Happy New Year to you all. This certainly has been a different new year for us as it is the first new year celebration we have had on the road. We hope there will be many more as it is interesting to see how different parts of the country celebrate the coming of the new year.
Another nice day in the valley with high temperature about 70 degrees. Of course the sun was out all day which made it feel warmer than 70.
Our photos take us back to Terlingua, TX and the Quicksilver/Mercury mines. They started mining in about 1900 and the quicksilver ran out in about 1940. There was very little mining after that time and most of the people left the area as there was no work and no other way to make a living. The town fell to the elements for many years until there was a community of artists and such that moved into the area and some of the ghost town was restored and some used as it was. Today you can see that it is much as it was left in the 1940's. Some areas appear to be still falling victim to the elements. The cemetery is still being used. The caskets appear to be very near the top of the ground, due to the rocky substrate. Rocks are piled up on top of the graves to protect them from animals. There is a big rock fence all around.
Back at Terlingua/Study Butte, there are several business that are doing fairly well, primitive but surviving. There appears to be several people living in the area even though the closest town with large stores is some 75 miles away.

In both photos you can see the waste that was left from the mining operations. It is apparent that there a lot of business going on during the early part of the century. Now, you see several places that people have built shelters and have parked trailers and motor homes, apparently for the winter months as it is very hot during the summer months. All of this is just outside of Big Bend National Park to the west less than 10 miles.
There is a lot to see in the area as well as the ghost town of Terlingua.