Parks and Recreation

The bathroom is now fully enclosed! Next up, roofing felt and metal. 

On Sunday we spent some time checking out a neighbor's property that is for sale.


Monday morning had a beautiful sunrise.  It was a great start to a fantastic day spent at the Big Bend National Park.  Our good friends Phil and Gina gave us the one-day tour, beginning with a hike on the Window Trail in the Chisos.

The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm, but you could tell all the plants at the park were thirsty.  The last real rain I can remember was in July.  It seems like the "blue hole" has us in its grips!













From the Window -- a huge crevasse in the ring of mountains surrounding the Basin -- you can see many miles across the park.  The crevasse was formed by a fault line and polished over the years by the flow of water.  At the Window, the creek spills down a 200 foot waterfall.

Unfortunately there was no water flowing in the creek because of the extremely dry conditions.

Nothing finishes off a good hike like stopping for lunch at the Overlook restaurant!  I highly recommend the all-you-can-eat soup and salad bar -- lots of yummy choices at a reasonable price.

After lunch we piled back into the vehicle and set out for the Boquillas overlook.

The overlook used to be a popular crossing for tourists into Mexico, but since the border was closed after 9/11 you can no longer cross at Boquillas.

This was a very bad thing for the residents of Boquillas who have built their town on the tourism dollars from the park.  The town itself used to bring in food and supplies from the US side of the Rio since 1944 (when the park was established) because the town is surrounded on the Mexican side by hundreds of miles of barren desert.  Now the town is largely abandoned, though some brave entrepreneurs continue to sell trinkets illegally.

These men have dropped off some handmade walking sticks, jewelry, and art on the US side with a plastic cup for money.  They called out to us from the other side of the river, encouraging us to buy some souvenirs.  If a Ranger sees the items for sale, or being brought home by tourists, he or she will confiscate them as contraband.  It's the job of the man on the horse to ride across the shallow river when officials are near and gather up their wares and earnings before they can be confiscated.  It seems like a lot of hard work and risk to sell souvenirs, but they are dedicated business men.

From Boquillas we rode to the Hot Springs, where a hundred years ago the wealthy would come to stay at the hotel and bathe in the sulfur-rich water.  They thought the waters would cure their illnesses, but now it is illegal to soak in any National Park hot spring.  The giant palm trees were staggeringly huge, and each small room of the hotel had a quaint desert mural on the wall.


After the Hot Springs, the day was getting late so we headed back to Study Butte and then home.  We had a wonderful time thanks to Phil and Gina, and we hope to get back there soon!  Hopefully after some spring rains!