Langtry TX, home of Judge Roy Bean

Hello! It has been quite a while since I have posted anything on the Mem'ries, but I didn't want anyone to think I have been lazy. :-) There has been a lot going on, so in the next few days and weeks you should see lots more activity around here!

This post is sort of a "prequel" to our second trip to Big Bend National Park and surrounding areas. While on the road from Del Rio we stopped in Langtry, TX to see the original home of Judge Roy Bean, Law West of the Pecos. I had posted a photo of the replica of this building when I wrote a while back about Pecos, TX, and in that post I mentioned that one day I'd like to see the original site of this colorful and historic character.

I also included the historic marker which I thought was most informative.

Going through the front door of the Jersey Lilly, to the right was the "bar side," with an original photo of Lilly Langtry, a soul mate of the judge's. Sad note: the historic marker says that the judge never got to meet Ms. Langtry, as she made her appearance in Langtry a few months after he passed away.

The other end of the room, looking from the bar.

Adjacent to the bar, is the Billiard Room. Lots of photos from the time Judge Roy was active in the area. The artifacts in the lower right corner are the legs from the billiard table.

Overlooking the bar and the billiard room is a rare Eclipse Model 10 ft windmill that is part of the Cactus Garden exhibit next door. A very beautiful windmill which has been well preserved.

The last photo is of the Opera House, where Judge Roy lived, listened to opera, and dispensed justice West of the Pecos. I suppose this is where Lilly Langtry performed when she was there.

Thank you so much for stopping by My Photographic Memories. I hope you've enjoyed this visit to Langtry, TX. We sure enjoyed visiting there.

Until next time,

Mike Z

Part 4 - Our Hike Up the Lost Mine Trail

Our first day at the Chisos Mountain Lodge started out early. We took a short walk around a trail designed to give us a really good view of The Window. The sun had just come up high enough to shine right in Jan's eyes. We found out later that we missed a mountain lion moving across the trail towards The Window by about a half hour. We got to see a video of her though.

This Paisano, or Road Runner, was wandering around the parking lot as we got in the car to head to the trail. He seemed totally unafraid of humans, and went about catching his morning breakfast without breaking stride. I was told later that this lack of fear of humans is a characteristic of these beautiful birds.

The Mexican Jay above was in the parking lot of the trail. Searching for and catching a late breakfast was formost on its' mind. The blue of its' head and wings is like no other jay I have ever seen, a light pastel sky blue that is not like the "standard" blue jays around our house. When this jay flew off, I pointed the camera at it as best I could and just took shot after shot. The one above is the best of the lot.

We encountered our second Road Runner out on the trail, at about marker 6 or 7. We did not pick up a legend of the different markers, but I highly recommend that any hikers on the trail get one before going up. The hike would have been more interesting with one in hand!

Ocotillo, Fonquieria splendens

We met two hikers from Australia on the trek, and they were very friendly to us. The man in the photo above was visiting his friend, who had been in the US for some time working at a company in Austin. When he got up on the rock to get a better view, I couldn't resist taking this shot. It's one of my favorites.

These two photos were taken about half the way up the trail. I think the one on the right is the more interesting one. I can almost see a man's profile in the rock...

Some random shots as we reached the top of the trail. We were quite high up, and got a great view of the whole area. The pinon pine above left and the weed just cried out to be photographed. And flowers are always a treat to see and capture.

This photo was taken at the very end of the trail. If you look closely, you can see a young man on the left (about the mid point of the shot) taking a photo of a young man across the rock on the right. I think it gives a sense of the scale of the rock and a small part of what we enjoyed when we got there.

I hope you like these photos. I sure enjoyed taking them. I will be back to Big Bend in October for a longer stay and will surely have some great photos to show then.

This is the last post on Big Bend for now (I know I promised four episodes, sorry) because other photos are begging to be shown. But I will post the last episode later, once some more current things are done. Til then, thank you for visiting this humble 'blog.

Mike Z

Part 3 - Sunset at the Chisos Mountain Lodge

We went to dinner at the Chisos Mountain Lodge main building. It was a combination reception desk, gift shop, and restaurant. The restaurant had a stunning view of the Window, which is what the gap in the mountains is called. A more perfect view of the beautiful sunset I could not imagine. So I took a few photos.

We had a great dinner at the Lodge, and the only thing that spoiled it was my jumping up every few minutes and rushing out to take "just one more, I promise" photo. Our waiter was young and very friendly and told us about his family and home in Ohio, I believe. He was glad to be on the staff, and this was his first night as a server! He did an excellent job, so I am confident his tenure there will be long.

The sun continued to set and the colors got more beautiful...

I wanted this sunset to last forever, but as we all know, time and sunsets wait for no man.

This last photo was taken from the porch of the restaurant side of the Lodge. I hope you can see the serenity and beauty of the moment. If you look at the lower left corner, there is a couple in the lounge chairs that was enjoying the view as much as I was. We were all very lucky!

We went back to the cabin very refreshed and very eager to get to bed! Our trip up the Lost Mine Trail would start very early. More on that later, my friends.

Part 2 - The Drive Into Big Bend National Park

It looks like this will be a 4 Part series, because there are so many photos to show you. After we left the Gage Hotel in Marathon, we headed south to the Big Bend National Park.

We had not checked any weather reports, and the radio was unhelpful, but I noticed these huge thunderheads coming over the hills from the east. It looked like it was going to be a big storm...

The sun was setting to my back as I got out of the car to take this photo. The dark clouds behind the mountain were getting more ominous looking as we drove south.

double rainbow

The rainbow appeared for a short time as the sun set. It was raining pretty heavily behind us and to the east. I tried for a panorama shot of the rainbow, but the "right hand" photo did not come out well enough to mend the two photos into one.

As I busied myself taking photos, a group of motorcyclists passed us. They were friendly and waved as they passed. We were just about half-way to the main area of the park, and our destination the Chisos Mountain Lodge.

As the sun set it really lit up the rocks and mountains along the road. The rain was staying off to our east, at least for now....

More photos of some of the beautiful sights as we drove

At last we arrived! This was the view from our room the first night, looking towards the Window, a natural gap in the mountains that affords a spectacular view of the sunset from the Main Hall of the lodge complex. The Sunset will be Part 3.

This rock formation was the dominant feature of the landscape looking away from the Window. We were lucky to have had the opportunity to spend the weekend at the Chisos Mountain Lodge.

More in the next post!

Mike Z