Balmorhea State Park

We left Benson and headed east. After a long day, for us about three hundred miles, we arrived at one of our favorite places, (great rock shops), Dream Catcher Rv park in Demming, New Mexico. Now its not the fanciest rv park but its an Escapee Rainbow park and so its cheap and extremely friendly, yup we got our welcome hug. At happy hour we even ran into Brenda and Dave, who own a spot at Star Valley Wyoming.
Avoiding purchasing any rocks, we took off for Balmorhea State Park. There I wanted to stay for two nights and unwind a bit by swimming in the huge natural spring fed pool. Being a Texas State park, you buy a park pass which is a good deal if you spend some time in Texas, (you also get four coupons for fifty percent off one nights camping).

After the long days drive I quickly found my snorkel, mask and fins and headed to the pool. Now the pool itself is made up of a mixture of cement bottom, rocks, and moss and the pool actual contains two endangered species so you get to dive with the fish!
After getting adjusted to the cool water I saw a soft shell turtle and quite a few catfish, before finally spotting some Comanche pupfish. They were kind of hiding at the bottom and were difficult to spot. Mexican Tetras, another minnow, were everywhere and when I entered a shady spot the minnows surrounded me. Flashes of gold highlighted their tails and it was really a great way to unwind from a long days drive.

The next day we needed some supplies so we drove into town where to our surprise we found a great rock shop. Vowing to not buy any rocks, the owner showed us the prize of the area, Balmorhea blue chalcedony and so we had to support her store by buying some. She also showed us the stunning fire agates her husband had mined and ground and they were the finest fire agates we have ever seen!
To add to our enjoyment the Orionid meter shower is taking place and so I went out early and even saw a few of the falling stars from the old tail of Halley's Comet. They are few spots in the USA with as fine a dark clear sky, but thats what you would expect deep in the heart of Texas.
What more could we ask for with diving, more rocks for our fifth wheel, and a meteor shower? Clear skies