Feb 4, 2013 - Day 203 - Big Bend Ranch State Park, Texas

Today we headed west from Terlingua to Presidio, through Big Bend Ranch State Park. This area is extremely hilly, with a windy, up and down road through the mountains. It was very much like the roller-coaster at Marineland, and my stomach did not enjoy it much, but the views were fabulous. We drove into Presidio about lunchtme so found a restaurant and Garry enjoyed some more Mexican Food. I stuck to a chicken breast burger because I knew we had to go back across that road. The area has a lot of ranches on both sides of the river, and it...

Feb 3, 2013 - Day 202 - Big Bend National Park, Texas

Armed with more suggestions from our neighbours, we headed back to Big Bend Park. We drove to the west side of the park. This side is a lot more open with valleys that do look like they could be farmed or ranched. We took a narrow gravel road called The Old Ore Road out to an area that is used as a primitive camping area, no services, tenting only. The Ernest Tinaja hike took us to a box canyon with dozens of layers of rock in varying colors from white to red. There were folds in the mountain that made beautiful patterns in the rock and on...

Feb 2, 2013 - Day 201 - Big Bend National Park, Texas

We headed out this morning armed with directions and advice from Bud, the park owner, and Mike and Carol, our next door neighbours to explore some of Big Bend National Park. Carol, by the way, is an instrument tech from Edmonton that worked at Swan Hills in the eighties, and Mike is a former sheriff from a town near Detroit. They now travel between Colorado and Texas full-time. Before we got to the car Bud stopped us to let us know that he was taking a group on a hike and then they would all be getting together around the fire about 4:30...

Feb 1, 2013 - Day 200 - to Big Bend National Park, Texas

We called ahead to book a site in Terlingua as there are a limited number of full-service sites in the area. The National Park has only one site on the east side with full-service sites, only about 40 sites. There are several primitive camping areas with no services and not accessible by large units. We received advice from Bud at BJ RV Park in Terlingua that we would be well advised to drive to Alpine and then south, avoiding travel through the park with the bus. The park roads are paved but two lane and a maximum speed of 45 mph. As it...

Jan 26, 2013 - Free beer I ain't leavin!!!

Wayne is ready to go home!!!! There were no scantily-clad females at the "oasis" however................today he stuck the mother-load!!! And he has now decided there is no need to go any further on this expedition - it just can't get any better than this! To begin at the beginning............we put our kayak in at the boat launch (ha!) area near the campground, paddled about 25 meters (maybe 3 minutes) up river and hit bottom! In that 3 minutes we had maneouvered around several shallow areas with Donna suggesting, in her always sweet...

Jan 26, 2012 - Big Bend National Park

Today we took a tour of the Big Bend National Park. We have tried for 6 years to get here and we finally made it. Paul was delighted that Cheryl (due to her age) was able to purchase a Senior Pass which allows free entry to all National Parks for senior citizens. That notwithstanding, the drive was worth the wait. At the end of the paved road we encountered something rather strange. We drove to an overlook on the Rio Grande River to find a series of articles laid out on large rocks - bead necklaces, bead animals, painted rocks, walking...

Jan 25, 2012 - Terlingua, TX

We awoke to snow flurries this morning. We have been coming south for the winter for the past 6 years and have managed to get snowed on every year. But the owner of the Lodge made us a great breakfast before we took off for Terlingua. He made a big deal of telling us to be careful on the roads since this was their 3rd "blizzard" this year. We told him we were from Pennsylvania and were driving a 4-wheel drive vehicle, so he needn't worry. Nice people and a nice, clean place to stay. Our place of residence for the next 2 days is at Las...

May 23, 2011 - Big Bend National Park

We have cell phone and internet service here, to our relief. What a gorgeous, unworldly place! After a fairly easy drive to Fort Stockton on I-10, then turning south through Alpine to Terlingua/Study Butte, we arrived here about 2:30. We set off to the park visitor's center then up to the Chisos Basin. Though it is dry, dry, dry here, there are some interesting blossoms on cacti and colorful birds. We had dinner at the Chisos Lodge, then drove down the mountain looking for good shots (and, of course, hoping to spot a bear or a panther). A...

Mar 13, 2010 - Terlingua

Moving day today, due to Spring Break, they are kicking me out of this campground, well and for a few other reasons. I walked down to the river this morning, not being able to walk that far after hikes each day. Interesting that the majority of my neighbors are from other states, Kansas, Florida, Canada (I know this is not a state but QC will be confused), Ohio, MN, all here to observed the birds, one couple even bands migratory up north. What a hobby, haven’t they heard about golf, fishing, etc.? They all have their binoculars around their...

Feb 7, 2010 - Big Bend Ranch State Park

Big bend ranch is part of the Texas state park system. It's 310,000 acres and has a multitude of things to do. Hiking was the best for us thru the closed canyon. A walk thru here was beautiful and nice and cool since it was 85 that day. There's also a place here were they make movies. The drive thru the park takes you around mountains and over at 17 degrees up. awesome drive and scenery.

Feb 6, 2010 - MORE BIG BEND

My entries are off on the dates we did these things,so BEAR with me til I get caught up. We are now as of yesterday in Terlingua TX. Took Bev for a 2 hr. horse back ride at sun set for her birthday. It was a great ride and the scenery was beautiful. Went to dinner after words at the ghost town near Terlingua. Two cheeseburgers,fries and a drink was 36.00. Nothing out here is cheap. Gas is 3.06 but they only have 89 octane. Today we go to Big Bend ranch by jeep and do some hiking and to check out Colorado canyon for kayaking.

Feb 5, 2010 - The Big Bend Bang For Nine Days

There is so much to tell about the last nine days of our trip into Big Bend National Park. I did make a 30 mile trip and posted some pictures,but there's a lot more to come. We kept very busy and seen things we never new existed. Ran into situations we'd never dream of getting into. Big Bend is by far the most incredible place you can imagen. Kayaking and hiking this park is a never ending task. You can only stay in the park 28 days a year. The animals we say and the canyons we paddled are by far out of this world. Permits are required for...