Big Bend National Park

There are many great things about owning a camper, but the ability to be flexible is probably at the top. Our travel plans changed even before we set out on our adventure this spring break. Originally, we planned to leave early Thursday morning and travel to Seymour, TX or further then finish the drive on Friday. The weather had a different plan though. West Texas was due to have hurricane strength winds Friday and we knew it wouldn’t be good to haul a camper through this. So, we decided to leave Wednesday night after school, make it to north OKC for the night and have a longer journey on day two.

This was our first red flag that this wasn’t going to be the easiest trip. While in nowhere southern OK, our TMPS went off and showed one of our tires was losing air, quickly - dropping from about 75 to 50ish. We pulled over and saw that the tire stem was loose. Aaron pushed it in as best he could and we were lucky to make it down the highway and find a gas station with an air pump. We filled back up to the 70s and then looked to find a tire place. We had to stop two more times to push the tire stem back in and then made it to the tire shop. Eight dollars later and we were back on the road!  The sun set made the long drive day all worth it!

We made it all the way past Alpine, TX (and if you know the area - it’s nothing around but beautiful views and no gas stations or air), and then our TMPS went off again. A different tire. The same problem. And we were in complete darkness on the shoulder of the road. We were about 10 miles from the next city (Study Butte, TX) which had a gas station. We made it there after another couple of stops to fix the leaking tire, making the tire get as low as 45, and then got to an air pump. There was a laminated sign on the air pump that read, “Out of Order” ….. You’ve got to be kidding me. I ran into the station and said, is it really, really out of order?  It was a $1.50 gamble, so we took our changes and it worked!!!! We pumped the tire up and drove under 40 mph for the next 20 miles to get to the campsite in Lajitas - getting there right at 10pm. Needless to say, it was an eventful 1,000 mile trip, deserving of a glass of wine.  We knew we’d worry about the tire stems in the morning. 

This was a very special trip for us!!  We are lucky enough to have some kindred friends in Katie and Kyle and their kids, who enjoy camping just as much as we do, and we planned this trip together! And the Award for the Longest Drive goes to them! They ended up traveling the 19 hour drive STRAIGHT from home to Lajitas due to a school conflict that kept them from leaving early along with those Friday winds. They got to Lajitas at 8am on Friday and enjoyed a morning nap straight away! 

Trip Details:

Where: Big Bend National Park

Campsite: Maverick Ranch RV Park - site 1 (it was right next to the dog park which we thought was a plus!) The sites were beautifully spaced out, the pool was heated and the trails around the park was an added bonus!

Length: 3 days

Itinerary:

Day 1 - Bonus day: Rest day/pool day/fix all remaining 3 tire stems 

Day 2: Relax in the morning/hike around the state park that was around the campsite and canoe down the Rio Grande in Big Bend NP in the afternoon!

Day 3: Big Bend National Park

Kid’s Highlights: Canoeing down the Rio Grande!

Adult's Highlights: Hiking Santa Elena Canyon 

On our relaxing day, the kids enjoyed pool time, along with volleyball, card games and a spa and movie night!

The next morning we enjoyed the sunrise at the camper and Charlotte and I enjoyed the views from above. 

The afternoon was a fun experience! We chose to do a half day canoe trip down the Rio Grande River. We went with Far Flung Outdoor Center’s Half Day adventure and we spent about an hour canoeing up and down the Rio Grande! It was such a fun experience to be on a river that had Mexico on one side and the US on  the other! On this float trip, we saw cattle and horses. Paige and Aaron saw a turtle too! We also floated by a hot spring where the temperature got up to 105 degrees! 

On the final day, we spent the whole day in Big Bend National Park!  After the obligatory main sign photo op, we drove south on Old Maverick Road. Heads up that this road was kind enough to give us a Texas massage. It was such a bumpy ride!! Don’t go on it unless you have a 4x4!  During our day here, we learned that the Chisos Mountains are in the heart of Big Bend National Park. It is the only mountain range totally contained within a single national park. It was hard for some to pronounce… and when I say some people, I mean me… I struggled. So some people like to call it Cheetos Mountains, instead. 

There we stopped a few times to see the canyons and visit Luna’s Jacal home.  Gilberto Luna built his home, called a jacal, out of rock, earth and plant fiber. He ended up living to be 108 years old and died in 1947. Pretty cool that it's still standing.

After our Texas massage was over, we parked at Santa Elena Canyon Trail. This was an easy morning hike (1.5 miles roundtrip) that provided some great views of the Santa Elena Canyon and Rio Grande.  

Next, we took the paved (😁) Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Highway 118 that runs through the national park. While on the scenic drive, we stopped at Mule Ears View Point and had lunch. Then we checked out Sotol Vista. Both were beautiful, but if you only have time for one, make sure to check out Sotol Vista.  There were some beautiful cacti in this national park - including purple cacti!

After the kids earned their junior ranger badges at Panther Junction Visitor’s Center (park headquarters), we checked out the Fossil Discovery Exhibit. It was a bit left to be desired, so if you don’t have much time, it would be okay to skip this. 

Another hike we really wanted to do was the Lost Mine Trail (5 miles roundtrip), however parking was EXTREMELY limited and you would have had to get out there earlier than 8am to get a spot. During the busy times, the rangers limit the cars to one in and one out. When we saw the line earlier in the day, we decided to wait to see if we could get in without a car line since our two families had two cars. At about 3:30pm, we were able to drive right in, however, we knew it was too late to try for a 5 mile hike. FYI, there is an option to do the first mile in Lost Mine Trail to get some beautiful views (so we’ve heard), however parking was no where to be found. We did go into the Chisos Basin and parked at the visitors center to enjoy a quick Window View Trail which was less than a half mile round trip paved “hike.” This was a gorgeous view of the Chisos Mountains and so glad we stumbled upon this treasure!

The next morning we got up to some more bad news…. The Gurley’s can’t catch a break. Our camper decided that its converter was tired and wanted a break when the thermostat said LO and the heater wouldn’t kick on. Sigh….. At least we enjoyed a beautiful morning sunrise. We used the travel day to figure out another problem as we head to Carlsbad National Park and Guadalupe National Park!  

Until next time….

Mary