Big Bend Exploration

Work and exploring Big Bend are what we have been up to. The Thanksgiving week is one of the busiest in the park and it was good to have a lot of shoppers in the store. Otherwise the Rio Grande Village store is slow and booooooring....
On our days off we have been hiking and checking out this very large National Park. There is desert, river and mountain hiking to do.
The Lost Mine Trail is in the Chisos Mountains; the trail is 5 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 1.100'.

Sherri says "Homer Simpson Rock"

One morning we joined a Ranger for a bird walk. I didn't get any good bird photos but we did see these Javelinas/Collared Peccaries on the way to the walk

A beautiful spot in the park is the Castolon Historic area and the Santa Elena Canyon. The canyon extends about five miles with the canyon walls up to 1,500' high.

Entrance to Santa Elena Canyon

Looking out of canyon toward Chisos Mountains

End of the trail into Santa Elena Canyon, about 1 mile in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lava deposits along Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive

The last two photos are river pictures on our six mile round trip hike to the Hot Springs. My camera's batteries went dead and I did not get any photos of the Hot Springs. I guess we'll have to do the hike again.

Arrived Big Bend

It's been a long time since I posted a blog. We have been busy packing up at the North Rim, traveling to Albuquerque and getting ready to move on to Big Bend. We made it to Big Bend on Sunday Nov. 4, did our paperwork on Monday and started work on Tuesday. Our location in Big Bend is in the Rio Grande Village area, it is remote and cell and internet do not exist. Yesterday we finally got hooked up by Big Bend Telephone with DSL and a land line. If  you want to call us over the next six months use our new number 432-477-2336.
As usual I didn't take any photos in Albuquerque and we were very busy visiting family and friends who we had not seen in a year. I did take in a Lobo Football game and played a couple of rounds of golf, which I had not done in a year...I wasn't sure which end of the club to hold. We were also busy helping Amy buy a new car, which we did, finding her a nice used Toyota Corolla. Sherri has missed having a vehicle of her own so we bought Amy's 1996 Ford Explorer. Amy then used the money to make a down payment on the Toyota.Sherri followed the truck and fifth wheel in our travels from Albuquerque to Big Bend. Here is the new line up.

Upon arriving in Big Bend we stopped in the Rio Grande Village Store, our new work location. Much to our surprise the staff from Forever Resorts Retail from Scottsdale was in the store working on merchandising. Abriel is hard at it in our new work location.

The store and campground are located along the Rio Grande river and is a sliver of  green in the desert, surrounded by many mountain ranges. A few photos show our work and living location.

Sherri and Ryder on the road from the store to Daniel's Ranch.

Rio Grande from Daniel's Ranch...Mexico is on left.

Our RV is on far left

Town of Boquillas, Mexico on the other side of the river.

Boquillas is a sleepy village of about 200. The residents used to cross freely over to Big Bend and shop in our store. The Big Bend tourists used to take a canoe across the river, a mule to town, then shop and dine in Boquillas. This all changed after 9-11, now a few residents cross but it is discouraged, and no tourists go to Mexico. This has hurt Boquillas economically, but a few still bring their wares over the border and leave the artwork for tourists to buy on the honor system.

Walking sticks and artwork

Crossing the river

Another interesting character from the Mexican side is Victor the Singing Mexican. He sings from the Mexican side with a tip jar on the US side. He has a great voice which is amplified by Boquillas Canyon. Not surprising - Victor can be found on You Tube.

One last picture of Sherri hanging out by the nature trail which is close to the store. The beaver pond has a beautiful catwalk which goes across the water and through the reeds.