Realising the Dream
Travelog of RVW members Maggie Birchmore and Di Chawner
e-mail: di.mags@virgin.net

Texas Our summer in England seemed to go so quickly or maybe we just had too many things to do. It was great though and we managed to do lots of jobs around the house and garden. We were able to catch up with friends and family and have some very special occasions. Thoughts of our next journey are never very far away. In England we often think of our life in the US. The people we have met and the places we have seen. We have some really good memories. This next trip is taking us to Texas that state which has a bigger land area than England! Well that’s a thought. We arrived in Houston to warm temperatures, well hot temperatures and extreme humidity. We found our way to Livingston, 60 miles north of Houston and there we found our motorhome and car safe and sound. Unbelievably, the car started first time and with a 15-amp hook-up the motor home started first time too. What a pair. We gave both vehicles a clean and then set off towards our destination of Big Bend National Park. Big Bend is a park that lies on a "big bend" in the Rio Grande River. This river is the international border between the US and Mexico. According to Indian legend, when the Great Creator made the earth and finished placing the stars in the sky, the birds in the air, and the fish in the sea, there was a large pile of rejected stony material left over. Finished with His job, He threw this into one heap and made it Big Bend. But first we made our way to Davis Mountain State Park which is just north of Big Bend. It is a really nice park. We had full hook up and cable TV! The sites were under trees in the mountains and full of birds and wild life. This was our first real encounter with Javalinas ( a type of wild pig/boar) We had been to the nearby McDonald Observatory for a ‘star studded’ evening and on our return, there were about 4 or 5 Javalinas by our door. We decided it was better to wait for them to go before we got out of the car. Once they had given us a good sniffing, they left!! We would really recommend Davis Mountain as a place to visit if your planning a trip to Big Bend. Its very pretty. Big Bend is one of the least visited National Parks in the US, probably because of its location, miles from any major cities and with intense summer heat with temperatures over 100 degrees F. We arrived about midday having crossed the desert to get to the campground in the park. Rio Grande Village offers full hook ups but for only 20 RVs. We took one of the few remaining sites and it was then that we realised just how hot it was here. Our temperature gauge registered 100 degrees F, it was hot. In fact 15 degrees higher than normal for this time of year. We spent a day acclimatising before we went on the first of several hikes in the park. The best hike was in an area called the Chisos Basin which at 5,000 feet gave us relief from the heat. The hike to the ‘Window’ was very pretty, with more than average rainfall every where was green and with some beautiful flowers. No one told us however that the trail would entail scrambling over rocks alongside a fuller than usual stream. Well we managed to get through and were rewarded by a wonderful view. On the way back it was a bit more tricky and with a hefty push from me Mags climbed over the rocks, as for me well she offered to me her expanding walking stick to put myself up with. The only problem was when I pulled myself up it parted, fell in the stream and I somehow landed back on a single rock in the stream and after some elaborate dancing found dry land. It was at this point that I thought, thank goodness there is no one here with a camera! Well in an undignified manner I finally made it over the rock and the walking stick was retrieved. Guess I won’t use the walking stick like that again! Mind you we did get another chance to paddle as you can see in the picture above. This is Mags doing her war dance mid stream in a small tributary to the Rio Grande. I gave her 7/10 for technical ability! After 5 days in Big Bend and having seen the sun set over the Rio Grande we moved on. Our next destination Del Rio and then Fredericksburg before we reach San Antonio. So that’s all for now till we get to San Antonio. Di & Maggie (The Brits)

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Last modified: Feb. 2, 2008