After we arrived in Big Bend and marveled continuously at the phenomenal scenery, we set up our tent right near the bathrooms and we had no problem finding a site as there weren’t many people there. The tent was surprisingly easy to set up, and afterward we made our dinners (ie - sandwiches and fruit) and drove up to the Big Bend “cottages” area which have a great view of the sunset. After sitting on a big rock and eating, Theresa and I walked a little way up a nearby trail before sunset and we saw a couple deer eating leaves right next to us. They were does and jus looked at us, not seeming at all disturbed, then walked slowly away. It was pretty cool.
After watching the sunset we went back to our tent area and got ready for bed, being careful to keep all food stuffs in the “bear lockers” or in the closed car. We went to bed about the time all the light left the sky (around 10:30) and watched the stars and very bright moon through the screen parts on the top of our tent. Unfortunately, we could not see the stars that well because the moon was so very bright. The temperature at night was perfect and probably got down to about 65.
Around 5 am, I woke up and had to use the restroom. It was very close by, and with the lights from the restroom I could make out a clear path to the door, so I got up and went out. It is a strange feeling, standing out in the night by yourself in the middle of nowhere. A little scary, a little awe-inspiring - especially when I saw the sky which was like no night sky I’d ever seen before. The moon was gone (I don’t know where) and there were billions of stars lighting up the sky like diamonds. You could even see a milky colored strip that wound it’s way across the sky in one part, embodying the phrase “the milky way.” It was breathtaking. After I used the bathroom, I came back and stood outside the tent, still marveling until I heard what I thought was a bear growl, at which point I literally dove into the safety of the tent, heart pounding. However, I later realized it was probably Enrique who’d heard me and woken up a little bit, and when he wakes up, he growls.
The next day we woke up at 8:30 with the sun shining and after eating breakfast and packing our lunches, we went to the visitor’s center and got a map and advice on different trails.
We decided to start with the Lost Mine trail which took us to an elevation of over 7,000 feet and gave us a fabulous view of the Chisos Mountains and Basin (the part where we were camping).
It was a 5 mile hike round trip, and well-worth it. We met several interesting people on the trail and everyone was fascinated by the story of our trip and how we met. At the top we could see out toward Mexico, though weather we could see far enough to actually see into Mexico we are not sure. There were many hawks at Big Bend, and we got many close up views of them flying. It was so beautiful sitting on the top of this mountain and eating our lunch and watching the birds fly and listening to the wind. It was indescribable.
When we got back down, we had ice creams from the visitor center store and then went to our campsite to relax a bit. The next trail I wanted to hike was called “The Window View” trail, which was another 4 miles but this time down into the basin instead of up into the mountains.
Enrique and Carmen were too pooped to come, but Theresa was kind enough to humor me despite the blisters on her heels. The hike was hotter since we were going down, but the view from the “window” which is a little slot between two canyons that looks out over the western ranges and in which the sun sets. The view was pretty awesome, but unfortunately Theresa thought she was going to slip so she didn’t make it the last couple hundred feet to the actual window, which I was sad about - it was, after all, awesome - but she didn’t seem too disappointed.
It was a harder walk back because it was quite steep and by the time we returned to the campsite, we were about to pass out our feet were aching so badly. After 9 miles of walking, my ankles are still sore today (3 days later). That night I again woke at 5:15 am to use the restroom, but this time Carmen came with me and she got to see the stars too (and we could protect each
other from the bears lol).
The next morning we ate, packed up, and hit the road on the way to El Paso. We made it to El Paso around 3 pm after traveling along the Rio Grande and seeing some absolutely stunning scenery of staggering cliffs, desert plains, and interesting little houses along the Rio Grande. In El Paso we went to the mall for a little bit so Carmen and Enrique could take advantage of the American prices on things like Levi’s and Dockers.
The mall was called Cielo Vista and everyone there spoke Spanish which was really funny because when we walked in the mall a woman offered Carmen a sample of something in Spanish and she was so shocked. Lol Basically it was like Miami but with Mexicans instead of Cubans. It was nice for Carmen and Enrique though. J After that we went to our couch surfers house which was like a mansion!! There are 3 medical students living in it because apparently housing is dirt cheap in El Paso. Our host’s name was Daniel, and his roomies were Phillip and Meredith. They were all really nice and went with us to a yummy burger place called TorroTorro for dinner. It also had veggie burgers for Theresa. That night we sat around the mansion chatting with Phillip since he didn’t have to work the next day and even though there was no AC, it was perfect temperature with the windows open sleeping.
We woke at 8:30 am and went with Phillip to a carwash which also serves as a famous diner that apparently George Bush and other famous people went to.
I had an egg, tomato, and lettuce sandwich and oatmeal which was seasoned with cinnamon and was quite good. The people working there and the owner were very happy to have us there (especially people from other countries) and thanked us profusely for coming. It was rather lovely.
We dropped Phillip off at the mansion again, then went on toward Tucson. Again, we went through beautiful scenery and then went to San Xavier del Bac (one of the oldest and grandest Spanish missions in the USA). It was really beautiful. It was also on an Indian reservation and there were these merchants outside the mission selling their wares. This one Indian guy made silver jewelry that was very beautiful and he started talking to me and telling me his life story. He was stationed in Ft. Bragg, NC in ‘65 where he jumped out of planes for the military. He was also an actor for many years and was in movies and shows with tons of famous people playing Indians, Mexicans, etc. He had pictures with Michael Landen and Melissa Gilbert from Little House on the Prairie, with Kevin Costner, Emilio Estevez, Whoopie Goldberg, Denzel Washington and many more. He busted out a photo album to illustrate all his stories and movie roles. It was so crazy! I felt so lucky to have met him. Apparently he also is a musician and makes really cool jewelry. His name is Joe Begay and I bought a little silver charm he made of the mission.
When we left the mission a huge storm was rolling in and it was so cool to watch. We get hit by some of it on the way to our couch surfer’s house, but it wasn’t too bad. Our CS host is very nice and interesting and used to be a US tour guide. He has tons of cool stories and we’ve been sitting around talking for hours. Now we’re going to an Arab place for dinner.
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