The search for DOM
An infatuation with Fandango results in a Far West Texas road trip
Far West Texas is a land perfectly suited to contemplation, reminiscing and reflection. Its breathtaking vistas, vast skies and ruggedness inspire a sense of awe so powerful you’ll find yourself exploring not just the region around you but also the meaning of your very existence. It’s a place where you can come of age, no matter what age you’ve already attained. I’s also a region that beckons you to partake in one of the great privileges of being an American: the classic road trip.
In 1985, a Baylor University graduate named Kevin Reynolds had his directorial debut in a film called Fandango. Starring Kevin Costner in his first lead role, the movie is the story of five friends, known as the Groovers, who are students at the University of Texas in the early 1970s. With two of them facing the draft and the others ready to embark on the journey of adulthood, the Groovers set out on a final adventure together — a road trip to West Texas to go out in the desert and dig up Dom. [Spoiler alert.]
Celebrated in Fandango.
Fandango blends two common movie themes: the coming-of-age story and the ultimate road trip. It’s fitting then that the movie is set in Far West Texas. Shot in locations like Alpine, El Paso, Pecos, Marfa, Fort Davis, San Elizario and Big Bend State Park, the film is a 91-minute moving postcard, enticing the viewer to explore the beauty of the region.
The film itself was a commercial flop when released but has attained cult status. Cast members reunited on the film’s 30th anniversary and did a tour of the movie location sites. Unfortunately, I found out about the tour after it had taken place. Even more unfortunate, I discovered I had driven by Dom’s (fictional) burial site many times over the years, completely unaware I was yards away from a movie scene. That’s when I decided I’d share my love of West Texas and Fandango with my own Groovers. I set out to map my own West Texas road trip with a stop at Dom’s burial site.
Our road trip began on a Friday afternoon at Random Beer Garden in Boerne, which seemed an appropriate launch point since most of us are members of the Boerne Moontime Rotary Club, which meets at Random as well. We took the fastest route down IH-10 to get us most of the way to Alpine, which would be our base of operations for the next three days. The next day we began our own Fandango road trip and pointed our convoy of 4x4s to Marfa, then southwest along FM 2810 — the Pinto Canyon Road.
Pinto Canyon begins as a welcoming road, both wide and comfortable and suitable for any type of vehicle. Beautiful grasslands surround the road, and one scene of beauty is slowly melded into another, creating a trance-like state of calm and serenity. But some 30 miles down the road, the pavement ends, and the terrain becomes rugged. The road twists and turns through switchbacks as it soars into the heights of the Chinati Mountains. The isolation is startling. From outside Marfa city limits to the road’s end in Ruidosa, our group encountered only two other vehicles — one occupied by two Border Patrol agents and another filled with young people looking for a party.
From Ruidosa we ventured on FM-170 to the town of Candelaria, which is barely a town; its inhabitants number in the twenties. It’s a small place on the end of a road that seems to come from nowhere and ends nowhere. It appears desolate, lonely and a place of suffering. But there’s a beauty in the place, a beauty that can only be seen by those who understand that suffering is the ultimate practice of love. We walked inside and around the grounds of the lonely but proud Catholic church. Its old walls but tidy appearance stood as a testament to faith and hope — two things, it would seem, one would need to have in abundance to live there.
Back in our jeeps, we moved along to Presidio. It was there that the Groovers splintered. Tired and thirsty from the driving, six of the Groovers went back to Alpine for dinner, drinks and rejuvenation. But five of us carried on, which seemed fitting since there were five Groovers in Fandango. Following FM-170, the River Road, through Big Bend State Park, we found Dom, his location just yards from the roadway I’d traveled so many times.
Left The movie’s cast. Right The road trip’s cast of characters.
In the movie, after resurrecting the Lazarus- like Dom — a magnum of Dom Perignon champagne — from its resting state, Kevin Costner leaps onto a rock overlooking the Rio Grande and toasts to the “privileges of youth.” Only two of us new Groovers were willing to take the same leap, myself and my friend, Michael Stratis. The other three were paralyzed by the height and slimness of the rock Michael and I were perched upon.
At first glance, West Texas appears barren. But Texas is a land of unyielding promise, and it is the Friendship State. There, high above the Rio Grande, I sat with my friend, enjoying the privileges of our youth — as youthful as one can be in their 40s. And I recognized we did more than find Dom: we rediscovered the privilege of the road trip and found that coming of age can happen again at any age so long as you’re willing to take that ultimate road trip with friends. “Here’s to us and what we were . . . and what we’ll be.”
