Monahans Sandhills

Pahaska · 10-15-2005, 01:33 PM

On the way to Carlsbad Caverns, I spent a night at Monahans Sand Hills State Park on I-20 in west Texas between Odessa and Pecos. Whatan interesting place. It is a big park with the RV sites wedged between 80' sand dunes.

Sadly, I was by a low dune, but the photo will give an idea of the park. Since it was a Sunday night and school had started, I was nearly alone in the park.

Pahaska · 10-15-2005, 01:41 PM

Better photo

balrgn · 10-15-2005, 01:46 PM

Nice!

How was the night sky?

Pahaska · 10-15-2005, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by balrgn

Nice!

How was the night sky?

Black, and full of sparkling stars. Wonderful place for star gazing.

balrgn · 10-15-2005, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pahaska

Black, and full of sparkling stars. Wonderful place for star gazing.

Looks like a great spot, we've never camped that far south!

Pahaska · 10-15-2005, 02:30 PM

The town is rather sad, a casualty of the demise of the oil patch when oil prices were very low. Most towns in that area are pretty sad with a lot of empty buildings and faded going out of business signs. However, with oil prices high, I saw a lot of new drilling and old wells being worked on. I did get a good Mexican dinner in Monahans.

One neat thing was where I turned off of I-10 at Bakersfield onto a ranch-to-market road to go up to I-20. There are a bunch of flat-top hills in that area and there were literally hundreds of wind turbines lazily turning in the sun. I'll bet that this is the new west Texas industry that will largely replace oil as the chief area industry. The wind is always blowing and there is a nearly endless supply of flat-top hills. I can just see the ranchers lining up to offer the useless hilltops to the power companies.

balrgn · 10-15-2005, 03:11 PM

O ws curious about the wind. Was it windy? Did it die down at night???

Pahaska · 10-15-2005, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by balrgn

O ws curious about the wind. Was it windy? Did it die down at night???

Not much wind at Monahans ... I had my awnings out all night and never heard them flap. Must blow pretty hard there sometimes, though, or there wouldn't be 80' dunes.

Down on I-10, it is a different story, though. Seems that there is always a south wind blowing in that area. That is where all the wind turbines are. I couldn't start to count them; seemed like every hill had a row or two. Looked a lot like the ones I saw in California.

balrgn · 10-16-2005, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pahaska

Not much wind at Monahans ... I had my awnings out all night and never heard them flap. Must blow pretty hard there sometimes, though, or there wouldn't be 80' dunes.

Down on I-10, it is a different story, though. Seems that there is always a south wind blowing in that area. That is where all the wind turbines are. I couldn't start to count them; seemed like every hill had a row or two. Looked a lot like the ones I saw in California.

I wonder if our company owns them?
They currently own and operate wind farms in eight states with more than 1,400 megawatts of capacity. (now that is a road trip I'd do)

But that is getting off the topic .... sorry.

Boondocker · 12-10-2006, 11:07 AM

I found this park while planning my upcomming Rio Grande- Big Bend trip. The sand looks like it should be fun to photograph. Anyone have tips about the park?

Pahaska · 12-10-2006, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

I found this park while planning my upcomming Rio Grande- Big Bend trip. The sand looks like it should be fun to photograph. Anyone have tips about the park?

Not much to do in the area outside the park. monahans is a rather dilapidated oil patch town with a lot of closed businesses. I drove around a bit and had a good Mexican meal. There is a good display at the park HQ.

If you want some good exercise, try climbing a dune or even walking anywhere off the pavement.