Well we are back from our camping trip! We covered over 1000 miles and came across many cowboys and species! You will find a link to the pictures... HERE!!
And so here our story:
On Thu we woke up at 5am and got ready for the loooooooooooong 12hour drive to Big Bend! And later Garner State PArk! At 6am we finally left and headed towards Houston. Our first short stop was in Luling, we had to mail some stuff at the postoffice and stretch our legs. Via San Antonio to Kerville, here it was already getting more hilly and deserty, we stopped for some mc donalds before heading more west. In Sonora we stopped to get some groceries and beerrr. It was getting pretty country by then and there was only a town every other 30miles. Yikes! Then a short stop in Fort Stockton for some last gear to survive the desert. Then the last 60 miles to Big Bend! But thats when the rain started. Bad. Like really bad. It was pretty scary going through the deep puddles and with limited vision, but Thomas and the Scion pulled through! And around 7pm we arrived at the welcome sign. Well that means nothing, then it was 20 miles to the visitors centre, which appeared to be closed, so then on to the campsite, which was another 20 miles! Yes, Big Bend is huge! It is three times the size of the province of Utrecht! But it was still light so we got to see a lot while driving. It is so beautiful, endless mountains, cactusses and many many different animals. We got to the campsite and... there was noone there! No other campers, no cell phone reception, none. This creeped me out. But no choice, so we picked a spot and set up camp. It was a short evening as we were knackered! I had a lot of trouble sleeping being so scared. There were so many noises and being the only one in a huge amount of space, got to me a bit. But eventually fell asleep. Early wake and ready to see some pretty things.
We wend on a hike to see the Rio Grande, the border between Texas and Mexico. It was gorgeous and great to see my new surroundings. There were walking sticks put there by the inhabitants of Boquillas del Carmen, a tiny village across the border, secluded from anyone. Since the borders are closed they have hardly any income so they live of donations from tourists. They sneak across the border to put their arts& crafts on hiking trails. Very sad to see.
After we drove to Boquillas Canyon. A pretty hike down to the river and surrounded by mountains. As we were walking down we heard "AYayayay...." This voice came from across the river by Viktor, 'the singing mexican'. He is a local from the town of Boquillas. This is his way of making money, donations for his singing. Her a VIDEO and an ARTICLE about his life. Very interesting, i do suggest to read it. So we gave him some money. One of his friends swam across and met us on the other side, then quickly swam back!
The next hike is in Chisos Basin. Absolutely beautiful area. It has another campsite, shop and restaurant. We sat down for some sandwiches and chose our hike. We decided on the hike down to 'the window' a beautiful view over Big Bend. Well on the way down there it was prett tough, but we stayed pretty positive as we knew the view would be awesome. After walking paths, jumping stones and waving away insects, we got there.. It was well worth the sweat and muscle pain. We rested for a while and realised we had to walk the same way back.. crap. Oh well, we made it down so it should be so hard. We were wrong, it had gotten much more hot and we were out of water. The hike back was at least an hour. And uphill. I have never been more thirsty in my life. We both got chapped lips and a big big sunburn. It was awful. But we made it back and drank A LOT of water. We were done for the day. We drove back, had a shower and started the grill. In the evening we got one neighbour. It made me feel a lot better though, having some people around us. After some beers, off to bed.
Up at 9, had breakfast and quickly on our way to visit some 'nearby' towns. It took, 30 min to get out of the park. The first town is Study Butte, maybe 150 inhabitants. We kept driving, it was amazing to see these little towns. You dont understand WHY people live here. The area is so rough. Next town was Terlingua. Its a pretty touristy town. They are a ghost town and live of off that. So all souvenirs are to do with skeletons and death. Its cute, small and had a awsome graveyard. We bought a tex-mex cookbook and left. Onto the next town of Lajitas. The road got windy and hilly and the scenery was pretty. We stopped first at a Visitors Centre to see some exhibitions of local species and historical artifacts. We first had lunch. Lajitas is a resort town. Thomas' parents own land here. There are only 50 people living there. Most of them work for the few businesses there. There is a golfcourse, hotel, restaurant and some shops. There were quite a few Jamaican interns, for some reason. We felt bad for them, they didnt know what it was like before they came over. And will be staying for a year. Its beautiful for sure, but there is nothing, NOTHING here. Even Big Bend is by now 2 hours away and $20 entrance. So we left and drove on to Presidio, the closest official border crossing to Mexico. We drove up close, then turned around.. not much to see and i cant leave the country yet.. So we got some gas and beer and turned around to go back to Big Bend. On the way back we stopped at Fort Leaton. An old fort, which was pretty interesting.
Then straight back to the park. We stopped, once inside, at the hot springs, that was pretty cool. I set foot in the Rio Grande, almost touched Mexico. Back at the tent we had beers and burgers. MMM! Last night in hot hot Big Bend!
We got up at 5! Packed up and had breakfast in the dark and left around 6. We saw foxes, javalina's, deer and killed one bird. Yuk. As soon as we got out of the park, it started raining. Hard. Like on the way over, but worse. We had to stop in the first town to calm our nerves. We got back on the road and had to drive in this crazy rain for about an hour. Then all of a sudden it stopped and the sky was clear in front of us. Phew! Via Del Rio to Uvaldi, we stopped at Wal-Mart for some new groceries. It felt good to see buildings again and to have cell phone reception! Then only 30 mlies to Garner State Park! Water! After the 110F desert we were ready to swim! The river is called Rio Frio (cold river) and we were excited! Getting there was pretty ofcourse, hilly and green.
We got there around 3pm, got a campsite for 2 nights and quickly set up camp. And jumped in the river. It was clear and a pretty view of a big mountain. A lot of families and young people. This was going to be fun! We had some lunch and wend back in with some beer. Just floated around and enjoyed our new surroundings. After dinner we walked to the nightly dance they organise. Oh my, it was so fun. Its a square with a big tree and everyone just circles around doing the 2step. We had to join in! And so we did, to some awful country music. But its cute, an old tradition and everyone, young and old, dances.
The next morning we got up at 10, we slept great and hiked up the mountain. It was a great view of the campsite. Then back down and in the river. Swang from the ropes! We headed back to the tent and started dinner. Thomas also started the campfire. A great last night of our lovely and exciting holiday!
We got up at 7 and packed up, drove to San Antonio where Thomas surpised me with a lovely lunch on the River Walk. We love SA and will be consireding it if we ever move out of Galveston. So back on the road and drove back to Galveston in 5 hours. It was so strange to see big buildings and normal people. :) But it was good to be back and to see our kitty again!
Now my fingers are blue and i need some sleep. Hope you liked it! We sure did!
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