2025 Airstream Travels

It was chilly and blustery this morning with the forecast is calling for rain. Dog Canyon Trail is located here, and Ron checked into it on AllTrails, then decided to give it a go. It’s a 5-mile hike out and back but with rain threatening, he decided to head back at the 1.2-mile mark, all of it uphill trekking. He just got back at 11:00am and the rain started a few minutes later which was fortunate because it would have been treacherous on the rocky terrain if he got caught in it. Enroute, he captured some great photos of the mountain and valley, and if you look closely at the one of the valleys, you can pick out our camper.

On his way back, he took a few photos of ruins near the Visitor Center. This was the home of Francois-Jean ‘Frenchy’ Rochas, a French immigrant who lived alone at Dog Canyon from 1886 to 1894. In his short residency, he tapped water from Dog Canyon, grew a successful orchard and vineyard, and tended his cattle herds. By himself, he built the long rock walls up the steep slopes of Dog Canyon to contain his cattle. He was mysteriously found dead of a gunshot wound to the chest in 1894.

I had a busy day at work but with the mountain views out our windows, it definitely makes for an enjoyable workday. Ron looked up a Geocache near the park and hiked to it, snapping a few pictures before making his entry into the logbook. For his Geocache prize, he nabbed a Hot Wheels car and left another carabiner. Later, he took Justice for a walk in the desert, but he was pulling so hard, he left him off the leash for a bit which Justice loved.

We had a nice dinner of pork chops and sweet potatoes, and later I took Justice for a walk around the campgrounds. The wind had died down, and we walked up to a desert garden display near the Visitor’s Center. I took a few photos of unique desert plants and I happened to spy a few birds but did not have the camera to get any good shots. The iPhone camera is not the greatest for close up shots, but I was able to identify several bird species we do not have photos of and plan to stop there in the morning. As soon as it warms up tomorrow morning, there’s a bench in the garden where we can sit quietly and hopefully, we will get some good shots.

It’s going to dip into down to 24 degrees tonight and remembering the last cold snap we had, we brought in our water hose to prevent any ice getting into the filter and hose. We are getting more savvy about this RV life:)!

The sun was getting ready to set on the mountain range in the distance, creating a glorious sight.

After an uneventful night in the Walmart parking lot, we pulled out after waking up early around 6:30am. There were 9 other campers parked in our vicinity for a free overnight stay and refuge from the winds.

Today’s route took us into the San Andreas Mountain range, and it was awesome. The road is a 4-lane highway the entire route as it twists and turns through these majestic mountains. The forecast called for 18 – 20mph winds and periods of rain and snow and that’s what we experienced. Traffic was light as the road gradually ascended out of the desert into the mountain range and the landscape started to sprout Cedar Trees, then Ponderosa pine towards the upper elevations. Snow was coming down fairly fast near the upper elevations and we saw some vehicles with several inches of snow on their hoods.

Part-way through, we had a pit stop at a gas station and fueled up. They also had an air pump with free air beside the gas pumps and we checked, then filled both Airstream and truck tires to appropriate levels. We also took the opportunity to clean the windshields and grab some coffee to go since we didn’t have any to start the day.

As we reached the highest point, a sign pointed out we were at 7,591 feet in elevation before we began a gradual descent into the valley. We could not imagine traveling through these mountains yesterday with wind gusts of 60 – 70mph!

We reserved a campsite at Oliver Lee Memorial State Campground outside of Alamogordo and near White Sands National Park. We arrived early but were able to secure our site, set up, then opted to travel to the national park. Before leaving, we checked if dogs were allowed at the park – and yes, we were all so happy, especially Justice :)!

This area is so unique and beautiful, truly astonishing! We first stopped at the Visitors Center for our cancellation stamp and collecting a map of the park. Today was a no fee day in honor of Martin Luther King, so a plus there for all visitors!

A short distance from there, we stopped for a 1-mile Nature Hike through the dunes – so amazing! Justice loved it! He was so excited, running, smelling, jumping, it was almost startling to us how excited he was here. We are not sure if it was the sand or the different smells, but he had a blast and made our time there so much more enjoyable, too.

Clouds were hanging over the mountains and with the overcast day, the mountains were purple in the background and against the white dunes, so strikingly beautiful. You can go sledding here too on the dunes and there are several other areas to hike but the 1-mile hike was all we had in us today.

We drove back to our campsite, all of us tired and hungry – especially Justice. A quick supper and we are ready to get into bed. Our plan is another night here before heading out of New Mexico Wednesday morning.

The forecast for Sunday called for strong, gusty winds for today starting at 5:00am – 8:00pm MT. We are leaving Carlsbad today to travel to Oliver Lee Memorial State Park in Alamogordo, NM and we were concerned after seeing the forecast. I checked our RVTrip Wizard for a RV safe route and it suggested 3 routes but each route had high wind warnings in their forecast. The 3 routes also required we travel through a mountainous region, making me twice as concerned with winds of 30 – 40mph and gusts of 60 – 70mph.

We got up around 6:30 and started to pack up. Although the forecast called for winds here as well, it was a pleasant morning with light breezes, giving us a false sense of security. This would change dramatically before the day was half over.

The route we selected had us travel north for 24 miles before turning west for 110 miles. It was going well until we turned west, and the winds began to pick up. About 15 miles outside the town of Artesia, it started to really blow, moving the truck and camper at times. Ron slowed to about 50 mph but it was still difficult to stay on the road. Suddenly the small awning on the drivers side of the camper lifted up from the camper and Ron stopped immediately to get it back down before it was ripped off. This has never happened before and we were more than concerned to say the least. When he tried to open the door, the wind was blowing so hard, he had to push with all his strength to get it open far enough to get out. As soon as it opened, off flew his hat and I’m thinking that’s long gone. He managed to get the awning back down and find his hat in the ditch, then with a huge effort, open the truck door and get back in.

Where we stopped was directly beside an intersection with a road to the right. Now if you’ve ever been to New Mexico or ever plan to go there, know this – there are few roads, houses, gas stations, towns, or any hints of civilization at times. It is total desolation, but in a strangely beautiful way.

Back to the story and the road to our right. I noticed the road was heading north with a road sign for Roswell in 58 miles and making a split second decision, we chose to turn here because if we continue on the road we’re on, we are likely to find ourselves in a ditch or worse. As soon as we turned, the wind was to our back and instantly made it easier to drive. It was a long haul to Roswell through total desolation – no trees, power lines, houses etc, but we finally made it to this town, home of the UFO sightings back in the 1950s.

We think someone was looking out for us at that road crossing. If our awning hadn’t came loose at that exact moment, we would have passed by the only road available that gave us reprieve from the 60mph winds, and allowing us to make it to Roswell safely.

Our plan was to get to town, gas up, and evaluate our plan for the rest of the day. After fueling up we stopped at the local Walmart to decide what to do. It was windy here too but the buildings gave us some buffer and in looking at our Campendium app, we saw this Walmart allows free overnight parking for RVs and trucks.

So our first boon-docking night is at the Walmart in Roswell, NM! We found a good parking spot and will stay hitched up overnight, and plan to leave early tomorrow morning after checking the weather forecast. There are several others trucks and campers utilizing the parking lot too, so safety in numbers.

I needed a haircut and was able to get it cut at the beauty shop in Walmart and Ron purchased an impact socket we needed at a nearby O’Reillys. It is all working out, and we are thankful to be here and safe, and thank you to whoever was looking out for us🙏❤️.

We made reservations the other day to visit Carlsbad Caverns today. We picked an early time slot for 9:30am MT and left the campgrounds a little after 8:00am. It was a beautiful sunrise, and we snapped a couple photos as the sun was coming up before getting ready to depart.

The drive from the campgrounds is about 40 minutes and relatively unremarkable until you reach the entrance of the National Park. Mountains frame the drive into the park, becoming incredible as we drove the 7-mile park drive before reaching the caverns.

Upon arrival we checked in and decided to do the self-guided tour and hike the 1 1/4-mile down, then use the elevators to return to the surface. We had our passport book with us and got our National Park cancellation stamp and regional National Park stamp at a gift shop there. A camp ranger gave us a brief overview and few logistics before we started on our journey. It’s a truly incredible experience descending into large entrance into the caverns.

One of the park ranger’s instructions was to use our library voice in the cave and to not touch the walls which can leave oils, causing the lichens and moss to stop growing there ever again. It’s very dark at times although some of the stalactites are lighted and there’s lights on the bottom of the walkways, too in places. If you are over 6′ you may have to duck in some areas, but we didn’t have any problems.

Upon reaching the Big Room at the bottom, we learned from a park ranger that we were 800 feet under the surface of the earth. That is equivalent to a 60-story building, making it taller than most skyscrapers. This area is 4,000 ft long and 625 ft wide, making it the 4th largest chamber in the US and the 28th largest in the world. The walkway circles through the room passing thousands of rock formations and delicate sculptures, including columns, cave bacon and popcorn, fossils, drapes, curtains, stalactites and stalagmites, totem poles, soda straws and more. It was truly phenomenal to visit this amazing UNESCO World Heritage and National Park of our great nation.

Located near the Big Room are the restrooms and elevators, along with a gift shop! It is the most unusual restroom I’ve ever used :)! A park ranger had told us you barely feel the elevator move and she was right. It may have taken 3 minutes or less to reach the top of the caverns and the visitor center. We bought a few items at the gift shop (my birthday present, but more on that a later date. The Visitors Center was really crowded by the time we left and we were so glad we took an early time slot to avoid the crowds. Our walk was leisurely and at our own pace.

After leaving the caverns, we stopped on the park drive for a few amazing views and photos, then drove home to put a couple of steaks on the Blackstone. It was a perfect day.

Happy Friday, the 13th! Overnight the temperatures dipped into the 20s and by morning, the hose connecting the park’s water to our camper had developed some ice. We were rather perturbed at ourselves for not thinking of bringing the hose in overnight to avoid this problem and potentially much worse problems if the water lines in the camper burst from freezing. Fortunately, after bringing the water hose in this morning, it soon thawed out and no other major problems occurred.

Yesterday, we had moved to site #8 from site #24. These moves were precipitated by others reserving these sites before we did. Looking on the bright side by moving 4 times in this campground, we are getting quite good at hitching up and unhitching, I think we got it under 10 minutes for each.

This is the 3rd or 4th campground where we had site #8 – maybe our lucky number if we go to Vegas?! Before moving to our next site, we decided to take the camper to the dump station located near the Visitors Center in the park. Some campgrounds have full hookups, which is electric, water, sewer and others have partial hookups, water and electric only, like here at Brantley Lake State Park. Our gray tank (washing dishes, face, brushing teeth etc) holds 30 gallons and the black tank (you guessed it, from the toilet) is 34 gallons. When using a dump station, Ron always dumps the black tank first, followed by the gray. Since they both go out of the same drain and the gray water helps clean out any residue from the black tank dump. Most dump stations will also have a water line available that we use to add water back into our black tank for one last swish and drain. That’s probably more information than you ever wanted to know about dump stations, but we wanted to share :)!

After work, we ran into town for laundry and groceries. We decided to fix frozen pizzas for supper, saving dishes, time etc. since we’ve been on the go and hungry when we got back. Unfortunately, I forgot the cardinal rule ‘Slow is Pro’ when preparing the pizzas. We had 2 pizzas, one gluten free and the other regular and I thought I’d speed up the process by baking both at the same time. To make a long story short, I had burnt GF pizza for supper. Lesson learned: Cook 1 pizza at a time or put Ron’s pizza on the bottom :)!

The wind died down around 7:00pm last night and it was a relief for things to quiet down. It was chilly overnight at 36 degrees, but the sun was bright today with few to little clouds, and the temperatures warmed up to the upper 50s. Most of New Mexico is in higher elevations with cooler temperatures but the air is dry (almost too dry) and a day is the 50s with sun is quite comfortable.

I worked today and Ron did a bit of preventative maintenance along with a couple walks to capture some photos of birds. He was able to photograph 3 different species that we’ve not seen previously and that is always exciting.

The first bird he photographed was the Double-Crested Cormorant. This bird is a member of the cormorant family of waterbirds. They float low on the water and dive to catch small fish. They are all black with a yellow orange on their face.

The next bird is the Scaled Quail, say that 3 times as fast as you can! Also commonly called blue quail or cottontop (you’ll see why this name in the photos below). It is a bluish gray bird found in the arid regions of the Southwest. On our afternoon walk we came across them in the rocky desert – there must have been 15 – 20 of them. They fly but they appear to scavenge the desert for food, running here and there.

The 3rd bird we almost overlooked because we initially thought it was a Mourning Dove, which we have in abundance in Ohio. But in further researching the photos Ron took, we determined they are a White-Winged Dove. And for you Stevie Nicks fans out there, here’s a few lyrics “Just like the white winged dove sings a song, sounds like she’s singing, Ooh, ooh, ooh etc.”. We’ve seen them several times but again, thinking they were a common bird we’ve seen hundreds of times, did not stop to photograph it until today.

Justice is adapting well to the trip and likes the walks and meeting most dogs. This campground does not have a dog park, but he’s met a few on our walks. Before we left for our trip, we thought we would get him to sleep on the couch in the camper – but that’s not happening, he must be near us at night. The Airstream has twin beds, and he wants to sleep on the floor between them. For a short time, he was in bed with one of us for a few nights, but from the size of him to the size of our mattress, that’s not happening either. I figured out he likes our memory foam mattress, so I found some memory foam pillows and bought 3 of them. I then bought a body pillowcase and have the 3 pillows inside it to make a long bed about the width of the floor between our beds. It still wasn’t quite right because the pillows kept shifting, but the problem was solved by placing a heavy, cooling mat over the pillows. They now stay in place, the pillows are soft, and the mat is cooling – whew! He seems to like it really well and sleeping there all night :)!

It was a quiet day, but we have a couple busier days coming up with a shopping trip and laundry tomorrow, and Carlsbad Caverns on Saturday.

The sunrise this morning was just as spectacular or possibly more so, than yesterday’s sunset. Ron snapped a few photos of it before checking out the geocache that we discovered was located nearby here.

GPS led him down to the boat ramp at the Lake, about .6 miles from the campground across the desert and down the rocky trail. It was placed there by Rustypiton from Franklin, Ohio in April 2008 and upon reaching the cache, Ron signed the logbook, took a wooden token and left a carabiner. The token had an applicable quote ‘Not all who wander are lost, some are geocaching’! Geocaching is a type of global treasure hunt of people looking for caches, or hidden stashes of objects. Seekers use global positioning systems (GPS) to find hidden caches and its customary to take an object and to leave something behind.

He took the camera with him and was able to capture a photo of a Ring Billed Gull. These birds are typically found near aquatic areas and are fairly large with wing spans between 41 – 46 inches. Ring-billed Gulls are known for dropping and then re-catching their prey. This ‘game’ is a way of honing their hunting skills.

The winds were fierce today at 25 – 35mph with gusts up to 50mph. We were so glad we weren’t traveling today; it would have been impossible. We did have to move campsites here since our current site was reserved by another party for today, but we had reserved site #24 for tonight. We briefly talked with our neighbors who had gotten an emergency site reserved for tonight, scraping their plans to travel to a new campground to avoid the dangerous winds. There are few trees here so nothing to buffer the winds. We hunkered down and felt the trailer shake, rattle, and fortunately – not roll.

There was not much we could do but stay inside and wait for the winds to die down. Fixed a nice pasta meal for supper and plan to read our books tonight. Tomorrow’s forecast includes cooler temperatures but only small winds of 7mph and gusts of up to 15.

Brantly Lake State Campground is very quiet at night, and we slept well. After some morning coffee, Ron explores the area and I catch up on work.

There are several trails here, with one leading down to the lake and another into the desert. He picks the lake trail and with camera in tow, gets a few photos of some new birds we’ve not photographed previously. We later identify the American White Pelican and Northern Harrier Hawk but, in a couple, other photos, the birds were too far away to identify them. It is windy today and birds are hunkering down but hopefully tomorrow we capture a few photos of more tomorrow. The Roadrunner is New Mexico’s state bird and it’s on our bucket list to photograph. There are several other hawks, falcons, warblers, and other species we’d like to capture too.

Later in the afternoon, Justice and I join Ron for another walk down to the Lake. While walking we meet another couple from the campgrounds. Did not catch their names but they had on Mackinac Island and Lake Erie T-shirts. When I inquired, they explained they visited these areas last year but live near Colorado Springs. Although they enjoyed their visits to eastern US, they love the deserts of the West.

It was an early morning start leaving Davis Mountain to travel to Carlsbad, NM and to the RV Service Center there. Our appointment was at 10:00am but, this is a big but, they are located in Mountain Standard Time, not Central Time that we had gotten accustomed to over the past several weeks. So, leaving at 6:00am for a 4-hour drive, put us there an hour early but they didn’t seem to care but we could have gotten another hour sleep.

The drive started in the dark, a new experience for us with the Airstream, along mountain roads before leveling out to the flatlands and desert area between Texas and New Mexico. We are not sure when we got into New Mexico because we didn’t see any signage announcing it, but we know we crossed the border somewhere along the trip. When we got on Texas State Route 284, road construction started and continued for another 84 miles of traveling it. Maybe at some point they will get a section or two finished but for now, the entire 84 miles is bumpy, down to 2 lanes, and in many areas, the dreaded concrete walls making you feel claustrophobic and certain you are either going to sideswipe it or the car coming towards you. We made it without any problems.

The service guy looked at our refrigerator and unplugged the a/c power in the exterior compartment, then plugged it back in and it worked! He could not replicate the problem we experienced but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, even if it costs you $130 bucks to tell you there’s nothing wrong with it. We are back in business though and it’s a relief.

We decided to reserve a site at Brantly Lake State Park about 15 miles north of Carlsbad. It is in the Chihuahua Desert and overlooks the lake. A Park Ranger told us that there are the most beautiful sunsets here you will see anywhere and it’s a great birding area, for migrating birds and waterfowls and some that overwinter here, including a few Snowbirds (he he). We are looking forward to it and planning to stay here until Sunday. The park is located near Carlsbad Caverns, which is supposed to be amazing, and we plan to visit it on Saturday.

We had mixed feelings about leaving Maverick Ranch and Big Bend. It is a super nice park; the scenery is out of this world and the community is friendly. But we still have a refrigerator issue (or so we thought, but more on that later) and today’s plans include a 2 1/2-hour drive to Davis Mountain State Park in Fort Davis, Texas for an overnight stop before driving into Carlsbad for our RV appointment.

This is a beautiful park with numerous attractions nearby including Fort Davis, a frontier military post in the 1800s. After getting our site set up, we unhitched and drove down the mountain to the Fort.

This was an amazing historic site, with many of the original buildings, equipment, artifacts, and furnishings from the original fort established pre-Civil War in the 1850s and continuing in operation until the 1880s. We could have spent more time here looking in the buildings and reading the history behind the fort, learning about the men and women who served here, and the wagon trains who were protected by the fort while enroute further west. On occasion, we heard a bugle call playing that is the exact replica of how it sounded in the 1800s. It was so interesting, but time was short today, and we made our way to another equally interesting site in this area.

The State Park campgrounds are located part-way up Davis Mountain, but there is a road leading from the campground that travels to the top of the mountain. While driving up we came across a couple camp hosts who are sweeping rocks from the roadway. We assume this is a regular activity here due to the rock walls beside the narrow road. When we reach the top, the views are 360 degrees for miles overlooking the valleys and mountains of this region. There are trails that lead up to the peak of the mountain and I am certain Ron would have hiked it we had more time. We took many photos here as well as at the Fort before heading back to our campsite for the night.

We had a woodpecker visiting the light post next to our campsite and took a few pictures of them, learning later they are an Acorn Woodpecker who have a very limited range in North America and usually can only be seen in East Texas. There is definitely at least a pair here in Western Texas in these campgrounds.

Since we are leaving early in the morning, we decided to hitch up tonight rather than early morning in the dark. Tomorrow we will be in New Mexico and out of Texas.

The Ross Maxwell drive offers fantastic views of the Chihuahuan Desert landscape as it winds its way to the Santa Elena Canyon. We left the campgrounds around 9:30am to travel this drive in the park, making several stops on our way.

Our first stop was at Homer Wilson Ranch. This is a short hike of .5 miles down into a valley where the ruins of this former ranch still stand. We wonder how this family could have survived in such harsh conditions and isolation but it’s a beautiful view and possibly they had an idyllic life here. This is a birding spot, and we capture a few photos of birds in the brush. The park also has signage warning of black bear and mountain lions, but we, fortunately or unfortunately depending on which one of us you ask, do not see either.

**Update: In looking more closely at the photos Ron took at the Homer Wilson Ranch, I discovered the bird photos Ron took are of a rare bird, the Colima Warbler! These birds are a rarity in the US and only located in Big Bend, most are in Mexico. Each year, people travel from all over the world to capture photos of this bird. Fortunately, Ron captured a few good photos!

We made several other stops including Tuff Canyon with an overlook into a deep canyon and another stop to view Mules Ears rock formations. The entire drive is filled with beauty and grandeur.

Castolon Historic District is an interesting historic site that now houses a Visitors Center and store. Starting in the 1900s many families farmed the fertile valley adjacent to the Rio Grande. After a Mexican uprising, a military outpost was established here in 1916, and an enterprising company, La Harmonia began a cotton farm in the 1920s that failed around 20 years later. Many of the structures are still here today including a home where a widow lived raising her 5 children in the 2-room structure.

Cottonwood Campgrounds are located nearby, and we checked them out too. This is a primitive area, and the sites are more conducive to tent camping rather than RVs.

From here we travelled to the end of the drive and Santa Elena Canyon. There were a lot of visitors at this location, but we found a place to park and walk down to the Rio Grande River and the Canyon. Many people had crossed a small waterway and sandy inlet to reach the canyon walls and steps leading up to the canyon. I am certain the views are tremendous, but we opted out of getting our shoes wet and making the climb.

This is one of the most impressive sights in Big Bend with the 1000-foot vertical cliffs, it’s truly magnificent. It can be seen from 10 miles away, as the Rio Grande changes direction abruptly after following the cliffs for several miles and heads due west, cutting through the mountains via a deep, narrow gorge.

For our last night in Big Bend, we went out to eat at the Maverick Park Resort across the road from our campgrounds. We enjoyed a great meal at the Candelilla Cafe and the views from the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the mountains of this region. On our return walk back to the campground, I took one last photo of Lajitas Mesa at dusk.

Getting to the Lajitas Mesa Trail was a bit tricky but we located it on AllTrails and it provided perfect guidance to Ron to reach the summit. Ron started out about 9:00am to hike the 8.1-mile round trip to the summit. The terrain was very rocky with loose rocks, and he was glad for the hiking poles that saved him from falling numerous times. Although it was rugged, the views were amazing. Enroute, he came across a herd of Aoudad Sheep which are not indigenous to the US but from Northern Africa. He was near the top of the Mesa when he came across them and they took off running immediately but he was able to get a photo when they turned to look at him. He thought he’d get more photos since they ran towards the tip of the Mesa, but when he got there, no sheep. Apparently, they went over the sheer cliff side of the Mesa! Must be pretty agile creatures. The park is planning to remove them from the area as they consume valuable water and plants that Bighorn Sheep, who are indigenous, need to survive.

Ron’s hike was about 4 1/2 hours long and after he got back, we decided to take a drive that our camper neighbor suggested that travels from our campground to Presidio. She said the views were nothing short of spectacular, and she was right.

The Texas State Park is along most of Texas Farm to Market Road 170, following the Rio Grande River and bordered by the mountains of Big Bend. The State Park has many different campgrounds in this area but they are all primitive camping with no utilities, water, or dump stations but they are in some of the most beautiful spots you can find. Grassy Banks is phenomenal and is located right on the banks of the Rio Grande. There are also various canoe/kayak access points along the river and other campgrounds. I imagine there is plenty of wildlife in this area too. We came across a neat picnic area with Teepees beside the river with some tremendous views.

Tomorrow we are planning another recommended drive with short hiking trails in between.

It’s a beautiful morning with blue skies and sunshine – a perfect recipe for a walk in the park. Justice likes the dog park, and we made a stop there where he met and played with a dog who was playing fetch with his owner. In meandering around the campgrounds, we noticed a trail that goes into the foothills, we started to walk it and Ron hiked up a hill to capture some photos of the valley and campgrounds.

With a month of travel behind us, Ron decided to do some preventative maintenance on the camper today, while I worked. Later in the day, we met a neighbor who with her husband, are full-timers and over the past 10 years they winter at Big Bend National Park. They have a Golden Retriever too; her name is Ki and she’s 13 1/2 years old. Ki had a twin sister who passed away last summer. The summers here are brutally hot and the Visitors Centers are closed during the hottest months of the year. The couple travels in the summer months ‘chasing the 70-degree weather’ but always come back here to spend the winter. This year they bought a piece of land to bring their camper to when they travel back to this area next winter. In our conversation, she told us there is a trail to the high butte overlooking the campground. Ron has been wondering about hiking it and was excited to learn about the trail that goes to the top – maybe a hike tomorrow??

As the sun comes up, it hits the mountains painting them is shades of browns and reds. It’s a beautiful morning and the forecast is perfect – 70 degrees and clear skies. Although we have neighbors on all sides, this is a quiet campground overnight and we are sleeping well.

I worked in the morning until noon, then we drove to Big Bend Panther Junction Visitor Center and got our passport book stamp for Big Bend! Maverick Ranch RV, our campground, is located on the western side of the park and it’s nearly a one-hour drive to Panther Junction and another 30 minutes to reach the far eastern side of the park. The park is so vast and with the panoramic views, majestic mountains, and desert lowlands, words and pictures cannot fully convey the beauty or the scope of this park. Some parks are visited while traveling through the area, Big Bend is definitely a destination park due to its remote location – but it is well worth the drive.

From the Visitor’s Center we learned about the animals and plant life that call the park home. There is black bear, a small population of mountain lions (20), javelins (a medium-sized pig-like hoofed mammal), over 450 species of birds, deer, and gray fox. There are also 4 species of rattlesnakes and 1 species of copperhead, but they mainly hunt at night and rarely seen during the day. There is also scorpions and tarantulas, but they are shy and not likely to bite someone unless provoked.

The plant life is so unique, and we learned today what the strange looking plants are named. During the Springtime, many of these plants bloom and carpet the valleys with color but right now they are dormant. One of the most unique plants is the Blue Agave. This plant grows for ten or more years before it flowers and sends a tall mast upwards of 40 feet high to bear flowers for pollination, then subsequently dies. This plant also has a high production of sugars in its core, making it suitable for preparation of alcoholic beverages, including Tequila.

There are 3 different species of Hummingbirds and Bluebirds, Roadrunners who can run up to 20 miles hour, raptors, warblers, and many more birds here in the National Park. Ron spotted a hummingbird today visiting a feeder at our neighbor’s camper. I missed seeing it but hopefully catch a glimpse of it over the next few days. We also are planning to visit an area known as a birder’s area and hope to get some photos of different varieties.

For supper we grilled a couple of burgers on the Blackstone, along with some potato salad, a tossed salad, and fresh strawberries bought locally – they were so large and sweet, absolutely delicious! We also enjoyed another campfire before heading to bed.

Leaving Fort Stockton, the views became magnificent as far as the eye could see. The mountains of Big Bend were in the distance, looking like a watercolor painting in shades of blues and purples with low-hanging clouds in similar shades. The lowlands are desert-like with cacti, rocks, and an occasional tree. Sometimes we see cattle, but we wonder what they eat and how they get enough water to survive but they must.

It is a sparsely populated area here too and traffic is light heading south. Enroute, we see a massive solar project that we later learn is newly installed, ground-mounted solar project covering 106 acres. These panels supply clean energy to power over 3,000 homes.

We gradually reach the foothills of the Chiso Mountains. This mountain range is located entirely within the borders of the 800,000 acres of Big Bend National Park. One of the first mountains we photograph is Elephant Mountain with an elevation of 6,119, it looks like a giant elephant lying down.

Our campground is Maverick Ranch RV Park in Lajitas, Texas. It is surrounded by the hills of Quiet Canyon and the Lajitas Mesa. This is a dark sky community and there is an ‘all lights out’ rule starting each night at 9:00pm. And when the lights go out, the stars are amazing. Big Bend has the lowest light pollution of all the National Parks in the lower 48 states, making for great star gazing. We were too tired tonight to stay up for the show tonight but certain we will be able to in the next day or two.

After a month on the road (woohoo!) we’ve gotten fairly adept at setting up camp. I think it takes us less than 30 minutes to be fully hooked up, detached and set up inside and out. I worked a bit and later we took Justice to the dog park. The majority of campers have some dog along with them and we see a lot of Goldens, but Justice is always the biggest one – and the most handsome. I had someone tell me that he’s magnificent. We met a couple from Louisiana, Carol & Tom, who are traveling in a 25′ Airstream along with their two children and Ranger, their Corgi dog. Super nice people who after learning we were from Ohio, told us how they ‘love Joe Burrow’ and that they used to be Saints fans but are now Bengal fans!

After grilling supper on the Blackstone, and sitting by the Solo stove campfire, we both said, ‘this is what we’ve been waiting for this trip’.