Lots of good ideas here, so little time, so many great places to go in this Land we Love!
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Consider the Sunset Ltd. to Alpine, Texas, Population 7,000! ( 3 times a week Train and Mom and Pop Rent Car has to be arranged in Advance!)Plenty of places to stay ( chain hotels/ motels as well as the nicely restored Old Railroad Hotel The Holland) and surprisingly good places to eat! Sul Ross University has a really nice Museum of the Big Bend including lots of Railroad stuff! ( SP, Santa Fe and Chihuahua El Pacifico!)
The Davis Mountains,(Southern extension of the Rockies into Mexico) are a pleasant surprise in the middle of the Chihuahua Desert!
The Big Bend Natiinal Park( 50 miles South) along the Rio Grande River and the old Ghost Towns around there are worth the Drive as is the River Road Drive between Terlingua and Presidio!
The artists colony and old Railroad and Ranching town of Marfa ( sort of a small Santa Few) is definitely worth a visit and my favorite is Ft Davis where the restored Ft Davis,( still small and with unpaved streets! Great West Texas Mexican Food!) home of the Buffalo Soldiers of 10th Calvary Fame,, is a sight to see!
Also Mt Livermore close to Ft Davis, has the UT run McDonalds Observatory ( largest scopes in the world) where the Star Parties @ night are fantastic! ( it gets cold @ night, take a sweater or jacket)
Fourty miles away is the small town of Balmohrea that right outside town has the Springs that are thought to be the longest continuously occupied site in North America! Fantastic swimming, snorkeling and a great picnic spot! The Best Enchilladas I've ever had are @ the LA Curva Restaurant in town)
On Highway 90 between Marfa and Alpine is the viewing site for the Famous Marfa Lights, sort of a poor mans Roswell!!
If interested, Google it up, best time to go is Spring and Fall, its reasonable in price, but it is Cold in Winter and Hot and crowded in Summer even if it's in the Middle of Nowhere!