Marathon RV Park, Marathon, BIG BEND, TEXAS
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Beautiful Texas sky at night from Park.
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There were only 4 other RV's as this is NOT the time of year they get the customary tourist.Ray's Reflections: Marathon, Texas is the type of town you see in a movie where the Greyhound bus stops in the street and one person gets off as the bus roars down the road, except I don’t believe there is a bus that runs through Marathon. However, if you want piece and quiet, this is the place, except for the token train. You can see the track running parallel to the highway through town. As it has turned out, most towns have what Marsha and I have come to call our “token” train we can hear from our locations. I guess this interests us because many years ago in St. Pete, the trains were replaced with the Pinellas Trail, a 21-mile long trail for bicycles, roller blades, runners, walkers, etc.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Left Medina Lake RV Park for the Big Bend area of Texas. I-10 is a great road. We passed miles and miles of country without seeing a soul. Just deer every now and then, some were unfortunately “road kill”.
Texas' Big Bend Country lies in the northern region of the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest desert in North America which extends from central Mexico to southern New Mexico. Its vast expanses of desert mountain terrain encompass over 13,000 square miles in the far reaches of southwest Texas, large enough to hold the states of Rhode Island, Delaware and New Jersey combined. Yes, it really is that BIG!
Big Bend’s isolation is really an opportunity to experience a sense of remoteness, unhurriedness and relative wildness that few national parks outside of Alaska can offer. 100 million years ago the Big Bend area was ocean. 65 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the area.
Marathon, Texas – Elevation 4,040’ Population 600
Marathon is a thriving tourist destination along U.S. 90 with distinctive hotels, restaurants, shops, and galleries related to its location in the historic and picturesque Big Bend of West Texas. The area, and Big Bend National Park just 40 miles south of Marathon, was given the name because it is defined by the Rio Grande River's bend to the south, and then north again, as it flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Marathon was named in 1882 by retired sea captain, railroad surveyor and local landowner Albion Shepard, who said the locale, a high desert basin surrounded by mountains, reminded him of the famous Marathon in Greece, from which runner Phidippides ran 26.2 miles to tell Athenians of their victory against the Persians in 490 BC. This feat gave rise to marathon races world-wide and Marathon now has its own certified marathon road race each year -- from Alpine to Marathon on a weekend in October.In the early 20th century, Marathon was a bustling community of more than 2,000 -- a Southern Pacific railway shipping point for cattle from major ranches in the area as well as silver and mercury from mines to the south. It boasted the only U.S. factory for natural rubber made from the desert plant guayule. It also had the first school in the Big Bend (the adobe schoolhouse now houses the Marathon Historical Museum), churches, a taxi service, a blacksmith shop, a general store and two hotels.
We got to the Marathon RV Park around 2:30 and set up for a weeks stay. Satellite not working, but good cable connection and wi-fi. The Verizon air card is not able to get a signal due to the remote location.
Texas' Big Bend Country lies in the northern region of the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest desert in North America which extends from central Mexico to southern New Mexico. Its vast expanses of desert mountain terrain encompass over 13,000 square miles in the far reaches of southwest Texas, large enough to hold the states of Rhode Island, Delaware and New Jersey combined. Yes, it really is that BIG!
Big Bend’s isolation is really an opportunity to experience a sense of remoteness, unhurriedness and relative wildness that few national parks outside of Alaska can offer. 100 million years ago the Big Bend area was ocean. 65 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the area.
Marathon, Texas – Elevation 4,040’ Population 600
Marathon is a thriving tourist destination along U.S. 90 with distinctive hotels, restaurants, shops, and galleries related to its location in the historic and picturesque Big Bend of West Texas. The area, and Big Bend National Park just 40 miles south of Marathon, was given the name because it is defined by the Rio Grande River's bend to the south, and then north again, as it flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Marathon was named in 1882 by retired sea captain, railroad surveyor and local landowner Albion Shepard, who said the locale, a high desert basin surrounded by mountains, reminded him of the famous Marathon in Greece, from which runner Phidippides ran 26.2 miles to tell Athenians of their victory against the Persians in 490 BC. This feat gave rise to marathon races world-wide and Marathon now has its own certified marathon road race each year -- from Alpine to Marathon on a weekend in October.In the early 20th century, Marathon was a bustling community of more than 2,000 -- a Southern Pacific railway shipping point for cattle from major ranches in the area as well as silver and mercury from mines to the south. It boasted the only U.S. factory for natural rubber made from the desert plant guayule. It also had the first school in the Big Bend (the adobe schoolhouse now houses the Marathon Historical Museum), churches, a taxi service, a blacksmith shop, a general store and two hotels.
We got to the Marathon RV Park around 2:30 and set up for a weeks stay. Satellite not working, but good cable connection and wi-fi. The Verizon air card is not able to get a signal due to the remote location.
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TX - Marathon - 1/2/07
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