The school library is also the public library, and the librarian told us that they have about 100 students in K-12 grades. Three of these are high school students that live in the national park with their families. The national park has a school for K-8, but older students must drive to the Terlingua school to finish their education. [That is an important fact for later in this post.]
There is also Terlingua Ghost Town five miles down the road. It includes a general store. Notice the large round hoops out front. Those are used as hula hoops for anyone able to make them spin around their waist.
There is also a cemetery. Some graves are memorialized with flowers, some with stones, and a few have small change left on them. This grave was covered with empty beer bottles.
There is also a restaurant called the Starlight Theater Restaurant and Bar, that doesn't open until 5 p.m. [This is an important fact you need to remember for later in this post.]
There are few places to eat arond Terlingua. In fact, the two most popular open at 5 p.m. We heard that you should be there before 5:00 in order to get a table. For example, the day we arrived at Long Draw Pizza (the other popular place), we arrived early and waited in the parking lot. Sure enough, 6 vehicles pulled in at 4:50, and when the doors of Long Draw Pizza opened at 5:00 all the tables were full with the people waiting. It has been a while since we ate at a place that allowed smoking, and I was glad the smokers were at the other end of the small restaurant. We were also glad when Larry and Sue sat down next to us at our long table. They are from Florida, enjoying an extended vacation in their motorhome. It was fun getting to know them. [That is an important fact for later in this post.]
After eating at Long Draw Pizza the night before, the next day we were planning to leave the national park early enough to eat at the Starlight Theater Restaurant. We knew we needed to be there early [Remember?], and we had plenty of time. But we saw a young man on the side of the road waving frantically, so we stopped. We were the first to arrive right after he hit a wet spot on the road and flipped his car.
Eduardo was one of those national park students, and he was driving himself home from high school in Terlingua that day. [Remember?] We already knew about those students and his situation. The second car that pulled over at the scene of the accident had a doctor on board. He checked Eduardo over and deemed him uninjured. There was absolutely no phone signal, so we offered to take Eduardo home to his parents. We also helped to report the accident, and all the park rangers seemed to know Eduardo. It was a very unexpected change in our plan for the day, but Eduardo's family was so appreciative of our help.
Once Eduardo was in good hands, we headed back out of the national park, knowing that we would arrive late to the Starlight Theater Restaurant. Sure enough, all the tables were full. Since everyone orders at the same time, it would be at least an hour wait for a table to open. We decided not to wait. As we headed to the parking lot, we heard a voice behind us. It was our new friend Sue. [Remember?] She and Larry had seen us get turned away, and they invited us to sit in the two empty chairs at their table.
We were hungry after a day of hiking, but I can't believe we ate the whole thing!
So it was a day when you realize that God puts people in your path for different reasons that we might never understand. [Remember!] But it sure is interesting wandering this path of His wonders!
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