More Big Bend National Park

Big Bend is so spectacular. Pictures don't do it justice. In our first Big Bend post we posted pictures of the east side of the park. This post will focus on the basin that we were camping in and the west side of the park. Our campground had running water and flushing toilets but no showers. Being in a desert, it was very important to conserve water. We took one shower while at Big Bend. It was down near the Rio Grande and it cost $1.50 for five minutes of water. There were several visitor centers, small jiffy marts and a small lodge with wifi available to us on the 800,000 acre National Park. It was kind of roughing it but not really! The second full day that we were there we spent doing laundry, working on the patio of the lodge, reorganizing our campsite after the big rain, and just chillin. It poured rain again that evening and we all sat in the bar and worked on our various electronic devices.

We made steak fajitas back at camp after the rain and played UNO. The star gazing up there was phenomenal. We were at about 5000 ft and it was so clear and windy and refreshingly cool. On our third full day at Big Bend we went on a road trip and explored the west side of the park. I was finally able to hike. I had smacked my ankle at South Llano River State Park when I slipped on some wet concrete and I could walk on it but not wear tennis shoes. So my ankle is working well and we are about to leave camp and I am reaching into the back of the truck into the cooler and cooler lid falls on my face and cuts the bridge of my nose! This is my fourth mishap and it is only day 10 of the trip. Yikes!

That evening when we got back to camp, Joe made a fabulous dinner of stir fry teriyaki chicken and rice. We left Big Bend this morning and headed to New Mexico. We are in Roswell, New Mexico tonight at a Quality Inn. Quint is in heaven that we are in the Alien metropolis. Jamie is sad that we aren't at one of Uncle Gregg's luxurious hotels!

Agave plant

"The Window" of the Basin

Casa Grande

Gordon's final farewell to his precious Big Bend NP and "the window"