Easter Egg Motel Terlingua

... stream, argh, Jonathan grabbed her and started to try and drag her<br>across, but but this time both of them were struggling the Rest of<br>the Green Tortoise crew found it rather funny at what was going on in<br>the river. Maria, a German woman on the trip grabbed Jonathan and<br>began to drag us both across. Eventually Michelle was out of the<br>strong current but still not quite to safety. The rocks under her<br>feet were rather painful and ...

... food.<br><br> Sunday morning we said our goodbyes, Kate returned to Houston, and we drove on for Big Bend National Park in southern Texas. We arrived right around sunset after a few delays and the pictures just don&#8217;t do the sky justice. There were a few small, scattered storms throughout the area as we drove in and as the sun was disappearing over the mountains, the sky looked like it was set ablaze. The ...

... hot springs, and view of Boquillas (a small Mexican village). Unfortunately, the daytime temperatures were way too hot to enjoy the 104 degree springs, but we dipped our legs into the cooler river water and talked to some European hikers who'd earlier seen a man carefully crossing the swift Rio Grande from Boquillas, to check on his handicrafts and money jar, which he'd set out for potential patrons on the U.S. side. The close proximity to the heavily watched ...

... walls 1500 feet high and (normally) a few exciting rapids. But with such massive water flows, we didn't see a single rapid. The largest rapid is usually a section called 'Rock Slide', which is a rocky section that the river guide has to maneuver the raft through. We didn't see a single rock! Instead, we had to make our way through giant waves that swamped the boat, and got so tall that they broke ...

... based rain protection system since our tent isn't particularly great in rain, and we had a great time meeting the local wildlife, including a few scorpions the size of salad plates and a few roadrunners (which looked nothing like the Warner Brothers cartoon). The next day, we decided to explore the park a bit, and since there weren't really any wheelchair accessible trails, we had to do it by car. No problem, we thought, let's try an unpaved bit of ...

... per gallon, taking 20% off our cost per mile is a big deal and worth the extra time on the road and the prolonging of the boring parts. Now to Big Bend in SW Texas. This is our third time here and it never ceases to amaze us. Wish our camera was working. We are staying in the high basin, surrounded by desert mountains up to 6k feet high. The bird life here is spectacular. It is the northern end of the southern bird species and vice versa for northern species ...

... to get a different angle. I wish I could have cloned myself so that I could be on the plateau, by the river, 15 kms away and a few other positions to get all the different shots I would have liked to get. Once the sun rose I went back to the riverbed, crossed the stream a few times and took a bunch of photos from there. Then I climbed the stairs, again, to hike into the canyon. I didn't know how long the trail was so I came prepared with my backpack and ...

... the sunrise. As I was writing this I remembered that the moon was rising low in the sky. I tried getting a few night shots. I have to figure out how to get the shutter to stay open longer than 30 seconds to take pictures of the stars. Then another night I'll head out of town into the deep dark night. Enjoy the pictures. A lot of them are quite similar. I couldn't decide which were the better ones. The Baja 500 X 10&#8315;¹ X 2 or 3 tomorrow.

... took our time, stopping to take pictures, watch deer and birds, eat lunch, etc. We arrived at the 3rd night's campsite at 2 in the afternoon. After pitching the tent, I suggested we hike back down to the trailhead to enjoy a nice New Year's Eve dinner in the lodge restaurant. We guessed that the trailhead was only a half mile or so downhill, so it would be relatively easy to walk down there and then back up again at night using our headlamps ...

Del Rio, TX to Big Bend, TX 2400 miles, wind speed 4 knots. I woke up and began heading west again. The land appeared to be changing, and this could mean the open seas up ahead! After 4 or 5 hours of cruising, I saw signs towards a place called Big Bend National Park, I've ...