At the end of last week we spent three days in the Big Bend area of Texas; it's about 7 hours away from Austin. We stayed the first night near Marfa, TX, so we could spend some time viewing the Mysterious Marfa Lights in the sky. (Do a Google search if need be.) We saw them; they were mysterious, if not exactly overwhelming.
We then went to Big Bend Ranch State Park, which as adjacent to (and just west of) the National Park because it has (1) a long paved road alongside the Rio Grande, and (2) a hike into a slot canyon.
Here we had our first sighting of the fabled river:
As rivers go, it was pretty puny. Big canyon, but small river.
Rose and I like to hike in slot canyons. The state park system calls this one the "Closed Canyon," and it's easy to find, and hike into, from the main road along the river. It extends all the way to the Rio Grande, but we didn't go the entire distance because we came to a pool of water we considered unpassable. The tension we felt during the hike was heightened when we considered, "what will we do if we encounter undocumented workers who are coming up the canyon from the border?" Say "Hello?" Run for our lives? We never saw anyone else, documented or otherwise, so happily we didn't have to answer this question.
The first picture is of Rose at the entrance to the canyon.
The second picture is Dave farther within the canyon (i.e., closer to the Rio Grande and border).
When we got to the main lodge (office, restaurant, etc.) of the National Park, we discovered that the Model A Ford Club of Austin was also visiting. They had ten cars, of 1929-1931 vintage. These cars had trouble with overheating on the mountain roads and were often sighted on the side of the road rather than motoring upon it.
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