I had Google searched some different places we could go a while back, and I found a place called Fort Davis that looked sort of interesting. After asking around to some of my co-workers, they all agreed that it would be a cool place to go and visit for a nice weekend, so I called and booked a room at a really cool place called the Indian Lodge.
Along the way, everyone told us to stop in Balmorhea at the swimming pool which just happens to be the largest spring-fed pool in the world! The pool covers 1.75 acres, stays at a cool 75 degrees year round, and goes to a depth of 25 feet.
The pool makes kind of an L shape, this is the short side of the L on the far side of the pool. The water is more shallow around the sides on this end and it gets deeper in the middle. I stayed over here because a) I didn't want to get my hair wet, and b) I was freaked out by the really deep part.
I wore my Chaco sandals in the pool which I was happy about because the bottom of the pool is really slimy and it's hard to walk on without slipping!
The pool is perfect for scuba divers to come and practice, when we were there we saw a lot of scuba equipment.
The other neat thing is that there are fish in the pool! It's like swimming in a really clean lake (but the fish freaked me out, I was scared that they would bite me!!!).
These were small catfish swimming close to the edge and lots of tiny little minnows.
Me and Cody both thought that our parents would really enjoy it at this place. Maybe if they ever come to visit us in Midland we can take them there!
Here's a shot of the spring feeding the pool.
Here's a shot of Cody taking in the views! I didn't really take a picture of it, but in the background beyond the pool, there is a really pretty view of the mountains (well, Texas mountains...they're really more like big hills).
Once we were done with the pool, we headed on to Fort Davis.
There were some really pretty views along the way! Every curve we drove around, we were just amazed at how beautiful it was...so much prettier than Midland. And we couldn't believe that we were still in Texas.
The Indian Lodge was really neat. It's an historic hotel with 39 rooms available. They stay booked year-round. The lady told us when we checked in that if we want to get a better room next time with a good view, we need to book at least 9 months in advance. But I thought our room was great! It was nice and cozy :)
The Lodge is also located in the Davis Mountains State Park, so we got free access to the park. We did a little bit of hiking, but it was SO STEEP! It was a workout.
There was a restaurant at the hotel called the Black Bear which was pretty good. I think it was a little bit overpriced, but it was a buffet style so at least we could eat as much as we wanted. They had a really good breakfast buffet.
Here are some views from the hotel.
Here are some pictures from our little hike we did...a view of the Lodge from the top, and some other scenic pictures.
On Saturday, we drove to the McDonald Observatory to have a little tour and see some telescopes! This was so fun, and we learned a lot.
To get to these telescopes, we had to drive all the way up the mountain. Cody was surprised when we got to the top because we found out that we were nearly 7000 feet above sea level, I think that we were on the highest spot in Texas.
This is one of the original telescopes I think...it's 82 inches in diameter. We didn't go in to see this one, but I liked the seal on the building. Right behind this one, there is a bigger one that we went in to look at.
Another view from the mountain top...it was really so pretty! Pictures never do the real thing justice.
This is the telescope we got to go in and look at. It was pretty impressive. The telescope is attached to two piers on either side of it that go all the way down the dome into the mountain to keep it still when the wind blows. I know this should be more interesting to me because I'm a structural engineer and I design foundations, but it's just not really.
I'm more interested in looking at the pictures from space!!
This is actually the largest telescope at the McDonald Observatory, even though it has a smaller dome around it. It's called the Hobby Eberly Telescope. The design of this telescope is way different than the others. Instead of only having only 2 or 3 mirrors, it has a whole array of mirrors and a tracker on top that moves around so they can see more than with the others. This telescope was built with an optimal design that kept costs low.
They are currently in the process of getting a bigger tracker installed on this one so that they can see even more, because they are going to start studying dark energy in the future.
Later that night, we went to a star party at the observatory, and we learned about some of the different constellations, and then we got to walk around and look at some different things in the telescopes! We got to see Saturn which was SO COOL! I had never seen it like that through a telescope, and it was really neat.
We also saw some views of the moon so we could see some of the craters in high def. It was awesome.
Here are some more pictures from the Davis Mountains State Park!
And lastly, I have a few more pictures from the town of Fort Davis.
It was a really nice weekend!
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