April 22, 2008

April 22, 2008

My worries about gas became prophetic today. On our travels to and from Big Bend, we have been continually running low on fuel. The little we found near the park was high priced so we only bought enough to get us to the next town. We got caught this time. As we rolled into Sanderson, TX we were greeted with reasonable fuel prices finally. This pleasure turns quickly to dismay when we find the town has no power, they don’t know when it will be restored, and the next gas station is 120 miles farther. We have Emergency Road Service so I decide to risk it. It will be close so I drive at 50 mph and leave the air off to improve gas mileage. Once we leave Sanderson though, I start to sweat and it is not just from the heat. The drive east goes thru what must absolutely be the most desolate part of Texas. There is nothing here. It makes the desert of Arizona look like a jungle. And of course there is no cell phone coverage. That emergency road service is looking pretty useless right now.

After more than an hour of worrying and with the RV on fumes, we pull into the town of Langtry, TX (population 30) to visit Judge Roy Bean’s Historical Courthouse. We stop at an antique gas station knowing it is only for show. Incredibly this pump with gasoline visible in the glass cylinder works and I can fill-up!

With the sweat factor gone, we joyfully tour the site. In the late 1800’s after the southern continental rail line was constructed thru the area, Roy Bean was appointed justice of the peace and he started handing out frontier “justice” from his saloon/courthouse, the Jersey Lilly (named for English actress Lily Langtry). Bean was a legendary frontier character and the “only law west of the Pecos”. Unfortunately the “law” was how he thought it should be and of course all fines went into his own pocket. After a pleasant half hour looking around we continue east, crossing the huge Pecos River gorge and eventually settle for the evening in South Llano River State Park outside Junction, TX.