Photo Gallery: La Loma Del Chivo, a Hostel in Marathon, Texas
-
- My good friend Jorge.
-
- Our own private mariachi band!
-
- The band assembled and ready to go Mexican polka on our asses!
-
- Jorge has the band all to himself
-
- Guardian snake at the hostel
-
- The sun sets.
-
- Hostel bed
-
- Guitars and rocking chairs, Marathon is just oozing cowboy.
-
- Composting toilet out back.
-
- Vegetables
-
- The upstairs "observatory" loft type place you can sleep literally under the stars
-
- The train passes through town
-
- Olivia cutting up freshly picked veggies for a community pasta dinner
-
- The man who owns the hostel and all of the surrounding area lives in this little gem.
-
- Another experimental building structure on hostel grounds.
-
- Desert sky and water
-
- Chairs apparently being borrowed from the local high school.
-
- The bath house.
Easily one of the best hostels I’ve ever visited, this place is situated on a piece of land owned by a local pilot who lets people live in the hostel for free provided they work to improve the lands and buildings. He also gives people permission, at times, to build houses on his land, provided they’re interesting ideas to him — you won’t find any Cape Cods or ranch style house, but as the photos show, there are plenty of interesting structures on the property. Not to mention that bicyclists coming through can stay the night at the hostel absolutely free!
And there are always a pack of interesting characters gathering for drinks or to make food in the outdoor kitchen. I would have to say that this is probably the best way you can come to Marathon and dive right into the local population and lifestyle.
Rene
3 Sep 2009 11:40 am
OMG what a FIND. Can’t believe we blew right past it when we went through Marathon. I’ve got it on our Destinations map, thank you so much.
olivia
3 Sep 2009 12:49 pm
All your Marathon posts and photo albums are so inspired and richly vibrant! My favourite Tumblewagon posts of all time.
Nathan
3 Sep 2009 12:57 pm
They only opened, Rene, in March of this year, and like everything in town, they’re only open 5 days a week. It can be easy to miss a lot in Marathon depending on the day of the week you show up.
Rene
3 Sep 2009 1:00 pm
Dang, we were there in March too! How did you hear about them?
Nathan
3 Sep 2009 1:01 pm
I was looking at your maps page, do you make the Destinations map public or was I just not looking hard enough?
Nathan
3 Sep 2009 1:07 pm
Blah! I was thinking this was the coffee shop post, Rene.
So the facts above are incorrect, they’re open every day of the week.
We found out about the hostel, however, only this time traveling through, though it’s been open for awhile. Our friends who own the coffee shop are also involved in getting the place back up to speed after it having sort of been neglected for the past few years.
Rene
3 Sep 2009 2:04 pm
No, the Destinations Map I was referring to is our wish list of places to go, “someday.”
Marathon is just full of hidden surprises.
You went through that funny little town before we did, back in March, and I KNEW we should’ve stayed longer. Next time.
That’s what I love about being on the road. There’s always a next time….