On to Big Bend!

Day 3

LOCATION:  Terlingua, Texas  – right outside the west entrance of Big Bend National Park
CAMPGROUND:  Paisano RV Park.  Full sun, no shade.  Gravel, level, pull-through sites. Full hook-ups.   Firepit and picnic table.  Superb bathroom/shower room.  Mexican food truck at entrance.  Good wifi, no TV.  $50/night.  4 stars out of 5
WEATHER:   Overnight last night, it got down to about 60.  We opened the windows for sleeping in the middle of the night.  Then…..today – full sun.  High 102.  A real scorcher.  I can feel my skin burning
DISTANCE DRIVEN:  2 hours

We had a leisurely morning at Marathon RV Park and Motel where we stayed last night.  We watched (and heard) trains pass by, right in front of the park.

Then, on to Big Bend National Park.  We drove south from Marathon about 30 miles to the park entrance.  Then, we drove through the park, east section to west section.  We pulled over at one of the look-outs for a picnic lunch.  We found our RV park and got settled in.  Thank goodness for 50 amps = 2 air conditioners running full blast.

Our tactic here is to get up early every day to enjoy the morning coolness, do outdoor activities until about 1:00, relax in Joy’s air-conditioned comfort during the day, then out in the late afternoon when it starts to cool off.

So, after getting set up, George took a siesta while I read.  Then, we were off to Terlingua Ghost Town.

Terlingua was a mercury mining town that went bust.  Now it is mostly just a haven for hippy-types and tourists.  This store is famous…..local musicians sit on the porch drinking beer and playing music.

We found a bar called the High Sierra and stopped for a drink.  I had a Happy Camper IPA, which I thought was appropriate! 

Then, we drove back into Big Bend taking a scenic drive up to Chisnos Mountain.  On our way, we saw a lot of ocotillo plants in bloom.  They are wispy plants with small red blossoms on their tips.  We thought that we had missed spring flower blossom season, but we learned that most of the flowers have not bloomed yet….They are waiting for rain.  It hasn’t rained since January, and that was just a 1/2 inch.  The ocotillos are one species that can bloom without water.

We drove up and up to the Chisnos Mountain Lodge. 

We had drinks at their bar and admired one of the park’s iconic views called “The Window”.

Then back home for dinner.

DINNER:  Tacos with a Tex/Mex chicken/veg mix that I had made before leaving.  I added some sauteed onions and chipotle pepper, and served it over corn tortillas.  I microwaved for a minute to melt some cheese, and topped with spicy salsa.  Muy bueno! 

When our daughter visited us recently, she loaded a bunch of old British TV shows on George’s laptop.  So, without TV, we watched 2 episodes of “To The Manor Born”, one of our favorite series.