Day 23 – Third Rest Day

Today was a rest day in Fort Davis, TX. My morning was fairly mellow. I caught up on some sleep, joined some riders for breakfast at Lupita’s Place (I had the blueberry pancake special), and then did laundry and checked my bike.

Felix on the other hand, had a busier morning. He needed his next scheduled rabies vaccine today. Felix and Simona had been trying to find a place which had the vaccine and the closest was in Pecos, TX, an hour and 15 minute drive away. So off they went at 6:00 am. Unsure how long they would have to wait at the clinic, it turned out to go relatively quickly, and they made it back to Fort Davis before 11:00. But, they charged him $800 for one vaccine shot. In El Paso, they charged $150 for multiple vaccines. Remember, Felix is from Scotland, so he has to work out all the details with his insurance. What a mess. He has two more shots needed, and they’re hoping for easier access (and less cost) in Del Rio and Austin.

Now that they were back with the van, several of us took a ride to spend the afternoon in Marfa, TX about 25 miles away. Marfa is hard to describe, but it is a completely different vibe than the other west Texas cities we’ve visited. The city is vibrant and everything revolves around art with many art galleries and art shops.

One claim to fame is that the movie “Giant” was filmed in and around Marfa in the 1950’s. It starred Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean (the last movie he made).

The art movement was started by Donald Judd, a New York artist that moved to Marfa in the 1970’s. He started the Chinati Foundation which built galleries to display his work. At the main Chinati Foundation Center, we were only able to see his outdoor concrete art, since we were too late for guided tours.

We ate dinner in Marfa and headed back to Fort Davis to get ready for cycling tomorrow.