Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Marfa, Texas

Marfa has been on my "must visit" list for a long time.  When I tell people that I want to visit Marfa, it is always followed by a confused look on their face. "Muurrfa? Huh?, Where's that?"


Marfa is a small town in West Texas.  Founded in the early 1880's as a Railroad Water stop, now it's a tourist destination for people to come and see the mystery lights, Chinati Foundation and many galleries in town.

I was mostly interested in visiting El Cosmico.   Although I admire all of the trailers they have on their property, I was so delighted to learn that I could park campy overnight and use their facilities (for a small fee).  Max and I were the only overnight guests in the lot outside of their trailers during the week and that was fine by us!  I spent the day on my bike, "Lucy" to tour the town and snap photographs along the way.  With each block I peddled through, I kept telling myself, "I could live here!" I could picture myself living in a trailer and making art all day long.  However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I don't think I could do it full time.

I asked each person I came across that wasn't a tourist, "how do you like living here?"  It's a question most people get all day long.  The answer was the same... "it has its up's and down's like any other small town."  I suppose I am always fascinated in how people live.  Perhaps that's why I enjoy taking the back road to travel.  Everyday is a surprise and the people who live far away from the major highways are the most interesting to me.

During my stay in Marfa, I spent the day on my bike riding around, enjoyed the museums, relaxed at El Cosmico, and toured the outskirts where the Prada Marfa art installation is located.  This town has captured my heart and I know I will be back.  Here are some images I took during the visit:

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