Week 84: Greetings from the Davis Mountains!
Help me decide on my 2026 watercolor palette!
Hey! Hi! Hello, my deers!
Welcome back to another weekly update. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 84 (!) weeks since we sold our house in Austin, Texas of 25 years to travel full time in an AeonRV we’ve named Henry — but there you have it! And it’s hard believe that it’s January 11th as I write this. Time is just flying by.
We’re still at Davis Mountains State Park in far West Texas, relaxing and planning. (Catch up on last week’s post if you missed it.)
This was always one of our favorite places to come when we lived in Austin — in fact, we headed here right after selling the house! (Read our very first weekly update post.) There’s something comforting about going back to someplace you’re really familiar with — like visiting an old friend. I feel no FOMO (fear of missing out) and I can just relax and unwind.
Palette Ponderings
I always like to start the new year with a clean palette and I take the time to asses what’s been working and what colors I’ve been missing.
This year I also decided to try to use up some tubes of paint that I’ve been carrying around since Austin. When I was moving things over from our old van to the new van I discovered I had TWO tubes of cobalt blue — how the heck did that happen? So that started the cascade, ha!
Here’s the palette I ended up with — with one extra slot!
Colors are as follows — all Daniel Smith unless specified, WN = Winsor & Newton, H = Holbein
Chinese white, Hansa yellow medium, nickel azo yellow
Yellow ochre (WN), Quinacridone rose (WN), deep scarlet
Transparent red oxide, ???, Van Dyck brown
Cobalt turquoise light (WN), cobalt blue, French ultramarine (WN)
Phthalo blue (green shade), phthalo green (blue shade), indanthrone blue
I Need Your Help!
Help me decide which color to put in that extra slot — and please vote whether you’re a painter or non-painter — sometimes non-painters can help choose more objectively!
Here Are the Candidates
I put some swatches plus some favorite mixes with the colors already on the palette for each.
#1 Daniel Smith Sodalite Genuine
I had Daniel Smith Sodalite Genuine on my palette a few years ago and used it all up. I had to get a new tube this summer when we learned about Yooperlite when we were staying on Lake Superior back in Week 62. It’s a highly granulating color that’s super fun to play with! The pigment particles in sodalite genuine are a little bigger than most and fall out in interesting ways — check out the mix with rose above for an example. It does dry kinda hard in the palette and sometimes a dried pan will fall out.
#2 Holbein Shell Pink
Holbein’s Shell Pink (PO73-Transparent Pyrrole Orange and PW6-Titanium White) can be mixed with a peachy orange and the Chinese white that’s already on my palette, but it’s one of those convenience colors that’s great to have when we’re in the desert because it easily mixes opaque colors and it’s pretty all on it’s own.
#3 Daniel Smith Piemontite Genuine
Daniel Smith Piemontite Genuine is a color a fell in love with years ago when I first got the Daniel Smith PrimaTek set to see what all the fuss was about. It’s the only color out of the set that I liked enough to buy a full tube of! I call it PIE for short :)
#4 Daniel Smith Bloodstone Genuine
I first learned about Daniel Smith Bloodstone Genuine from the one and only John Muir Laws back when I first started getting serious about watercolor. It’s another one of those granulating colors that you just can’t mix. I’ve almost used my tube up so I’m tempted to put it on the palette just so that I can finish it off — but I just can’t decide!
Thanks for your input — I’ll post the winner next week!
Art Toolkit Discount Code
I’m honored to be a Brand Ambassador for Art Toolkit — I've been using their palettes since 2018 and have several stashed around the van, including one in my daypack that I never go hiking without, one dedicated to my perpetual journal, and a cute little demi palette in my fanny pack! They’ve given me a code to share with you: use LISAFAN10 for 10% off your purchase of an ArtToolkit, palette, or mixing pans.
When you make a purchase using the discount code I’ll receive a small commission at no charge to you. I truly appreciate your support! Reviews here are my own.
Now back to the weekly update!
Super Lucky Black Eyed Peas!
I was so excited when I found some Rancho Gordo SUPER Lucky 2026 Black Eyed Peas at the French Grocer Co in Marathon, Texas that I just had to get them! I turned them into “Texas caviar” and we had them for lunch — yum! I used to get Texas caviar alllll the time at Threadgills in Austin, but the restaurant has sadly closed.
Here’s a recipe if you’d like to try some! Note: this isn’t the recipe I use — I just kinda wing it — Jason hates when I wing recipes because he says it will never be the same again — it’s the engineer in him lol! But it’s close enough. :)
Indian Lodge
Monday we hiked over to the Indian Lodge, a full-service hotel in Davis Mountains State Park, from our campsite to see if they still had their Christmas decorations up in the common room — and they did!
The Indian Lodge was built by the CCC in the 1930s, and completed in 1939. I love the architecture of the common room:
I spent many happy times writing out Christmas cards here with a roaring fire. It smells really good in here too with all the wood!
We stayed in the lodge many times over the years — several times for my birthday in December, once on Valentine’s Day, and once when we got to Davis Mountains State Park and it was too cold to camp! The park ranges between 5,000-6,000 feet in elevation and it can get cold in the winter. The coldest we ever tent camped here was 18 F. Brrrr!
Marfa, Texas
Tuesday we went to the Dollar General in Marfa, Texas to pick up portable solar panels that were replaced under warranty and shipped there via FedEx — we got some strange looks when we tested them in the parking lot! One guy stopped by to see if we were setting up for an event!
We passed the old Marfa Pizza Foundation on the way in and it made us both hungry for pizza. We were sad to discover that they’ve been out of business for a while now. We loved their pizza and even backed them on Kickstarter. One time we even saw actor Wallace Shawn there.
The hunt for a new pizza place was on…
I found a place called Para Llevar which has wood-fired pizza that was pretty tasty. We still miss the Pizza Foundation, tho.
We walked around town for a bit admiring the agaves and the tunas (fruits) on the opuntias, finally stopping at The Get Go grocery store.
We always find interesting things there, and this time I scored some Rancho Gordo vaquero beans — can’t wait to make them!
What a great day!
Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute
Wednesday a cold front blew in — but that cold wind didn’t stop us from going to the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute!
We went for a quick hike and then headed back to camp, where I made chickpea noodle soup. Yum!
Walking Shelter Dogs
Thursday morning we got to do something I’ve always wanted to do here at Davis Mountains SP: walk shelter dogs!
The park hosts dogs from Grand Companions of Fort Davis — a local no-kill animal shelter — and visitors to the park can go on a ranger-led walk with them.
We got to walk Orlando and Rosita and it was so much fun!
Hope that both of these doggo-s find their forever homes.
Note: we won’t be getting a dog while we’re living full time in the van, but hope to have one someday after we settle down.
Day Pet Program
Mac from the shelter let us know about their Day Pet Program when you can check out a dog and take it for a walk or for coffee. We might have to try it next time we’re here!
Star Party
Thursday evening we got to go to a star party!
Ranger Charlie gave a talk at the beginning on light pollution and things we can do to help mitigate it, pointed out the major constellations, and two volunteers brought telescopes.
We got to see Jupiter and 4 of its 95 (!) moons, the Orion nebula, and Almach, a binary star. All under one of the darkest skies in the United States with the Milky Way bright overhead.
I loved every single moment and forgot to take photos, darn!
Hiking the CCC Trail
Friday we decided to hike the CCC trail which we started on the dog walk yesterday. Somehow we’d never hiked this trail before in all of the times we’ve been to the park!
It runs parallel with Highway 118 for a while so you get some road noise — but the views can’t be beat:
There’s even a good view of the Indian Lodge:
We didn’t go all the way to the top as I was breaking in a new pair of hiking shoes and my right foot was starting to hurt — plus the sun went below a ridge and it was getting cold!
Next time!
Driving the Scenic Loop
Saturday dawned cold but bright and sunny, so we went into town. J dropped me off at the grocery store so I could pick up a few groceries while he went to the hardware store. Then we stopped for sandwiches at Stone Village Market — it’s kind of our tradition. We took them up to the McDonald Observatory and ate them there.
While we were eating we got to see some mountain bluebirds — they’re such beauties!
We missed the afternoon program and we’d been to the museum several times, so we just went to the gift shop where I got a few stickers to put on my sketchbooks. Then we decided to drive the 75 mile scenic loop.
The highlight of the drive was spotting a herd of javelina! Javelinas are also known as collared peccaries, and while they may look like pigs they’re actually more distant relatives of hippos!
The views were so beautiful — and it was so relaxing — we really needed that.
Arctic Blast
Sunday night the temperature went down to 15 F!
Yes, you read that right — 15 degrees! The heater in the van worked great and we stayed nice and toasty.
This called for…a big ole pot of veggie soup!
I found this vacuum packed soup mix at the grocery store on Saturday and just had to make it:
The soup mix had a jalapeño, red potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion, cabbage, squash, corn-on-the-cob, and even a lemon in it. I added some fire roasted tomatoes, kidney beans, seasoning and macaroni and we had a cozy bowl of warm goodness in no time.
I’m hoping we can stop by the store to get one more bag of soup mix before we head out.
Next week we’ll be getting back on the road — we’re not 100% sure where we’re going yet, so stay tuned! We’re trying to avoid the worst of a cold front that’s coming through the region.
See you then! — Lisa, Jason, and Henry-the-Van
So fun to walk the dogs! Something so unexpected!
I like the #3 Daniel Smith Piemontite Genuine - because of mixing - it looks like if might give some interesting colors. I am a painter but have not try this paint. I stick pretty closely to the three primary colors three cool and three warm and mix from there. Looks like fun!