Leaving the Big Bend NP area, I decided to drive west along the Rio Grande River on Highway 170 to Presidio and then turn north to Marfa and Ft. Davis where I would stay overnight. I started out having no idea what, if anything I would encounter on the way that would be interesting. I passed the Lajitas International Airport sign with a Turkey Vulture sitting next to the closed gate. I guess he was the air traffic controller. Lajitas consists of a resort and golf course, and nothing more. Down the road were several primitive camping areas along the Rio Grande that had launch sites for kayaks and canoes. There was a rest stop that had tepee coverings for the tables. I thought that was really neat and have never seen a picnic area like this before. The road rose, fell, and was very scenic. I don't know what I was expecting with regard to the topography of the area, but I did not expect the terrain to be so rugged on either side of the Rio Grande. There were mountains on either side of the river, and in some places shear cliffs. I stumbled on a shelter with a viewing telescope when I pulled off to try and get some photos of quail that were constantly flying in front of my car and disappearing into the brush. The viewing scope was used to look at Desert Big Horn Sheep on the side of the hill across the road. Unfortunately, nothing was there to be seen. Coming into Presidio, the land got flatter and more agriculture appeared with large fields of alfalfa being grown. I stopped at Ft. Leaton, a Texas State Historic Site, and took a walk around this trading post that dates to the mid-1800s. It was a very interesting step back in time and well worth the stop. I also was able to get a shot of a pair of California Quail, the same species that had been playing hide and go seek with me all the way from Terlingua. Heading away from the border - up Rt. 67 the land changed to dry prairie grasses. There was also the small abandoned mining community of Shafter along the way. Eventually I arrived at Ft. Davis and decided to visit Ft. Davis National Historic Park which was an active calvary post from 1854 to 1891 to protect travelers on the San Antonio - El Paso road. The fort was abandoned by the Union army during the Civil War and taken over by the Confederacy, but retaken by the Union some time later. An experiment with using camels as pack animals was also based out of Ft. Davis. Unfortunately, the mules and camels did not work well together, and the rocky nature of the Chihuahuan desert and other parts of the west injured the feet of the camels - so that experiment was abandoned.