The little Texan town of Marfa was on my radar, if for no other reason, than because the quirky standalone PRADA MARFA installation not quite 40 miles west of town tends to make an appearance in the dating app profiles of people in this region.

So I too skrrted off Highway 90 to get a few pics (that have not made their way to Tinder QUITE yet) before rolling into El Cósmico commune/campsite (lolol sorry: the “Bohemian West Texan Nomadic Hotel,” as clarified by the website).

It’s easy for me to poke fun at this hipster Mecca (out of squirmy self-awareness, of course), but it was a pretty cool spot. Similar to, but more expansive than, El País Motel in Tucson, there were vintage trailers and even yurts/teepees that could be rented in lieu of pitching one’s own tent. Nice outdoor shower and kitchen facilities, performance spaces that I imagine get a little more use in non-COVID times.

And it was just a short jaunt from the small downtown area, where I had a bite to eat at Al Campo before wandering around and grabbing a couple courtyard drinks at El Paisano Hotel. Swapped stories from the road with a 30-year-old trucker from Alabama camping out in his cap in El Cósmico parking lot before heading to bed. Delicious toast at a place called Toast the next morning, then San Anton-bound! Final stop of the trip.