prepare the house for guests,
take care of guests if issues
arise, clean after guests go
home and generally give me
the peace of mind knowing
that Red House is safe and
sound while I’m away. My
neighbors, too, are marvelous
about giving me a call if they
see something they think
needs my attention.
Furnishing the house was
fun. It took me several trips
over several months as I
spaced out my precious vaca-
tion days from work. My son
would tease me when I
loaded up my car to head out
the next morning before sun-
rise. “Yeah, Mom [pause]
Low-Rider” was his favorite
line once I closed the trunk
and got in to the driver’s seat
to make sure I could see out
the back using the rear view
mirror. Then came the day
he was privileged to drive the
U-Haul – with furniture –
out to Red House. What is
normally a nine-hour drive
took 11 hours. During the
first nine hours I saw nothing
but the hind end of that
truck.
Once we left the interstate
I was in the lead, feasting my
eyes on the wide open spaces
I so love. I must live a bit of a
charmed life – we made this
particular trip in the middle
of January; the weather was
absolutely glorious. A couple
of days after we finished our
trip it snowed. What timing!
Now that I’m no longer haul-
ing in loads of stuff, I can
occasionally fly and drive two
and a half hours from
Midland, cutting down on
the number of grueling
drives.
There is so much still to
do. Even sparsely furnished, I
advertised on AirBnB, and
was astounded at how many
people wanted to stay at Red
House. Thus encouraged, I
also
advertised
on
HomeAway (which – magi-
cally – links to VRBO) and
even more people rented.
Most guests are very nice and
considerate but there have
been a couple of instances
that were not so pleasant.
Fortunately, missing glasses
and silverware were relatively
easy to replace. Some others
have taken work. Being a
stain removal wizardress, I
was able to eradicate a con-
siderable amount of dark
brown lipstick from a pastel
handmade quilt (thank you to
the guest who confessed).
Spring Break, summer vaca-
tions and holidays book fairly
quickly. Most of the rest of
the year just fills in. I contin-
ue to be amazed at the num-
ber of people who visit Red
House, and I am happily
pleased that I have a couple
of “regulars.” Last summer
one couple who were search-
ing for their own vacation
home in Marathon stayed
and found the vacation home
of their dreams. It was just a
few blocks away from Red
House. Small world. The
wife and I grew up not far
from each other in Houston.
We didn’t know each other
then, but we’ve since become
great friends.
One friend at work asked
me who would want to
vacation, much less live,
in
Marathon,
Texas?
Obviously, he’s never been to
far West Texas. That made
me curious, so I analyzed my
records for the first year and
discovered that seeing Big
Bend is on a lot of bucket
lists! Then there are wedding
guests,
birders,
hikers,
cyclists, folks visiting family,
local hunters, and those who
want to experience the dark-
est night sky in West Texas.
Other folks ask me why I
want to live in Red House.
Usually I just smile and say
that when I can drive for half
an hour and see only one
other vehicle on the road, I’m
in heaven.
Having a vacation rental
property means following
some stringent rules for tax
purposes; there are only so
many of my own vacation
nights I can stay in Red
House per year. I have yet to
stay the maximum. I’m most-
ly working, doing something
to improve the house or the
property, and I drive home
pretty exhausted but it is so-
o-o worth it! Refreshing the
inside, painting, decorating,
rearranging and organizing
to make the most of 900
square feet, making repairs,
getting to know the yard and
figuring out landscaping – all
keeps me busy! Staying only
a few days at a time helps me
realize what my guests expe-
rience and that sparks ideas
to improve the Red House.
I’m always thinking of ways
to make it a better experi-
ence. Driving miles of high-
way and getting to know the
area also allows me to make
recommendations to my
guests who aren’t familiar
with Big Bend. At present,
according to reviews, I must
be succeeding.
To answer that inevitable
question, “Why Big Bend?”
Like countless others, I went
camping in Big Bend when I
was a senior in high school,
fell in love with the area and
promised myself that some-
day I would live here. Lucky
for me, only 46 years later,
I’m actually here. Hope you
can stop by Red House
sometime! I’m up on the hill
overlooking
the
Glass
Mountains.
To rent Red House in
Marathon, contact Susan at red-
housemarathon@gmail.com.
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