This is our first full day in Big Bend National Park. There is no internet or cell service here, which is the first time we’ve been without this whole trip. When we traveled this far three years ago, we found many places without service, so we are pretty impressed at the coverage we’ve been finding. There is wireless internet at the little store up the road, and we stopped in there to take care of some financial business. I was able to check my email and respond to a few comments. Otherwise, I’m going to write these posts in a “Word” document and then post them when we get back into range. Interestingly, we only have cell service if we drive to the top of a hill not too far away. We have to be careful not to pick up Mexican cell service though because we’ll be paying expensive roaming charges if we do.
We arrived yesterday and found the campground lightly populated. We drove around a bit trying to decide which site to choose when Mike cut a corner a little too tightly and scraped the top of the trailer along some tree branches. He was instantly concerned that it might have poked a hole in the roof. I thought that was an overreaction, but he was right. The damage isn’t serious, and he can repair it himself—he could if he had some caulk, that is. For now . . . what else? Duct tape. How would we live without duct tape and garlic salt? Both have saved our bacon more times than I care to think about.
It was a minor setback fortunately, and we got on with enjoying ourselves fairly quickly. As we were unhitching, I looked across the campground to the registration board and saw a small coyote, bold as you please. Then the camp host drove by in his golf cart and paused to talk to the woman camping across from us about how bold the coyotes are around here. The camp host didn’t think there was any concern, and neither do I. It’s just like back home . . . you can’t let your pets run wild if you care about them. Still, while lying in bed last night, we heard them again and again. There obviously is a pack living very close by and they were whooping it up most of the night. George and Gracie seemed to take it in stride, looking out the windows despite the “bad dogs” outside.
Today, we went on a short hike to Langford Hot Springs. It’s right alongside the Rio Grande. It’s a short drive out on a well-maintained dirt road to some historic buildings.
It seems Mr. Langford tried to establish a “health club” around the mineral hot springs here. It was open a few years, and then closed in 1952.
The remains of the structures can still be seen there, and he tried to build a cover over the springs. Only the foundation remains. It’s okay to get into the hot springs, and after a short walk, we found about a dozen people doing just that. We had our swimsuits, but it was very warm, and 105 degree water didn’t seem that inviting. Some people were getting into the warm water, and then cooling off in the river flowing by.
The river is known to be polluted, however, and it smells and looks like sewage. Neither of us really wanted to get into the river, and since people were rinsing off in the hot springs, it’s fairly polluted too by now.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed the walk out there, and looking at the structures. There were some pictographs high on the cliff face, but difficult to see. There were also a number of mud swallow nests, and I always enjoy seeing how the birds live.
The river, although not safe to swim in, was nicely scenic, as were the mountains off in the distance.
The weather has been quite warm in the sun, and there is no breeze. It makes for warm hiking, and so I suspect we’ll stick to shorter hikes while we’re here (unless it cools off, of course). We’ve paid for four nights, and we can stay up to seven (I think). It’s a national park, and so no hook-ups, but we do pretty well without them. There is a concession-run RV park with full hook-ups near here, but we like the primitive campground experience when we’re in a national park.
This is our last stop before we start heading back to Oregon. We’re hoping to head north to Oklahoma City, where I’d like to see the Oklahoma City bombing memorial. Then, our hope is that we can head back across the northern part of New Mexico and Arizona and back to Death Valley for more stars and maybe a wildflower bloom.
We arrived yesterday and found the campground lightly populated. We drove around a bit trying to decide which site to choose when Mike cut a corner a little too tightly and scraped the top of the trailer along some tree branches. He was instantly concerned that it might have poked a hole in the roof. I thought that was an overreaction, but he was right. The damage isn’t serious, and he can repair it himself—he could if he had some caulk, that is. For now . . . what else? Duct tape. How would we live without duct tape and garlic salt? Both have saved our bacon more times than I care to think about.
It was a minor setback fortunately, and we got on with enjoying ourselves fairly quickly. As we were unhitching, I looked across the campground to the registration board and saw a small coyote, bold as you please. Then the camp host drove by in his golf cart and paused to talk to the woman camping across from us about how bold the coyotes are around here. The camp host didn’t think there was any concern, and neither do I. It’s just like back home . . . you can’t let your pets run wild if you care about them. Still, while lying in bed last night, we heard them again and again. There obviously is a pack living very close by and they were whooping it up most of the night. George and Gracie seemed to take it in stride, looking out the windows despite the “bad dogs” outside.
Today, we went on a short hike to Langford Hot Springs. It’s right alongside the Rio Grande. It’s a short drive out on a well-maintained dirt road to some historic buildings.
It seems Mr. Langford tried to establish a “health club” around the mineral hot springs here. It was open a few years, and then closed in 1952.
The remains of the structures can still be seen there, and he tried to build a cover over the springs. Only the foundation remains. It’s okay to get into the hot springs, and after a short walk, we found about a dozen people doing just that. We had our swimsuits, but it was very warm, and 105 degree water didn’t seem that inviting. Some people were getting into the warm water, and then cooling off in the river flowing by.
The river is known to be polluted, however, and it smells and looks like sewage. Neither of us really wanted to get into the river, and since people were rinsing off in the hot springs, it’s fairly polluted too by now.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed the walk out there, and looking at the structures. There were some pictographs high on the cliff face, but difficult to see. There were also a number of mud swallow nests, and I always enjoy seeing how the birds live.
The river, although not safe to swim in, was nicely scenic, as were the mountains off in the distance.
The weather has been quite warm in the sun, and there is no breeze. It makes for warm hiking, and so I suspect we’ll stick to shorter hikes while we’re here (unless it cools off, of course). We’ve paid for four nights, and we can stay up to seven (I think). It’s a national park, and so no hook-ups, but we do pretty well without them. There is a concession-run RV park with full hook-ups near here, but we like the primitive campground experience when we’re in a national park.
This is our last stop before we start heading back to Oregon. We’re hoping to head north to Oklahoma City, where I’d like to see the Oklahoma City bombing memorial. Then, our hope is that we can head back across the northern part of New Mexico and Arizona and back to Death Valley for more stars and maybe a wildflower bloom.
1 comment:
Great photos as usual! I really like the ones thru' the windows & doors.
Have fun!
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