too more effectively allow for this, there are no trash receptacles available for customers. Everything has to be bussed. There are trash, metal, and glass slim trash cans behind the bar. The glass is later sorted for color by the recycler.

I hung out afterwards with everyone after we cleaned up the place. There was briefly an accounting problem for the night, but once the $4.09 ring-up for the $409 of merchandise was noticed, things ironed out.

The newest bartender, Tina Rose, gave me a ride back to the Airstream. It ends up she’s staying in the one just next to David’s, with her three dogs. She’s in for the weekend from Austin, but is moving out here in a few weeks.

Almost immediately after finishing a rather good sandwhich I saw David crossing the street from the train station. He hadn’t yet seen me and was greeting three other guys who were eating on the Mural patio. Various local musicians and instrument makers.

David had several errands to run in Alpine, including visiting the bank and two grocery stores. He had come in the Mercedes we had retrieved from Florida almost two years ago.

Since then the hood unmatched at speed destroying the windshield (replaced), the driver’s window has shattered (not replaced), and the sky light has jammed open.

So, we were of course treated to a rare desert rain on the ride back to Marfa.

I hung out for a while meeting a variety of locals, employees, and investors. Some were old acquaintances, some new.

Father Bill, Doug Pecore. Yvonne was training Tina Rose who seemed very familiar. Both are Austin transplants. Met Yvonne’s husband and daughter, James and 7 y.o. Avery. Sotol Johnny and his wife Beverly. Ty and Tyler. And later in the evening, (off duty) beer girl spirited East Texas transplant Christy.

When we got back with the groceries, David took over the cook duties from John.

I got a ride back to David’s Airstream with my luggage and crashed out.

We pulled into the station in Alpine a few minutes early and pulled up short letting the smokers hop out the back while some in the front offloaded. I waited until we pulled up further, but we were still a ways short of the small platform.

The last time I talked to (my ride) David he was under the impression that the train would arrive at 2:30. He still thought he might be late. Since the train came in an hour before that, I dragged my luggage across Holland Street to The Mural Cafe.

I ordered the Los Lobos panini and sat down to wait.

By 8:30 my breakfast was over and we were passing Laughlin Air Force Base.

We had a very brief stop in Del Rio, the “Queen City of the Rio Grande”.  The cigarette fiends didn’t even get to finish them.  The train comes fairly close to the Rio Grande here.   Ciudad Acuna is just across the border and a city I have never visited.

A few miles west of Del Rio the Rio Grand is briefly visible, looking not nearly as grand as half a dozen other Texas rivers.

I pulled out my computer and worked on a few items that needed it.

A bit further west the train slowed considerably and the route became quite windy. I noticed on one turn there was a cargo car that had derailed sometime in the past and was quite mangled about 50 feet below.

At around 9:40 we crossed over the Pecos river on the Pecos High Bridge, one of the highest spans in the United States.

A few miles later were some stone ruins of small buildings close to the rail. They were spray painted “Jesus saves”.  Apparently, Jesus’ followers vandalize.

Close to 2:00 in the morning we were approaching San Antonio. We went through a large exchange yard on the outskirts, and then came to a stop in the station along several sets of parallel tracks where we jockeyed to add two cars to the train.

We sat idle for a while alongside another train that appeared empty.  Apparently, it was the Sunset Limited eastbound.  The attendants intermittently bustled through the car, checking the destinations of everyone to make sure to wake those who were disembarking.

A lone stumbling Mexican repeatedly strode up and down the aisle looking as if on an urgent errand never to be fulfilled.  I later found him asleep in the sightseeing car.  He must have been looking for a place to crash.

We stayed parked in the station for several hours, our car immediately adjacent to a massive, throbbing engine idling. Once a rail worker in overalls and a hard hat passed through the car. The low frequency so nearby and loud became somewhat oppressive.

I finally curled up across two seats and got some sleep. It seems we got moving about 5:30. I briefly stirred but then woke again at almost 8:00 as the signs of civilization were waning.

I went to the obsevation car, obtained some ice for my Dr Pepper, and had my breakfast there. I overheard one passenger comment that she woke up and thought she was in Africa.

Along the route today we saw the small Rio Grande (granted, it was below the Amistad Reservoir), and then passed the impressive Pecos river.  To make the Pecos even more impressive, the bridge we went over on was for many years the highest span in the United States.

The Pecos High Bridge: video of the ride over the bridge.