We drove 128 miles today, and that was entirely inside the park boundaries. We visited Catalon, which is an abandoned village where cotton farming once took place, to take advantage of the hot weather and the nearby Rio Grande River that was used for irrigation. We drove on to Santa Elena Canyon, where we walked… Continue reading Big Bend National Park
Author: Bernard Chenevert
Big Bend National Park
First thing in the morning, we walked a trail leaving our campground to the Rio Grande River. It is mind blowing that just across the river, one is in Mexico. Claudette prepared a lunch, and we went and had that at Boquillas Canyon Overlook, which offers a different look at the Rio Grande. From the… Continue reading Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park
The drive into the park is quite breathtaking. It feels king of incredible to drive almost 100 miles inside the park and meet very few vehicles. This park has 5 visitor centers! After settling into our campsite, we went back and visited the panther junction visitor center, and then drove onwards to the Chisos… Continue reading Big Bend National Park
Monahans Sand Hills State Park
This is our first stay in a Texas State Park. We have a Water and Electric hookup for a fraction of what the commercial campgrounds charge. More importantly, the park is in the middle of an area that consists of ever-changing sand dunes, some as high as 50 ft. The dunes are open to pedestrian… Continue reading Monahans Sand Hills State Park
Abilene, TX
This is a one-nighter to split the distance between the Dallas – Fort Worth area and Big Bend National Park in three. Interestingly the have several sculptures exhibited in several parks around the theme of children’s storybooks. We went around them, and it is extremely well done. Several of Dr. Seuss’ books were included, but… Continue reading Abilene, TX
Fort Worth – Stock yards
Today we went to an area that is definitely touristy and repurposes buildings that were used when Fort Worth was a hub for the movement of cattle. This was the first time since COVID started that we actually walked into several stores back-to-back just to browse what’s offered and buy a few souvenirs (we wore… Continue reading Fort Worth – Stock yards
Dallas, TX – George W. Bush Presidential Center
Visiting presidential centers was never part of our plan, but having visited the Clinton one while in Little Rock, we figured it would be interesting to compare by vising the one for the younger Bush (43rd president). There is of course a section dedicated to 9/11/2001, including a few badly bent beams that were taken… Continue reading Dallas, TX – George W. Bush Presidential Center
Dallas, TX
Today we arrived at our campground in Sunnyvale, TX, in the suburbs Northeast of Dallas. This is the first time on this trip that we encounter significant vehicular traffic. After setting up at our site, we drove to the downtown area, and were just stunned by the amount of highway overpass construction underway. No doubt… Continue reading Dallas, TX
Hot Springs National Park
Today we went to the Quapaw bath house, after successfully booking yesterday one of the few available slots available today. It was a “silk bath” which is a gentle exfoliating bath. The bath itself lasts only 20 minutes, so we were both somewhat disappointed by the experience. Overall, our takeaway from Hot Springs is… Continue reading Hot Springs National Park
Hot Springs National Park.
We moved on to Hot Springs, AR early in the morning to beat the forecasted snowfall later in the day. In the afternoon, and before the actual start of the snowfall, we decided to go and scope out what the area looks like. Eight “bath houses” were built in the late 1910s-early 1920s. Today,… Continue reading Hot Springs National Park.