Big Bend Nat'l Park & Fort Stockton, TX
Mar. 28 - Apr. 5, 2006
On Tuesday, Mar. 28th we headed due south for Big Bend National Park, a place we hadn't even heard of before we started full-timing. Big Bend gets its name from a 118 mile U-turn in the Rio Grande River (Rio Bravo if you're in Mexico). The Park is enormous, but receives comparatively few visitors. Within its boundaries are deep canyons, high mountains, hot springs, dinosaur fossils, barren desert and desert wetlands. We stayed at the no-hook-up area of Rio Grande Village - pretty good shade, desert-type grass and close to the river.
As we were setting up camp we heard a, "Susan and Bill... Hello." We turned and were surprised to see Chris and Jim Guld, a very nice couple we met a year ago in Zion. They maintain a great website that chonicles their travels. This was the first time we had unexpectedly met up with people we had met on the road earlier in our travels, and we were thrilled. After catching up over a glass of wine, the four of us made plans to hike to some hot springs along the river the next morning.
The next morning's 3-mile hike (one-way) was wonderful with the reward of a dip in the hot springs at end. Actually, the air was so warm we spent as much time with our feet in the cool Rio Grande as we did with them in the hot springs. While at the spa, we met a young family from Tennessee that were home-schooling their two kids so they could travel more freely around the country. They gave us a few hints on traveling in Tennessee and the all important - where to go for barbeque.
The next couple of days were spent exploring the enormous park and trying to stay cool. We did several hikes including a short hike up the Elena and Boquillas Canyons of Rio Grande and the Window Hike in the Chisos Mountains located in the middle of the park.
For added entertainment, Susan chased roadrunners and vermilion flycatchers trying to get the perfect picture, while Bill simply attached the telephoto lens and stayed cool snapping pictures from the comfort of his chair. Did we mention it was in the high 90's?
One evening about 9:00 we were sitting outside talking softly and stargazing when we heard a bit of a snort. Bill turned on the flashlight and discovered a 60 pound javalina about an arms length away and looking a bit disturbed about the light. We then realized there were several more around us rooting and snorting their way through the camp. It was comforting to know that they are herbivores. We tried not to act like plants.
Fort Stockton - On April 3rd we decided we didn't want to take one more day of heat (delicate little flowers that we are) and headed north to Fort Stockton. There was an actual fort at Fort Stockton - a frontier army post active from 1858-88. However, that isn't why we stopped in Fort Stockton. Ours reason was rather utilitarian - there was a cheap RV park that allows renters to wash their rigs. We were in need of a thorough scrubbing before moving on to the much anticipated Texas Hill Country.
