Article: An art lover's Mecca: it's called Marfa, and it's in the west Texas desert amid the stunning landscapes of big bend national park.(TRAVELER'S NOTEBOOK)

AS MANY TIMES as I've been through Marfa, I'm still surprised that it is there at all. Hurtling down US 17 due south from Pecos, my wife and I were surrounded by territory so bleak and lifeless that back in the day, legend has it, the area even ran the Apaches off. It's so barren that when I saw a large ocotillo tree at about mile marker 120, I nearly ran off the road.

Suddenly, we were somehow in the mountains--always a startling apprehension in Texas--and just as quickly, a small green sign appeared, announcing "Marfa, pop. 2,121," and then we halted at the town's one and only stoplight. Marfa seemed very much like any other wheezing, old west Texas-desert ...

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