The county is named after Jefferson Davis. What more do I really have to say about that? That said, there is one thing really interesting about this courthouse, though... I have never seen a turnstile at a courthouse before. How much traffic did this place get to be able to rate those? I couldn't get … Continue reading 52. Fort Davis, Jeff Davis County →

I hit Marfa around 1AM after about 200 miles of driving, a stop, and a stupid inspection stop. After 20 minutes waiting, I get to the front and a border agent asks me "Are you a citizen?" with the subtext of I'd rather be doing anything else. I replied "Yes" with the subtext of What do YOU think? He waved me through and … Continue reading 51. Marfa, Presidio County →

This entry might be more aptly titled "Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua." So, when I got to El Paso, I had hoped to, time allowing, accomplish two tasks: grab a cache in Mexico and grab one in New Mexico. New Mexico would require a bit more driving in the opposite direction from where I eventually needed to … Continue reading Wait… Remember I Mentioned A Side Trip? →

All joking aside about my flaws when it comes to photography, I wish I had the skill to photograph a landscape of the city against the mountains. I've been through El Paso before on the way to other places but A) I always saw this place at high speed from a moving vehicle and B) … Continue reading 50. El Paso, El Paso County →

A stucco courthouse? I think this is the first I've seen of these! For a moment I wondered if there was ever such a thing as a stucco kit courthouse, but I thought better of it. Besides, it's a lovely central building that more than serves its purpose. I wish I had gotten a better … Continue reading 49. Sierra Blanca, Hudspeth County →

This courthouse, on the other hand, just makes me sad. There is no art to it. There is no (for lack of a better term) majesty to it. This is not the place where the important matters of the county are debated, judged, and resolved. This is a building where bureaucrats broker, plod, and process … Continue reading 48. Van Horn, Culberson County →

The last of my traditional waypoints, Fort Stockton is about a hundred miles from anywhere else (well, actually, it's 60 miles from Alpine, but that's a different story). To it's credit, it's right on I-10, so at least that hundred miles is really fast. The Pecos County Courthouse caught my eye for reasons I cannot … Continue reading 47. Fort Stockton, Pecos County →

Who's this county named for? What do John Wayne and Billy Bob Thornton have in common? This guy. I'm not going to say David here is the best thing to come out of Tennessee, but I'll allow him on the short list along with Beale Street and Sun Records. Whether you believe he killed him … Continue reading 46. Ozona, Crockett County →

This one was actually an audible. It occurred to me that at some point I was going to have to hit San Angelo and it would probably be much easier to hit and run if I secured my flank or some kind of military metaphor like that. If I did this county, I would be … Continue reading 45. Eldorado, Schleicher County →

I've actually been to Sonora a number of times. It's been one of the waypoints on my trips to Marfa (specifically Fredericksburg, Sonora, Fort Stockton), a great place to stop for gas or food at the halfway point. It's also amazingly small with little seemingly to its credit other than the fact that it's sitting … Continue reading 44. Sonora, Sutton County →