January 13, 2006

January 13, 2006

Big Bend National Park, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 210

 

Today was, as usual, very sunny and very warm. Overnight, we had a real West Texas desert storm. Exceptionally high winds, but no precipitation. The power to the campground was knocked out. The wind was severe enough to rock the trailer, and Teddy and Bo were both terrified. Yesterday's high temperature was 83, and yesterday's low was 36. Isn't that an amazing variation ? !

This morning I crawled underneath the truck to see if there was a heat shield between the starter and the engine. There was. I was so disappointed. After talking to the service manager at the Stony Plain, Alberta GM dealer the other day, I was really hopeful that the heat shield would be missing, and that would be the cause of the ongoing starter problems. Now we're back to having no reasonable explanation for this ongoing problem.

I went to the campground office, paid for another night, took Bo for an obedience session, then we left for another day of exploring Big Bend National Park. We drove about 20 miles to the main Visitor Centre at Panther Junction, the main crossroads in the park where the north / south road intersects the east / west road. We checked out the exhibits in the Visitor Centre, asked some questions of the Park Ranger on duty, and requested information on the National Parks Service V.I.P. ( Volunteers In Parks ) Program. He gave us a V.I.P. Program Information Kit. They welcome applications from outside the U.S., for their International V.I.P. Program. I think we'll apply for a National Parks Service Volunteer position next winter in some nice, warm, southern National Park. Maybe Death Valley in California. Joanne really liked Death Valley. Maybe here.

From Panther Junction we drove to the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail. Once there, we had a picnic lunch, then hiked the trail. It was a very interesting interpretive trail, with small plaques identifying and explaining typical desert plants. We learned a lot. There is truly an astounding amount of different types of desert plants, trees, and cacti, even though many of them appear quite similar, especially from a distance, or while driving down the highway. The temperature was warm, and we enjoyed a leisurely hike around the desert. Frequently, a small plane passed overhead at low altitude. It even waggled its wings at us. It was obviously a border patrol plane. We think the United States spends entirely way too much money trying to keep Mexicans in Mexico.

We drove back to the campground, put on bathing suits, and drove to the hot springs nearby. Hot Springs Road was a couple of miles of a one lane gravel trail, marked as not suitable for motorhomes, vehicles with trailers, or dual wheeled vehicles. WHAT ? NO DUALLIES ? I didn't come this far just to be deprived of an opportunity to soak in hot springs, so down Hot Springs Road we went, Joanne at the wheel. YIKES ! We didn't get too far down Hot Springs Road when we mutually decided we should change drivers. Getting around the curves meant having the rear dually hip inches from scraping the rock face on one side, with the opposite side front wheel inches from falling over the edge, plummeting Dee-Dee into the canyon. I took a couple of photos of Dee-Dee on Hot Springs Road. Joanne suggested I should send them to my sister, so she can have nightmares. HA HA HA !

We spent a long time in the afternoon soaking in the 105 degree hot springs. They bubble out of the side of the mountain, into a small pool, which then spills into the Rio Grande River. I was surprised to see that the Rio Grande River here was no more than about 100 feet wide. On the opposite bank, in Mexico, was a peddlar, willing to come across to sell to the tourists in the hot springs. Apparently his wares include carved walking sticks, dogs, and drugs. Eclectic selection of merchandise, n'est-ce pas ? We chatted away the afternoon with people ranging in age from a young man celebrating his 23rd birthday today, to a 71 year old RV'ing couple, with everything in between. It was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon, soaking in the hot springs, talking with a variety of people from different places. A couple of young women from a university in Minnesota were here as V.I.P.'s, earning a credit in their Environmental Studies program. One of the young men offered me a beer ( illegal at the hot springs ), which I accepted. Finally, as the sun disappeared behind the mountain, and the temperature began to cool rapidly, we hiked back to the parking lot, to head for "home".

While Joanne prepared supper, I worked on yesterday's and today's photos. We had supper, then I did today's accounting and journal entry. We're a little bit tired, stiff and sore from yesterday's tough hike into Santa Elena Canyon, but soaking in the hot springs helped.

DSK