The Viva Big Bend brochure was an impressive piece of printed marketing. It was jammed packed with information regarding the much anticipated music festival -- schedules, venues, maps, bands, shuttles, frequently asked questions, merchandise, sponsors, pricing, whisky advertisements, and the festival logo. Since winter, this return trip to The Hook Of Texas was imagined. Alpine local, Barry, had mentioned the event when we closed down Harry's Tinaja the previous winter; there and then it was decided. There was more to see, there was more to hear.
And here I was, same pad to start, El Viejo Adobe, across from Sul Ross University. Drove in around mid-afternoon after cruising through the Monahans Sand Hills by bicycle and having my mind blown again by the horizontal and vertical scenes. Big Bend was south, the Davis Mountains were north, Marfa was west, Marathon was east, and the sky was everywhere, electric blue with pillowing clouds. The land was greener than before, but still rough. Good for poking holes in, good for oil, good for natural gas, lots of storage tanks and pipes, lots of trucks.
After settling in, grabbing a few provisions from Porter's Supermarket, and eating a small bite, I headed out to Kokernot Field to take in the Alpine Cowboys vs. Austin Weirdos minor league baseball game. It was the 75th Anniversary Night and besides the incredible beauty of the ballpark and its surroundings, the game delivered and the brisket nachos hit right. Tough start for the home team, but they made it a game at the end with 4 runs in the 9th to only lose by five, 9-14. It was their third loss in a row, but they got three more shots at the Weirdos before the Weimar Hormigas come to town for a weekend series. In all, 23 runs, 28 hits, 8 errors, a few spectacular plays in the outfield, and several awful calls by the umpire.