Slept in, stayed in the campground till noon to reorganize and to upload to internet.
Went to the Ft Davis National Historic site. Very interesting history. After the civil war, the army posted it’s black troops, the Buffalo soldiers, to fight the other minority, the Indians. Ate at a local Mexican restaurant then returned to the campground. Rode our bikes around the town, 6 mile round trip.
Headed out to the Rio Grande area of the Big Bend State Park. Stopped in the Terlingua ghost town at visited Terlingua Trading Company. We ran into three campers we had met at the Chisos Basin campground on several occasions. Drove Texas farm road 170 along the Rio Grande. Stopped at a boat launch on the river. It was in the low 90’s and the river was muddy and dirty. We decided to skip putting the kayaks in and drove on. We passed through Presidio then drove north to Fort Davis. Stopped for the night at the MacMillen in the Highlands private campground and went to dinner at the campground’s restaurant. Great campsite and restaurant. While we were there, the three women we had seen in Terilingua came in to eat. Unbelievable coincidence! They joined us for dinner and we exchanged stories. They are college professors from Arlington Texas on vacation. We had a great time talking with them and exchanged contact info.
The morning ranger talk was about the history and names of the places in the Park. We stayed around camp till mid afternoon, then hiked the Lost Mine trail. 2.4 miles each way, 1100 ft climb. Wonderful views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. Storms started moving in as we reached the top. The rains hit just as we got back to the RV. The storms cleared later and we finally got to see a sunset here. Absolutely beautiful. The temps dropped to 49 degrees overnight.
Went on a ranger tour about the wildlife here. Very entertaining and knowledgeable ranger, never knew foxes rested in trees. This is mountain lion and black bear country, and there are pig-like animals called javelinas that scavenge here. Hiked 5 miles out and back to the “window”, the top of a 400 ft waterfall in a valley between two mountains. Gorgeous view, we sat there and soaked our feet in the creek for a while. Had the place to ourselves. Big Bend is the least visited of the National Parks. Lots of flowers in bloom, and there was a cool breeze all day. At night a ranger gave a talk about the plant life in the Park.
We wish all campgrounds could be as nice as Travelers World in San Antonio. One of the best we have stayed in. Took off and headed toward Del Rio. Stopped at the Seminole Canyon SP north of town. Went on a guided ranger walk down into the canyon and explored the caves with 4000 year old drawings. We were the only campers on the tour. Our guide (Jack Johnson) was a young grad student and was very knowledgeable and friendly. We set up at the campsite afterward, and then Dave went on the 6 mile bike trip over to the Rio Grande river. The bike trail was rutted and had lots of boulders and loose rocks. The desert is in bloom; it has rained a lot lately. Lots of different flowers everywhere. Saw several jackrabbits and noticed lots of deer tracks. The wind howled all night and rocked the camper. Didn’t affect sleeping though. It’s still cool here and we haven’t had to run the A/C on the trip so far.
Woke up to rain in Huntsville. Headed into San Antonio thru the Texas hill country, very pretty area. Found a Passport America campground 3 miles from downtown. Rode a bus into town and went to the Riverwalk. Rode a water taxi on a guided tour. Went by the Alamo after visiting hours. Fixed computer problem with photos, got a new SD card reader.
Took the kayaks out for an hour trip up and back on the Calcasieu River. Packed up and headed west. Stopped at the Huntsville SP, north of Houston. Nice park on Lake Raven (yeah, lots of crows). Nearly deserted, only a couple of campers in the park. Heavy rain just before we arrived, but it cleared for the evening. Took the bike ride around the campground, watched the sun set over the lake. Having trouble with the computer not being able to read the disks from the camera, can’t put pictures in the computer. What a pain.
Spent a quiet day in the SP. Walked a 2 mile river trail, rode bikes around the park. Cooked several meals and stored them for later.
Link to photos:
Left Alabama & drove to Lake Charles, La. Stopped at the Sam Houston Jones SP for the night. They honored the national park pass and let us in for ½ price. At $8 a night, it’s a lot cheaper to camp than to drive! Rode around the park, watched as someone fed about 8 deer and a half dozen raccoons. The raccoons would come up and take the food from your hand. Park pets (pests?).
