...a refreshing Texas oasis...

...when we arrived at Balmorhea State Park, our thermometer said 107...it was HOT...at least the air was dry which made it a little nicer than central Texas but not much...OMG that hot air was something I've never experienced before...we both wondered what all the fuss was about Balmorhea...after setting up camp we took a walk...we soon found out what the "fuss" was about...a huge spring fed pool with huge catfish, turtles, minnows and two endangered fish swimming around...the temperature of the water stays at mid seventies so you can swim year round...the pool also feeds canals that run thru the town to irrigate the fields...it was beautiful...the next day we took a drive to Lake Balmorhea, which looked very much like a third world country and into the town of Fort Davis and toured the Fort which was famous for the Buffalo Soldiers, a term used to refer to the black calvalry troopers in the 1870s...the fort had a restored commissary,officers quarters,enlisted quarters and the hospital...very interesting...the ride to Fort Davis was thru the Davis Mountains...beautiful rock formations...I never knew Texas had anything like that...very different from the Rockies but beautiful in its own way...after we returned from our trip we took a short dip in the pool...very refreshing...just the perfect thing to cool off after a day in the heat...the next day was the McDonald Observatory.....