Tonight I am in the Big Bend area of West Texas. If you have not ever had the pleasure of visiting I highly recommend it. I have been out here many times and the scenery never ceases to amaze me, like an alien landscape just a few (okay, 7) hours west of Austin. I am at the Gage Hotel in Marathon. I have stayed here several times and had my heart set on staying here tonight, though it was a bit silly since I left Austin so late this afternoon. I was on my way to Marfa for a photo shoot that will take place tomorrow at the Cibolo Creek Ranch. Marfa is of course the playground for well-to-do NY types, and well-to-do Austin types. And aspiring well-to-do types. And schmucks like me.

Have Gin, Will Travel--an in-room cocktail prepared by yours truly

Rebecca Rather, the Pastry Queen of Fredericksburg's Rather Sweet Bakery fame, is
the one hosting the photo shoot, for her new book Pastry Queen Parties. Tipsy and I have had the honor of creating many of the cocktails for the book.

The sun started setting as I pulled on to the highway outside of Junction. I had the fortune of finding a driver with a speed comfort zone in the high 90's. While my car is more than capable of handling such velocity, my pocketbook is not welcoming to the fine that would accommodate such a pulling-over by a member of the law enforcement community. My usual tactic is to wait for a faster driver who has a radar detector (or doesn't give a f%ck), and follow that person. Today was my lucky day. I/We made it to Ft. Stockton in good time. If you are not familiar with the scale of this part of Texas, it is staggering. You can be inside Big Bend National Park and see signs pointing to other parts of the park that are 100+ miles away. If you are in Lajitas, the nearest supermarket is in Alpine, which is 2 1/2 hours away.

Throughout this drive I had my mind on a cocktail at the White Buffalo, the Gage's bar. The Gage was built in the 1920's, though it has as much of an 'old west' feel as any place I've been (except that I guess it is new-old west, since there are bottles of spring water in the rooms and a fitness facility across the way). Regardless, I love this place. The White Buffalo features the taxidermied bust of a white buffalo and touts the "finest margaritas in Texas." Except tonight I rolled in to town just as the bar was shutting down, and so I didn't get to have one of those fabulous margaritas. Instead, I took matters into my own hands. Since I was on the way to a cocktail photo shoot, I was more prepared than the average west Texas traveler. After checking into my room, I requisitioned the necessary supplies from the back of the Volkswagen, and proceeded to make the first of several martinis.

To be continued