The visitors center opens at 8:00am every day of the year. It's actually run by the Texas Department of Transportation as a highway rest stop, even though it's well off the main highway.
We went in around 9:30am to find out more about Judge Roy Bean.
Lots of info from Lori at the welcome desk.
They've got a bunch of displays in the building telling some stories about the Judge. He called himself "The Law West of the Pecos", and ruled with an iron fist. But he was pretty eccentric. He had a pet bear, and owned the saloon and billiard hall that was often also used as the courthouse!
Then.
And now.
Lori was telling us that the building is still about 65% original!
Me, inside the saloon!
They've got a nice cactus garden to wander around.
This was actually his house!
The Judge had an infatuation with opera singer Lilly Langtry. That his how the town of Langtry got it's name. He tried for years to get Lilly Langtry to come to town, and even told her that there was an opera house in town. There wasn't of course, but by calling his house the "Opera House", I guess there was!
Lilly Langtry did finally visit Langtry, Texas... in January 1904 a few months after Roy Bean had passed away!
An interesting stop.
The last few weeks of driving, we've been really luck with the wind. In the respect that there really hasn't been any!
But that changed yesterday morning. We had gusty winds up to 25 mph (40 km/h) and much of it was a cross wind, with a little bit of a tail wind. But I don't like driving in winds like that with the motorhome. It's like driving a big sailboat.
We set off heading towards Eagle Pass, but we had some stops to make along the way. First stop was the bridge viewpoint over the Pecos River...
Weird rock.
Sherman just finished driving across.
Good thing it was more of a tail wind than a cross wind at this point!
And then we pulled in to Seminole Canyon State Park. We've still got our Texas Parks Pass, and this park was right along the route so we stopped in to go for a walk.
We were talking to one of the park rangers at the desk, and the only way to go into the canyon is on a guided tour and it didn't leave until 3:00pm. The first one was at 9:00am, but of course we were too late for that.
I had a thought... I asked about dry camping, and it was $10 USD ($13.50 CAD) a night. For that price, I was quite happy to avoid driving any more in the wind, and I had already checked that the forecast said it would only be windy that one day. (Sure enough, this morning there is hardly any wind at all).
So we decided to stay the night.
We only drove about 20 miles (32 kms) yesterday!
So we went and found ourselves a spot in the "primitive" area...
Sherman, parked by himself.
Our only neighbor, a loggerhead shrike!
We had some lunch and then went for a walk along the Seminole Canyon Rim Trail.
Seminole Canyon.
Ruth, walking along the rim.
Don't get too close!
It's worth a stop here.
Interesting rocks.
The canyon runs for about 7 miles (11 kms).
There are lots of fossils to be found.
We headed back to Sherman without finishing the rim trail, and instead took another trail back to Sherman. We had to be at the guided tour at 3:00pm. Still we managed to do 3.5 miles (5.5 kms).
Then, we rode our bikes back to the visitors center where the guided tour starts from.
The guided tour costs $8 USD ($10.75 CAD) each. Not something we would normally do, but my mother gave us some Christmas money, and we like to spend it on things we would not normally do. Thanks Mom!
We are headed down there.
Heading under that giant rock ledge.
Our guide Tanya speaking to the group.
The reason you have to be guided rather than going down on your own is the ancient rock art.
This was from about 4,000 years ago.
Weird rock!
This is the most detailed depiction.
Tanya says that not much is known about the people who lived in this area back then. Non of the native Indian tribes say that their ancestors were here.
Inside the rock shelter.
A baby tarantula.
We did another 2.5 kms (1.5 miles) on the tour, although it was a pretty slow pace. Tanya was interesting though and she sure knew her stuff!
Had a very peaceful night's sleep, and now it's time to hit the road and make up for some of yesterday's lack of driving!
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Cyber Monday deals are going full swing this morning...
How about this weather station with rainfall detector... record low price!
Also... the original Crocs are on sale... all sizes and colors, some pretty cheap!
And in Canada...
Neat tour - extremely reasonable at $8 I think
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a good tour. We learned quite a lot from it.
DeleteIt's interesting to see so much of Langtry still intact. Seminole Canyon sure looks like an awesome place to get out of the wind and stretch your legs. The ancient graffiti is always a fun find to explore.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how some places can stay the same after years and years and others totally change.
DeleteWe really enjoyed Seminole Canyon, the rim hike is wonderful, if we are back in this area again we would plan on doing the whole length of the trail which return would be about 13 miles.
I don't know how much longer they will be able to preserve the ancient rock art as it is really fading away.
We drove over that bridge and later talked about what might be there to see. Thanks for telling us...Safe Travels
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful view. You can even access the old road that used to take you across the river, there are even some places to boondock there.
DeleteNoticed in today's paper it is cool in Texas just now!
ReplyDeleteTexas is a big place! But, 64F (17C) and sunny where we are right now. Very pleasant.
DeleteI would guess the population of Langtry has shrunk considerably since Judge Bean died. It seems like an interesting place though, many unusual birds, reptiles and species of cactus there according to the internet.
ReplyDeleteI am sure that it has! I think that Judge Bean sort of made the place and without him there it just wasn't the same. They couldn't even keep the saloon running after he died.
DeleteWe didn't see a lot in the way of birds but I am sure they were there but their cactus garden was really something.
I'm curious why they call it Ancient Rock Art while most call it Petroglyphs.
ReplyDeleteWonder how the Weird Rock was shaped?
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
According to Wikipedia, petroglyphs a created by actually removing the rock surface by incising, picking or carving, whereas these ancient rock art pieces are painted on the rock surface and unfortunately are starting to fade away.
DeleteThe weird rock is created by nature. The rock is limestone and is easily damaged over time by wind and water/rain. As the rock breaks down the wind whips the tiny fragments around in a whirlwind motion and those tiny fragments/dust slowly work their way into the rock, carving out little pockets. That is fairly basic terminology but I am sure you get the point, at least this is how Tanya more or less explained it to us.
Seminole Canyon. What a great park to stay at. I can't tell you how many times we have been there. We enjoy the walks, the cave paintings and the river. Your bird pic is great!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, lots of hiking trails. The rim canyon hike is great and we only did about a mile and a half of it, whereas the trail itself is seven miles long and then you still have to return. Perhaps if we are in the area again we will do the full length of it.
DeleteNot sure if your guide informed you? Since they created the Amistad Reservoir the Rock Art has been disintegrating faster because of the increase in humidity. It is such a nice area of Texas to explore.
ReplyDeleteYes, she did mention that to us, which is a shame because she also mentioned that they haven't figured out a way that they could preserve the painting in order to protect them for future generations. They won't even allow anymore excavating for more artifacts in the canyon or the cave because it creates dust which then in turn damage the paintings. Eventually they will totally disappear and all that will be left are photographs and sketches of the paintings.
Delete