After Chinati, we all drove up to Pecos, Texas (through another impressive rain storm). Pecos was really just supposed to be a resting point on the way to Fort Worth, but it had some great little surprises. One surprise was our hotel, the Best Western Swiss Chalet of Pecos. It was really nice hotel with a blissfully indoor pool (very nice as it was once again blistering hot outside).
Another surprise was that right next to our hotel was a very informal zoo - no gates, not tickets no employees. It was stocked with cattle, bison, ostrich, monkeys, etc., and they all looked a little surprised to be there.
West Texas is very flat.
For lunch, we stopped in Big Spring. As we were headed towards a lunch spot, we saw a sign that the 2009 U.S. Hang Gliding Championships were taking place at the airport. We drove out to the spot (very casually marked) and indeed saw dozens of hang gliders lined up on the side of a runway. Apparently they are pulled up into the air by airplanes and after they disconnect they compete in things like "spot landings."
Unfortunately there was no action going on in the competition when we stopped, so we went on to Big Spring State Park, which was atop the only real hill in town.
There were great views (although of course it was incredibly hot again).
As we finished lunch and peered back towards the airport, Alison noticed something in the air, and with the spotting scope we could just barely make out a couple of gliders and the planes that had towed them up (but they were so far away no picture was taken). It was a great day to be up, though.
