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The Stars at Night: Camping out of this world

One west Texas community under a Dark Sky ordinance is enhancing the dark sky experience for people and taking camping to a whole new level.

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK (KWES) - One west Texas community under a Dark Sky ordinance is enhancing the dark sky experience for people and taking camping to a whole new level.

In Terlingua, you can experience the dark skies from your bed without sacrificing the comfort of a hotel.

"It's for folks who want to get in touch with nature but don't want to take the time to pack an entire tent and all their camping stuff," said Basecamp Terlingua Operations Manager Heidi Bertels.

Basecamp Terlingua knows exactly how to “glamp.” You can camp out in their casitas or tipis, but if that isn’t your speed, they’ve rolled out with something a little out of this world.

"The Bubbles are the newest thing we have right now,” said Bertels. “They are just exploding."

It's been in the works for five years and now that they've popped up, they're getting booked left and right.

“This whole bubble thing is like the indoor-outdoor,” said Bertels. “We want you to be in touch with nature. Every one of our rentals has a fire pit to where you can sit outside. We don’t want you to stay inside all the time.”

Basecamp won’t burst your bubble here. With it’s own A/C unit, even a heater for the cold winter nights, each bubble accommodates guests for whatever the West Texas weather brings. Each has its own restroom with running water.

The dark skies are one of the reasons many visitors are making trips to this neck of the woods.

The Stars at Night Part One: How an ordinance keeps the dark skies of west Texas dark and the stars bright

"That's one of our questions is when can we see the stars and sometimes it's hard to say because we'll have storms that roll through,” said Bertels. “You can't predict the weather exactly but this is really an accommodation for that. It's just amazing, it's a great opportunity to see the dark skies out here."

Terlingua is one of the many communities that falls under the dark sky ordinance, where seven counties do their part to cut down on light pollution.

“All of our lighting and all our property is dark sky compliant,” said Bertels. “Basically everything needs to face down. We don’t want upward light those are the things that glow that will ruin the dark skies. Just as a community, it’s an important thing to everyone here. They know our lives depend on it, our livelihoods depend on it, the people who come out here and see the milky way at 8 o’clock at night.”

Everyone’s effort gives west Texans or visitors from all over the ultimate “glamping” experience and what better way to do it than under the bright Texas stars.

Basecamp Terlingua is booked until March, but they said since they could have cancellations, you can check with them to see what they have open. For more information, click here.

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