Beautiful Big Bend

The weekend before last I took a trip to Big Bend to go trail riding and camping, and it did not disappoint. I have had a love for the West Texas desert for over a decade, and this trip might have topped them all. I recently made the decision to sale our travel trailer and buy a rooftop tent, and this was the first camping adventure with it. As I peaked out the tent window Friday morning, I watched the sunrise over the mountains, and it was a breathtaking view.

Not only was this weekend so wonderful because of the beauty of Big Bend, but it was a weekend UNPLUGGED; no cell service, no internet, no electricity. We enjoyed the beauty of God’s creations without the distractions of all the things that we have now grown to see as “normal” in this fast paced life, but are things that definitely take our time, and in my opinion make us blind to the beauty that is around us in nature. This was a milestone trip, because it was the first time I was leaving Zeke with his dad with no nurse while going out of town. His dad has happily given extra time with Zeke most times when I go out of town, but usually there is a nurse there too. We had night nursing, but not day nurses on Saturday and Sunday, so it was truly just Zeke and dad time while I was gone. That of course is wonderful for Zeke, but had the potential for making me a little nervous since Zeke is so used to having a nurse with him. It was also significant that this trip was my first travel adventure with my boyfriend, which is definitely a big deal for me. You all know I LOVE to travel, and you probably know how road trips and especially camping, can tell you a lot about a person. I knew that this trip would be huge for me in our relationship.

The trip to Big Bend is an 8 hour drive from my house to the entrance to the park. As if this wasn’t daunting enough, we would still need to travel another hour and a half down Old Ore Road, on which your max speed is 20 mph, once we entered the park to get even remotely close to where my boyfriend’s brother and sister and law had set up camp for the night. We had originally planned on leaving Caldwell around lunch and heading that way, but due to an unexpected turn of events with my boyfriend’s work, we didn’t end up leaving Caldwell until around 6. Thankfully, I LOVE to drive on road trips, so I was in it for the long haul driving to Big Bend. We stopped a few times for gas and caffeine, but rolled into Big Bend safely in the early morning, and made it to our campsite around 3:30am. We quickly popped open the rooftop tent, which I can’t say enough good things about, and set up our temporary campsite. We we were both asleep by 4:00am which meant a whole 2 hours of sleep before waking up at 6:00am to make the 40 minute drive on Old Ore Road to meet the others. It was set to be 30 degrees that night, so I was sincerely worried about how cold we would be, but between the sleeping bag layered with another sleeping bag on top, the insulation of the tent, and body heat, it was surprisingly pretty warm that first night. We also surprisingly woke up feeling refreshed after our quick 2 hour cat nap, and were ready to hit the trail to meet the others. In reflecting on our drive down and that first night, I was amazed at how wonderful the ride was. Sometimes long car rides can get monotonous, but thanks to us having ADHD and ADD, we were able to talk the entire ride about probably 300 different topics, mostly coming from either something we saw outside, something we heard on the radio, or some random thought that popped in our heads. Only someone with ADHD/ADD can appreciate the beauty of this, since most people would be annoyed. We also set up camp in a remarkable speed, mainly because the RoofNest rooftop tent simply makes it that easy. As I had flashbacks of horrible camping experiences in previous relationships, they were quickly calmed by the patience, support, and love of my boyfriend as we set up camp in the wee hours of the night.

Friday was our first full day in the park and we quickly tore down camp, literally in less than 20 minutes, aired down the tires the rest of the way on Gussie, and hit the trail. Since we didn’t have cell phone service, we were going off of a GPS ping on “find your friend” with Apple from the day before, so we were hoping we weren’t too far off from finding them. When we pulled up to their campsite no one was to be found, and we initially felt a little defeated, but drove a little further down the trail to Telephone Canyon, where we had previously discussed meeting for coffee, and saw Truck Norris, my boyfriend’s brother’s truck, parked in a camping spot off the trail. We were eager to meet up my boyfriend’s brother and sister and law, and even more excited that they had the camping gear ready for coffee. We spent the majority of the morning exploring the rest of Old Ore Road. We saw all the desert views including some beautiful purple and pink cactus, the Chisos Mountains, and the Rio Grande River, which was absolutely serene. We stopped for lunch at the Rio Grande Village and had a brief moment of wifi while at the ranger station, and then enjoyed skipping rocks for a while on the Rio Grande. We had planned on leaving there and heading to the hot springs, but my boyfriend and I had to take care of some business for work and family stuff and make some phone calls while we had wifi, before heading to the hot springs. His brother and sister and law went ahead, and we met up with them when we were done. While we didn’t get as much time as I would hope at the hot springs, due to taking care of necessary business, we were able to get the calls done we needed to, and then did enjoy a little time at the hot springs. When the hot springs got too warm we jumped into the river to cool off, and waded across to put our feet on Mexican soil. After we left the hot springs, we headed towards Black Gap Road, which was what I was most excited for! Black Gap Road is the one trail that is rewarded with a Trail of Honor Badge through Jeep, and one of only three Badge of Honor Trails in the state of Texas. We knew that we would be taking the first part of the trail, which is partnered with tight roads, and steep cliffs on the sides in the dark, which was a little bit nerve wracking. We managed to make it to our campsite safely though, and get set up for the night. We got the RoofNest opened up, set up the kitchen, and cooked our supper. Of course it isn’t a trip for me without Mexican food, so we had cilantro lime grilled chicken paired with brisket skillet queso, and chips, along with a nice strawberry margarita by the fire.

Saturday we woke up, made some glorious coffee, thanks to my camping K-cup press, and packed up camp. We continued down Black Gap Road, and saw some amazing sites. My boyfriend brought his drone, and took some phenomenal footage of us on the trail, along with the Chisos Mountains. After completing Black Gap, we made the trek to the Chisos Basin, which is an area that is truly remarkable. It has it’s own micro-ecosystem complete with pine trees and different animals. We saw an adorable grey fox on the way up to the basin lodge. We had planned on eating at dinner at the lodge restaurant that night, and it was delicious. Directly off the patio of the basin lodge, you have a view through the “window” at the Chisos Basin, and at sunset, it was absolutely breathtaking. We enjoyed a delicious dinner paired with my all time FAVORITE drink, a prickly pear margarita. My boyfriend and I had planned on using the rooftop tent again that night, but his brother and sister in law offered for us to stay at the Chisos Basin Hotel with them since they had an extra bed. While I absolutely loved camping, I’m not going to lie a good shower was a nice way to end the evening.

We woke up the next morning with the plan to head to Terlingua for breakfast at the Starlight. Terlingua is a Ghost Town that is so awesome. If you’ve ever seen my van, you’ve likely noticed the “Viva Terlingua” bumper sticker. I couldn’t wait to go back to Terlingua to get a new bumper sticker for Gussie. As we pulled into Terlingua I was amazed by all the growth! Apparently a group/company called basecamp Terlingua started a push for development out there and it really has had a lot of growth. We were super happy to see the trading post in Terlingua and I immediately headed in to get my Viva Terlingua bumper sticker, along with some others, while the they went to get a table at the Starlight. We were all disappointed to find out that the Starlight was closed on Sundays, but we decided we would make the drive to Alpine and have brunch at Penny’s Diner, which all of us, except my boyfriend, had eaten at before. We made it to Alpine and pulled in to Penny’s and were shocked to walk in and find out it would likely be over an hour wait; they were apparently short staffed and having issues. After a quick google search I found a place called The Old Gringo that was advertised as a coffee and cocktail bar, and had rave reviews. It did NOT disappoint. It was tex mex food, no surprise there, and we all tried some type of different drink. I had The Old Gringo, which was the namesake of the restaurant and was made with cranberry and Southern Comfort. My boyfriend had the Texas Honey which apparently tastes like pecan pie, and was made with Pecan Praline Whiskey and TexaCola. His brother and sister and law ordered a TexaCola and the Godvia Morning, which was a chocolate and espresso martini.

After lunch we departed, headed towards home, with a plan to stop in Sonora to see the Caverns of Sonora. I asked if we should fill up before hitting the road, but my boyfriend’s brother said “there’s no way you’ll go through that much gas between here and Sonora”. He obviously didn’t know that Gussie’s full name is Gussie the Gas Guzzler. We were on a bit of a time crunch, because we had to make it to the Cavern’s before the final tour started at 5:00pm. We hit the road and started the drive there enjoying the sights along with listening to an awesome podcast my boyfriend got me hooked on called “Things You Should Know” that is full of all the random facts about almost any topic. We chose to learn about bees, beavers, and the Titanic on our drive. This is where that ADHD/ADD combination makes things awesome. As we were approaching Sonora, with just a little extra time before the last tour I hear that dreaded DING from Gussie…low fuel. That meant we had to drive past the caverns exit and further into Sonora to get gas, and then try to drive as fast as we could to make it back in time for the tour. By the grace of God, we were able to get gas and make it into the parking lot at 5:00pm on the dot. As we both ran into the ticketing area and store, the tour guide met us and said, “Yay you made it!”. It was nice to be greeted, and I was thankful the others had let them know we were on the way. The Caverns of Sonora if you have never been are truly AMAZING! I have been to caves all over Texas and throughout the United States, and there are formations in this cave that I had never seen before. I’m used to seeing stalactites and stalagmites, but they have a formation only found there in Texas called Helagtites that grow out of the walls of the cave in different directions. They also have calcite flows that are phosphorescent and glow after being activated by UV light, which was the coolest thing I had ever seen in a cave. If you haven’t been to this one in Texas you should definitely make it a stop. Also, if you love caves, there is a Texas Cave Tour Passport you can complete while visiting five of the caves in Texas, and if you visit all 5 within the year you get a free t-shirt! Needless to say, the Texas Cave Tour Passport is now on my bucket list for this year. After leaving the caverns, we headed home and our only stop on the way was my boyfriend’s pick for supper in Austin. He was shocked that I had never had In-and-Out Burger before, but this Texas girl has been a Whataburger fan my whole life. He spent many summers visiting family in California so In-and-Out was a staple for him. I will say, I was pleasantly surprised by In-and-Out and their “secret menu”. I loved that they had a different bible verse on the drink, fries, and burger containers. It was refreshing to see it.

Overall, this trip was such an amazing adventure, as well as a much needed break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. That time in nature, unplugged, and completely separated from the modern world was exactly what my soul needed. While this trip had the potential to have me fearful over Zeke being without a nurse, and fearful about how that first adventure traveling with my boyfriend would go, as usual they were all unfounded. God knew exactly how much I needed this time enjoying His creations unplugged, how much Zeke needed the time with his dad without a nurse, and how this trip would only solidify the wonderful relationship that is being built with my boyfriend. The one constant remains; God’s plans are perfect, and FEAR IS A LIAR!