Leaving Time for Surprises


We just returned from an 8 day road trip to Big Bend Texas where we saw spectacular country and the best wildflower show in 30 years.  One could almost OD on nature’s beauty…  The Texas Bluebonnets were 3 ft deep each side of the road and went on for miles.  The sides of the mountains and hills were blue and yellow with white dotted here and there.  I wanted to stop (which we did often) and just sit in the middle of the blue. 


We planned the trip with time to stop every so often as I needed to walk and keep my new knee limber.  That let us explore along the way stopping for short walks, looking at birds and flowers, discovering rocks and finding places we might like to visit again. 

Golden -breasted Woodpecker





Texas Bluebonnet
It took 2 ½ days to get to our destination and 2 ½ days to get home.  That left 3 days to explore Big Bend and 4 days to decide where to car camp while traveling.  We were able to find secluded campsites as well as a campsite in a Texas State Park (they had a shower!).




Vermillion Flycatcher

 
Greater Earless Lizard

Prickly Poppies
Big Bend National Park is named for the big bend in the Rio Grande River and encompasses 800,000 acres.  It is said that Pecos Bill lassoed a wild tornado and carved a series of amazing river canyons.  It is home to over 450 year round and migratory bird species and the elevation changes from 1800 ft. along the Rio Grande to 8000 ft in the Chisos Mountains.  There are deserts, canyons, pine forests and so many wildflowers to be seen!


Rio Grande


We signed up for distributed camping where we were assigned a primitive campsite on a long dirt/rock road in the Pine Canyon area.  We found it in the dark as we drove slowly trying to get the Jack rabbits out of the road.  I finally had to get out with the flashlight and walk in front of the truck shooing the critters into the brush as I laughed.  They were confused by the headlights.   

The stars were brilliant in those dark skies as we looked for the various constellations.   By day we explored by truck and on foot and we marveled at the variety of adventures to be had in this park.
 


     Next week I’ll finish the trip home and show more surprises we found.
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Location: Big Bend National Park, TX 79834, USA

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