Great day in Ft. Davis TX

Yesterday was another great day.

You've probably noticed I seemed obsessed with writing about internet connectivity.  Well, yes.  It's just that we take it for granted.  We have a phone and iPad which have 3G and 4G/LTE cellular data capability, respectively.   And they have wifi too, of course.  As do our two ebook readers and my laptop.  Plus, if the iPad gets a Verizon data signal, it can be turned into a wifi hotspot to feed the other devices.  Or, my phone can receive a Verizon signal, and be tethered to my laptop, getting the laptop onto the net.  Or, if the laptop can pick up a wifi connection, it (laptop) can be turned into a wifi hotspot for the other things.

You following all that?  LOL.  On this trip so far we have had to do each of the above!  Right now, the laptop can connect to the park's wifi signal, but the iPad and other gizmos can't find it.  Meaning the laptop has better wifi hardware, I suppose.  So ANYWAY, I turned the laptop into a hotspot and now Terry can use her iPad too.  When it comes to paying bills, filing, and such, Terry is a control freak.  No doubt about it.  If you look up backups for backups, Terry's picture is there.  If she can't keep an eye on our electronic bill paying, she gets very nervous.  When her hands start to quiver, I figure I better find a way to get connected.
:-)

When we came into the park the first time to browse for a site, we had the iPad turned on and kept checking to see if there was wifi and/or Verizon.  We found a nice site right up the hill from and overlooking a park interpretive center building.  And the building has public wifi.  So with the laptop connected, and turned into a network, Terry is hammering away at her bill monitoring and paying passion.  Let's not even talk about her problems with her email on the iPad.  Suffice to say we had to make an emergency run for ice cream yesterday:

Texans like to brag about Blue Bell ice cream.  Let me tell you, it's all true.  This soda fountain is in an old hotel on the main street of Ft. Davis.  The town has a very nice authentic main street.  Not a re-creation of something from the 1800's, but a legitimately-preserved old resort/tourist feel.  In the local paper we read they are up in arms about Family Dollar wanting to come to town.  I can see why it would be a concern.

What about the Davis Mountains, you ask?  Well, let's check out the photos from our campground:

We are camped at right about a mile high in elevation.  The first day I felt a little off, which I think was altitude sickness.  We have both noticed more aches and pains, which I assume are also due to altitude?

Last night we drove 13 miles up the mountain to the McDonald Observatory for a star gazing event.  Our great luck with weather kept on.  It was virtually cloudless, and moon-less.  You probably couldn't ask for a better view of the sky.  They gave a presentation using a very cool laser light (like a flashlight) that looked like it was pointing to infinity.  The speaker used it to outline the constellations and gave a bit of the Greek mythology attributed to them.  He readily admitted that you had to stretch your imagination a lot to actually see the figures ascribed to the star groups.

At the end, we lined up to view 5 different fixed telescopes, looking at the remains of a supernova, at Jupiter, and, oh, I can't remember, a bunch of stars.  :)  We both enjoyed it but sort of felt once is enough, we wouldn't need to go to another observatory and do the same thing again.  Heck, even at our campground, the night sky is spectacular.  The Milky Way is so obvious to see, it's like cheating.  As the song says,

The stars at night

Are big and bright

Deep in the heart

of Texas

Whew, that's enough for one report.   I have some photos of critters to put up, but they can wait till morning.