Big Bend and Terlingua

March 1-4, 2021 - Sanderson, Tx.

The drive from Uvalde to Sanderson was uneventful.  We arrive at the Canyons RV Park and park in our little space of gravel for the next few days.  It is directly in front of the busiest train track I have ever seen. The trains ran all night and all day long.  There are 10 Border Patrol agents living in this park right now.  They park in the RV slip next to their RVs which severely limitted our site selection.  The first spot we pulled into had 3 breakers and none were 50 amp, but we can make do with 30 in these milder temperatures.  But when Dennis opened the breaker box they had replaced a 30 amp breaker with a 20 amp.  So, of course we had to move.  When we pulled over to another spot one of the agents asked if we wanted him to move his truck.  We had another space so we told him not to worry about it, but at least he asked.  He is the one that said there were ten living there.  I felt pretty safe.  Sanderson had also gone through some freezing temperatures so their showers and laundry were not open due to plumbing issues.  They also had this cool building that looked like it was probably a lodge of some sort.  I had hoped it was a lounge for the RV park so I called the RV Park phone number and a lady said any amenities that were not unlocked were unavailable at this time.  I am not real sure she had ever seen this park, because she really had no idea what I was talking about.  This building had some doors with regular locks and some with those combination locks (all locked) and even had another building behind it that had 'The Bunk House' on it with a fire pit and same seating between the two.  Pretty cool looking place.  I got my book and sat back there one day reading and enjoying the sunshine. It was very peaceful and pleasant - well when the train wasn't coming by.

Sanderson has a large store with all of these metal yard decorations outside, so I left Dennis at home and just went to explore that and the rest of the town. Turns out that store is a huge and very well stocked hardware store.  It is quite a maze in there though.  This is a very small town.  They don't even have a grocery store.  You have to drive an hour to get groceries.  There is a sign that says Big Bend Information at the Chamber of Commerce Building, but it was closed the entire time we were there.  I looked in the windows and they had tons of information, but I couldn't get to it.  I saw a sign for a museum and thought I would go check that out, but - you guessed it - it was also closed.  So there is not much I can say about Sanderson, Texas.

 

The day we were pulling out a gentleman put a No Trespassing sign on that cool building I was telling you about.  Oops, maybe it wasn't part of the RV Park.

March 4-11, 2021 - Next stop - Big Bend

We took off for the two and a half hour trip to Terlingua.  We were about an hour away on the curvy State Highway 118 when Dennis realized he could see a kayak in his rear view mirror.  This is not normal, folks.  So we slowed down until we finally found a place we could pull over and two other cars pulled over with us.  Apparently they had been trying to flag us down, but couldn't get around us or even wave their arms out of their windows for us to see them before we were around another bend and they were out of site.  We were dragging the bicycles and Dennis' kayak for some 10-15 minutes.  The straps were all that was holding these things to the back of the RV. They said sparks were flying and they were wondering if we had caught fire.  

 

We thanked them for trying and Dennis and I got about the work of taking everything off the back. The rack had broken right at the hitch on the RV, not any where near the prior welding job we had done in Colorado.  A fellow RVing couple (Dave and Teri Mejia) pulled up to give us a hand. Come to find out they were also at Canyon RV Park in Sanderson and were heading to Big Bend Resort and Adventures in Terlingua - so were we!!!  They were very helpful and even transported one of the dismembered bicycles to our destination for us since we were unable to transport everything.  We exchanged telephone numbers and they were following behind to make sure our precarious new kayak hauling system did not fail us on the last leg of this journey.  It wasn't until we were on the road that we realized neither of us had phone service.  When we arrived at the park they had even assigned us neighboring RV slips. 

 

We took the bike apart and the maintenance guy helped us haul them and Dennis' kayak to a roll off dumpster they had in the back of the park.  I wish I had gotten a picture of the nose of his kayak.  It looked like a shark bit the end off completely.  Mine was not damaged, but we no longer had a system to carry it.  So we lost all of our toys on this journey.  It really broke my heart at first, but as the week went on, we both came to terms with it and realized we had not pulled the kayaks down for months and the last few parks we have been to were way to hilly to enjoy riding our bikes. I gave my kayak to another neighbor at the park.

So what can I say about Big Bend.  For those of you that know the area, every where you look is post card worthy! I finally had to stop myself from taking all these scenery photos.  It is the most beautiful area in Texas, in my humble opinion.  I have actually been here once before as a child - DURING THE SUMMER BREAK - we stayed about 2 hours and packed up and left.  There was no getting the RV cool in those August temperatures.  I vowed never to return.  My little brother Rex has no memory of that first trip and he loves it here so I just had to give it another try.  I am so very glad I did.

First, let me start by telling you that Teri and Dave Mejia are some of the coolest people we know.  They are mirror images of us and we had such a great time with them.  You can find their blog at Oceans-to-mountains.com to see what I mean.

So - I have thought about how to tell you about the things we did in Big Bend and I don't want to go into too much detail and make this a super long post.  Suffice it to say that we hiked many a mile in the national park, rode ATVs in the Terlingua Ranch (formerly owned by Carroll Shelby - yes, the Shelby Mustang Shelby), canoed down the Rio Grande in the state park, drove a beautiful scenic drive, had a great meal at a really cool restaurant, and hung out with some super nice people I really hope to see again soon.

Balanced Rock at the end of the Grapvine Hills Trail

2.2 mile round trip hike with 240 foot elevation gain 

(all of this gain at the end of the trail - we were rock climbing)

We went down to the water at Rio Grand Village and found some trinkets for sale and even think we found were Dennis camped with the Boy Scouts in 1991

 

The Window, with our new friends, at the end of the Chisos Basin Trailhead.  

5.6 miles round trip with an elevation of 1,489 ft. - that one had me winded.

Santa Elena Canyon trail 1.6 miles round trip and 80 ft elevation. The canyon walls rise 1500 feet above the water. The temperature dropped like crazy inside the canyon and the water was ice cold.

Mule Ears off the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.  3.8 Mile round trip hike with 20 foot elevation.  

We did not finish this one - the elevation listed was very deceptive. You went up and down so much it equated to only 20 feet elevation overall - accumulative would have been a million feet or so.

ATV trip with Teri and Dave to Christmas Mountain on Terlingua Ranch

Our guide, Terry

Canoeing on the Rio Grand and even had a snack in Mexico.

 

Dinner with Teri and Dave at Starlight Theater and Saloon.

They even had live music back there

I am leaving a lot out of this post, but just suffice it to say we should all spend at least one week in Big Bend.  There is something for everyone here.  Terlingua is a town where people really live rough.  It is desert and there are not many nice homesteads around and some have incorporated the ruins of the ghost town into their homes - many folks live completely off grid and even have their water trucked in.  Lajitas is 30 minutes away and they are living the good life in their beautiful adobe homes.  Everything is asthetically pleasing in that town complete with spas and golf resorts.

Big Bend, I will be back! Maybe not next year, but soon.

In the mean time, you guys start planning your trip, just make it in the Spring or Fall, never in the Summer.