Fools Hollow Lake Recreation Area, Show Low, AZ

When we packed up this morning to leave Cattail Cove State Park, I was pleased to notice the leveler jacks are retracting silently and completely since I greased them a couple days ago. So it seems that little issue is resolved!

We made our way to Fools Hollow Recreation Area in Show Low, AZ which is in the White Mountains of Arizona. This is a beautiful area that ranges from around 5000 ft to more than 7000 ft above sea level. This region is typically 15-25°F cooler than the rest of Arizona and is a popular year-round recreational area. Although the drive was easy and the scenery was lovely, the 360 mile distance is longer than I normally care to make. We got a very early start leaving Cattail Cove so we could arrive in the Show Low area around 4PM.

So here we are now, settled in to a very nice "side by side" campsite - that is, two sites sharing the same pad. I guess these "side by side" sites are intended for a couple of families who are camping together. These were the only type of sites available so we decided to go for it. If we get a neighbor the space will be very crowded, but if we don't get a neighbor we'll have plenty of room. We'll see if someone shows up over the next couple days.

The campground at Fools Hollow Lake Recreation Area is clean and well-laid out, and the camp hosts and rangers are very pleasant and helpful. I think we'll like it here.

Oh yeah, we had to put the front tires up on wood again. What is up with the unlevel campsites we keep getting?

Settling in at Cattail Cove State Park, Lake Havasu City, AZ

After a very fun time in the Las Vegas area, we left today and made our way to Lake Havasu, AZ. The drive was pleasant and easy and we got to the Cattail Cove State Park campground around 3PM this afternoon. We had reservations for site #53, which is very large and set off from the others so it is also quite private.

The only downside to this campsite is that it is extremely unlevel. So there we were again, putting the front wheels up on wood so they would not be off the ground when we raised the front end with the leveler jacks.

After much huffing and puffing, and more than a little cursing, we got the motor home situated. The camp host lent us some additional wood because we did not have enough. We will make a trip to the local Home Depot tomorrow to get more wood.

Anyway, this is a really nice campground and I would be happy to stay here again. Despite having to put the Dolphin up on blocks, site #53 is still the best. The campground is immaculate, nicely laid out, and sits on Lake Havasu.

Regarding the issue with the noisy and reluctant Power Gear leveler jacks: I did a little research on the manufacturer's website and discovered the jacks should be greased every 20-30 uses. Interesting... the printed Power Gear documentation that came with the motor home makes no mention of this!? Sure enough, when I scraped off the road grime around the leveler jack cylinders, I found a grease fitting on the bottom of each one. Guess I'll buy a grease gun tomorrow.

Getting to Calico, CA

We departed Travis AFB on Saturday, April 18th and made our way to Edwards AFB, CA.

Our original plan was to go to Edwards a couple days sooner, to view the poppy bloom in Antelope Valley and check out the annual Poppy Festival in nearby Lancaster. We also had an appointment on Monday to get an oil change and lube on the motor home.

But the evening before we were to leave Travis AFB, we learned the poppies had bloomed almost a month early and there was nothing left to see. So we gave ourselves a couple "down days" at Travis, to recover from all the driving and sightseeing and catch up on laundry, bookkeeping, etc.

Edwards AFB is home to the Air Force Test Center, and is the Air Force Materiel Command center for conducting and supporting research and developmental flight test and evaluation of aerospace systems from concept to combat. It also operates the US Air Force Test Pilot School, is home to NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, and used to be an alternate landing site for Space Shuttle missions. While there is no doubt that Edwards is a very important and interesting base, it is also located in the Mojave desert, is very hot and dusty, and there doesn't seem to be much going on during the weekend.

We rolled into the FamCamp around 5PM to learn there were no campsites available, but we had expected this and so it was no big deal. We spent two nights in the overflow area, which is a big parking lot. We caught up on some online activities (the WiFi is fairly decent in the campground's community room), and watched a couple movies.

We left Edwards this morning, but first went over to the base Express gas station and had the on-board propane tank filled. I was glad to be able to do that on base as it was cheap and convenient. Then we drove to Javi's RV Service Center in Lancaster, arriving early for our 10AM service appointment. We put Celia in her carrier and left her in the motor home, and took the dogs to a nearby city park while the work was being done. Javi's did a good job and they were quick and inexpensive, charging only $89 (I provided the oil filter).

Back of KOA - Desert

We were on the road to the Calico area by 10:30AM and made our way to the KOA without incident... a relatively short drive of around 100 miles.

This KOA is nicely laid out with spacious sites, although some offer more shade than others. We were originally assigned a site with very little shade but were able to change to a more protected (cooler) site. The campground is not very busy - just as we like it! There's just a few other campers, including a group of German tourists in several rental Class C campers. They are a very happy group - lots of laughing and walking around. We are enjoying their excitement.

Other than going to the Calico Ghost Town tomorrow (or the next day), we don't plan on doing much else. Our next stop will be at Nellis AFB's Desert Eagle FamCamp, 30 minutes from Las Vegas - we are saving our energy for the Vegas strip!

Settling In at Travis AFB, CA

We left Felton yesterday and made our way to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA. The motor home had no trouble taking SR-17 up and over the Santa Cruz mountains; my biggest challenge was keeping our speed under 50mph without burning up the brakes or over-rev'ing the engine.

Our only adventure was getting hit by a piece of wood thrown up by a car in front of us. It hit with a mighty LOUD bang and I feared the front bumper was messed up. We were very relieved to discover the damage was very minor - no cracks, just scuffing. Once again, I used toothpaste to rub out the marks. I also checked the underside of the motor home for damage and was glad to find nothing amiss.

Reviews for the Famcamp at Travis AFB are mixed, but we like it here and would be happy to stay again. Aside from some loose dogs (whose owners were undaunted by our suggestion that they leash them, per FamCamp rules), this campground is neat and tidy and the sites are reasonably sized. At $20 per night for full hookups in the Bay area, this FamCamp is a great deal!

I'm happy to be at Travis AFB... I was stationed here from 1986-1989 and have lots of fond memories. We expect to be busy during our stay, with family and friends to visit, and sightseeing around the Bay area.

Stay tuned!

Cotillion Gardens RV Park, Felton, CA

Here we are in Felton - a small town about 10 miles from Santa Cruz.

When we left Luguna Seca Recreational Area this morning, we experienced our first "mishap" since moving into the motor home. Our campsite was on top of a hill and we were parked nose-first. To extricate the motor home, we decided it would be easiest to back into a vacant campsite partly down the hill so we could then just drive forward to the exit. Aside from a back-up camera that shows a narrow view of what is immediately behind the motor home, I drive the Dolphin pretty much blind when in reverse. So, Lynda gets out and directs me and we usually do just fine.

This time, however, we overlooked the power pole at the vacant campsite and I grazed it with the very back side on the passenger side. No real damage was done to the pole or the motor home - I was able to buff out the marks this afternoon using toothpaste, which is a great rubbing compound and always on hand!

We're now staying at Cotillion Gardens RV Park, which is built into a Redwood forest. There was a time I would have loved this campground, with its beautiful trees, plants, and streams. But my focus has apparently changed, and I am not so happy with this place. For one thing, there is no suitable area to unhook the car when you arrive at the campground - we had no choice but to stop and block the road in front of the entrance while we unhooked the Honda. Then, there's the (very) narrow winding road through the campground, which is intended for two-way traffic. Considering that the road is not wide enough for a couple of passenger cars to pass each other, I worried we would meet another RV and someone was going to have to find a way to get out of the road - maybe levitate up into the trees? Fortunately, we made it to the campsite without such an encounter. Third, our site is extremely unlevel front to back, and also side to side. We had quite a time leveling the motor home - ended-up stacking wood under the front tires and the leveler jacks.

[The reason it's so important to have the Dolphin sitting level is that the weight of the slide-outs could twist the frame if the motor home is not sitting level front to back and side to side. If the frame twists, the motor home would essentially be ruined and insurance does NOT cover this type of damage.]

And finally, to top it all off, we can't pick-up the campground WiFi at our site. When I called the office to ask about it, the person told me "Oh, you're in the one part of the campground that cannot get our great WiFi signal! So sorry..."

Grrrr, grrrr, grrrr, and grrrr!

Anyhoo... we're here, we're on blocks, and we have cold beer. Life is good.

Leaving Monterey, CA

We've really enjoyed our stay in the Monterey area, and the campground at Laguna Seca has been a nice place to call home. We quickly got used to the steep hills, and the sound of car and motorcycle engines don't bother us in the least. We would stay here again. See photos below.

We leave tomorrow for a campground on the outskirts of Santa Cruz, 50 miles closer to San Jose... stay tuned!

Settling in at Laguna Seca Recreational Area, Monterey, CA

After a very relaxing 12 nights at Camp San Luis Obispo, we left today and made our way to the Monterey area. Central coastal California is a gorgeous area and we really enjoyed the drive northward on US-101, passing through rolling hillsides, vineyards, cow pastures, and other bucolic scenery.

Our destination was Laguna Seca Recreation Area which, it turns out, is scattered across steep hillsides forming a half circle around the Mazda Racetrack. It was tricky navigating the motor home, with car in tow, up the 17% grade and around some narrow tight curves. When we found our campsite, we discovered it is at the top of a hill - with no apparent safe way to park the motor home and unhook the car. Soooo, down we went to the bottom, where we used a wide pullout to drop the towed (unhook the car). Then back up the hill to then realize this is a nose-first campsite (unusual). Doh! We could've driven the Dolphin into the site and then unhooked the car. Well, you live and you learn.

We made a trip to the Presidio of Monterey's Commissary to stock up on groceries (and beer and wine), and are now settled in and looking forward to the next six days of sight-seeing and enjoying the area.

Stay tuned!

Here We Are: March ARB in Riverside, CA

Yesterday's drive from San Diego to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside was uneventful; the traffic was not bad and we drove through some scenic areas such as Temecula, an up-and-coming wine area in southern California.

We spent last night in the Overflow area, awaiting a campsite assignment. Fortunately, a site opened up this morning and now we are settled into our site for the next couple weeks. 

I  think we will like it here. Stay tuned!

Gila Bend, AZ - FamCamp & Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Our drive from Tuscon to the Gila Bend FamCamp at the Luke AFB auxiliary field (this serves as an emergency landing field for the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range) was only 140 miles. We filled up with gas at Davis-Monthan AFB, had a couple chips in the windshield fixed while we were hooking up the car, and got on the road before 9:30am.

We arrived at the Gila Bend FamCamp around 1pm. This is the most "barebones" military campground we've stayed at so far. It's dusty, the faucet water is not potable, and not much effort has been expended on making this campground squared away, much less attractive. BUT, it costs a walloping $10 a night for full hookups so I guess its a pretty good deal.

Regarding the faucet water: apparently the arsenic content is above acceptable levels and so we were told to only use the water for showering... not for drinking or cooking. On the bright side, the Air Force installed reverse-osmosis units at each site which produce about 2 gallons of drinking water every 12 hours; 4 gallons of drinking water a day is enough for us and our fur-friends. We were also told that the faucet water smells bad and leaves rust stains on everything. This turned out not to be true: we ran the faucet water through our run-of-the-mill Camco water filter and neither of us can detect any odor or color.

We packed a picnic lunch this morning and drove about 1.5 hours south to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, passing through the bigger-than-expected town of Ajo and the blink-of-a-eye town of Why.

The first thing we did when we got to the Monument, was to check out

the Twin Peaks Campground. Wow - wish we had stayed there rather than the Gila Bend FamCamp!

Twin Peaks Campground

Despite the unfortunate name, this is one of the nicest (maybe the nicest) National Park campground we've ever seen. Although there are no hook-ups, the dump station and potable water are conveniently located, and generators are allowed in most of the campground. The sites are level concrete pads, the restrooms have running water, and there are warm showers (!!) in three of the bathrooms. Cost is $12/night. And Yes, this campground can accommodate larger motor homes.

After checking out the campground, we went over to the Visitor's Center. We watched the park video and then sat through a presentation about archeological research into ancient trading routes through areas of the park. We are usually impressed by the quality of presentations by our National Park Service... but I have to say this presentation was poorly delivered by an intern who, I think, is in a Masters Program. I would expect someone with that level of education not to deliver unorganized information with a Valley Girl lilt. Seriously.

Organ Pipe Cactus

As we were driving south on AZ-85 to the monument, and even when we entered the monument area, we noticed that Saguaro cacti dominate the landscape. We had to look closely to see any Organ Pipe cacti. I joked to Lynda that they named this Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument because Saguaro National Park was already taken. We soon learned that the Monument area is as far north as Organ Pipe Cactus are found growing naturally in the US - they are much more prevalent south of the border, in the Mexican part of the Sonoran Desert. We also learned that an Organ Pipe cactus does not produce its first flowers until around 35 years old, that these cacti reach an average height of 15 feet, and that they can live as long as 150 years.

Organ Pipe Cactus

After spending time at the Visitors Center, we went on the scenic Ajo Mountain drive. According to the park pamphlet this 21-mile drive takes about 2 hours, and that is almost exactly how long it took us to complete the loop. At first it was a bit ho-hum... we've now been in the Sonoran Desert for 2+ weeks and, aside from the occasional Organ Pipe cactus, we had seen it all before. But after about 25 minutes, the road led us up into the Ajo Mountain area and it was beautiful! As we went along, we saw more and more Organ Pipe cacti, and we ended up really enjoying that drive.

Approaching the Ajo Mountains

We got back to the Gila Bend FamCamp a little after 4pm and took Sydney and Barley for a nice long walk. Of course, they enjoyed this tremendously and had earned it by being such well-behaved doggies.

Tomorrow we're off to San Diego - stay tuned!

Tuscon, AZ - Settling In

Our drive to Tuscon, AZ from El Paso was very uneventful. We passed through yet another Border Patrol check-point... these check-points are scattered starting mid-way from Del Rio to Big Bend and westward to El Paso and into Arizona. They are no big deal for us... we just show our Driver Licenses and sail on through. I think our Air Force base stickers on the Dolphin and Honda windshields are helpful.

FamCamp Office

We're going to really enjoy our time here in Tuscon, and staying at the Agave Gulch FamCamp on Davis-Monthan AFB will be a pleasure. The FamCamp people are very efficient and they have a fair campsite rotation policy: 21 days in a full hook-up site and then out to the Overflow area for a few days, if people are waiting to rotate in. "Overflow" describes a no hook-up area where you can wait for a site to open up. You also have the choice to remain in the Overflow area if you prefer, which some people take advantage of because the sites are very large.

The Dolphin with Covers On

A lot of retirees spend the winter here at Agave Gulch FamCamp: the campground is very nice and extremely affordable, the Tuscon area offers plenty to do and see, and the weather is fantastic.

We got here a couple days ago and spent only one night in Overflow before rotating into a full hook-up site yesterday morning. The rotation policy at this FamCamp provides that you can choose a site which is currently occupied when the occupant is at or past his 21st day, even if other sites are open. If you made this choice, the current occupant would have to pack up and move to Overflow or to another open site. The site we wanted (#208) was currently occupied and we thought it would be a crappy thing to do to make that person move, so we opted for another site instead. Anyway, the occupant is a guy named "Stu" and he came by later to offer us a case of beer as a Thank You. He did not have to do that, but I guess he really appreciated that we did not make him move.

After moving to our full hook-up site in the morning, we spent several hours getting settled in - including giving the motor home a good interior cleaning, putting on the exterior window screens, tire covers, etc. Although we'll only be here for 9 days, it's best to protect the Dolphin from the Arizona sun as much as possible.

Then we went to the VA Hospital Emergency room in the mid-afternoon to have my right arm and shoulder examined. I must have overworked the shoulder while cleaning the motor home exterior in Houston - and the pain was getting worse and worse instead of better. Anyway, it was President's Day and so Tuscon city roads had very little traffic and the only activity at the VA hospital was in the Emergency Room. We were there a total of 3.5 hours, during which I had a XRay and was examined by the ER Doc on duty. Turns out they where having technical issues and my XRay could not be uploaded to be read by the remote Radiologist. The ER Doc took a look at it and advised that he did not see any bone damage, although he stressed he is not a radiologist. He believes the culprit is soft tissue damage that is inflamed. He gave me a cortisone shot, a bottle of prescription-strength Ibuprophen, and a bottle of Hydrocodone. The Doc told me to take it easy and favor the arm, but NOT to put it in sling as this would most likely cause my shoulder and elbow to lock up. He also told me that if it did not significantly improve within 4 weeks, I should have an MRI. I slept like a log last night for the first time in a couple weeks, and the arm feels good today - I just need to be careful not to over-use my shoulder.

Today was very productive. I got some exterior work done on the motor home (applied 100% silicone around the rear window, put Eternabond on the last of the slide roof areas, cleaned-up and lubricated the bikes, mounted the water bay remote thermometer, etc.) and Lynda restocked the fridge and cupboard.

Tomorrow, we'll drop-off Celia off at the nearby Banfield Pet Hospital for her 6-month wellness check-up, and then do some sightseeing.

El Paso, TX

Sunrise at Ft Bliss RV Park

We've enjoyed our short visit in the El Paso area and would like to come here again sometime. We have been staying at Fort Bliss RV Park, which is a very nice facility - and you can't beat the price of $17/night (we got a $2 discount with Lynda's National Park Access Pass)!

We spent the first day (yesterday) catching up on chores and relaxing.

All clean now!

After our drive from Big Bend through the wintery weather, the motor home and car were covered with road-salt and mud. As is common in many campgrounds, Fort Bliss RV Park does not allow patrons to wash their cars or RVs at their site, but they do allow pre-approved wash companies to do the work - and these professionals typically bring their own water. Anyway, I made an appointment with Adrian Delgado for the day after we arrived. He showed up as promised and did a good job cleaning up the Dolphin and the car, including the car's engine.

Today, we went out and about... did a little shopping to stock-up on a few supplies, and then we went to L&J Cafe for lunch. This restaurant has been in business since the 1930's and is very highly rated by UrbanSpoon, Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc. We were not disappointed - the food was very good and the service was excellent. Despite the parking lot being filled to overflowing (we had to park around the block at a KFC), we got a table right away. We will definitely go back to L&J Cafe whenever we return to El Paso.

After lunch, we drove out to the El Paso Museum of Archaeology, located in the foothills of the Franklin Mountains, and puttered around for a couple hours. I enjoyed the museum, especially the somewhat old-fashioned exhibits of early people going about their daily activities.

Just a lower elevation sliver of Franklin Mountains

The Franklin Mountains border El Paso to the north and they are impressive. We drove about 15 miles up
into the mountains to enjoy the scenery before we realized we would be driving through them in the motor home on our way to our next stop: Tuscon, Arizona.

I'm off to sleep now. G'night!

Big Bend National Park, TX

We made fairly good time from the Del Rio area to Big Bend National Park, staying on US-90 until we hit Marathon. Then we turned left and took US-385 south to the park.

This is our second visit to Big Bend; our 2010 trip was cut short due to the heat, and we decided then that we would return one day.

From Marathon to the entrance of Big Bend is a driving distance of 40 miles. And from the entrance of the park to the Rio Grande Village RV Park is another 48 miles. Big Bend is huge and encompasses more than 1200 square miles. The park is bigger than many countries, bigger than the state of Rhode Island. You definitely need a motorized vehicle to properly enjoy Big Bend.

The vastness of this area offers up an amazing variety of flora, fauna, geology, and climate. From the Sierra del Carmen mountains in the east, across and up through the Chisos Mountains (contained entirely within the park), and south west to the Santa Elena Canyon, this amazing area offers rivers, desert, and mountains.

On the road between Panther Junction and Rio Grande Village

The abundance, diversity and complexity of visible rock outcrops in Big Bend is staggering, especially to first-time observers. From 500 million year old rocks at Persimmon Gap to modern-day windblown sand dunes at Boquillas Canyon, geologic formations in Big Bend demonstrate amazingly diverse depositional styles over a vast interval of time.It is a geologist's paradise, or maybe a nightmare.

If you're lucky, you might see a glimpse of the diverse wildlife such as a Mountain Lion, a Mexican Black Bear, a band of Javalina, or a lone coyote. And the bird life is equally as rich, including Vermillion Flycatchers, Golden Eagles, Roadrunners, Mexican Blue Jays, and Woodpeckers.

We arrived Monday afternoon and left Thursday morning. We would have preferred to camp at the Rio Grande Village campground but it was pretty full and I wanted to be sure we had a place to stay when we got there. I was able to make reservations at the Rio Grande Village RV park, which is essentially a parking lot with hook-ups - but still, it is in Big Bend and surrounded by the great outdoors.

One thing I really enjoy about Big Bend National Park is that it is never crowded. You can be alone in the park. No lines, no traffic, no noisy groups. It is serene.

After we arrived and got settled in, I decided to assemble the new bike rack. This proved to be easy enough, and then we loaded the bikes onto the new rack. We wanted a day or so to drive around with the new rack before disposing of the old one, to be sure it is tough enough for our bouncy driving.

When we entered the park, Lynda went into the gateway Visitor Center to check in and she picked-up several pamplets. One of them was about the town of Glenn Springs, which had been established next to Glenn Spring - a natural source of water. The town of Glenn Springs was long gone, having been dissolved in 1946, but we thought it would be fun to go and look at the area and whatever remnants of the town that might still be visible.

Ruins off Hot Springs Primitive Rd

We looked at the map of Big Bend and decided to go to the site of Glenn Springs via the Hot Springs primitive road - our Honda CR-V has all-wheel drive and a fairly high clearance. So off we went. We made it about 2 miles before we had to stop because there was a very deep trough in the road and I was afraid the car would get hung up. Then we realized the road was blocked with boulders.

Soooo.... plan B. We back-tracked to the main road and went toward Panther Junction to turn left onto the Pine Canyon primitive road. Long story short, we finally made it to Glenn Springs, although we weren't sure at first because there was no marker or exhibit. We confirmed with a ranger later that afternoon that we had, indeed, found the old town. Anyway, that drive was quite an adventure... It took us more than two hours round trip (approx 20 miles). I don't think Honda intended the CR-V to do what we did with it that day. Hahahaa!  And the new bike rack held up just fine.

After our off-roading adventure, we went to the Panther Junction Visitors Center and checked out some of the exhibits. Then we made our way to the Chisos Mountains Basin to enjoy the views and have lunch at the Chisos Mountains Lodge restaurant.

Going up to the Chisos Mountain Basin

 

Old phone booth in the Lodge store

View from restaurant

Finally, we returned to the motor home  to see how our four-legged friends were doing, and they were fine - I must say that Sydney, Barley, and Celia are very well-behaved traveling companions.

We were just taking a break and puttering around when Lynda found a fellow RVer who was happy to get our old bike rack, so we did not have to throw it away after all.

Sunrise and Sunset in Big Bend are S.T.U.N.N.I.N.G.  We decided to go up to the Boquillas Canyon Overlook to enjoy the sunset - this is only about 10 minutes from the RV park.

Golden Sunset on Sierra Del Carmen

The Rio Grande looking East

The Rio Grande looking West

Just as we had encountered in 2010, there were two sets of "offerings" of handmade articles at the Boquillas Canyon Overlook, each with a note listing prices and a jar in which to place your money. These items are left by Mexicans from the other side of the Rio Grande for tourists to buy on the honor system. We know they really need the money, but it’s illegal to purchase these items and the border patrol is very serious about enforcing the law. We left everything untouched.

Earlier in the day, I had been saying to Lynda how great it would be to see some Javalina... that spotting a band of these peccaries would be the "cherry on top."  Well, we were driving back to the RV park from Boquillas Canyon and what should we see? A band of nine Javalina crossing the road right in front of us! Yeah! Unfortunately, it was dusk and we could not get decent photos.

Later that evening, when it was fully dark, we watched the stars. I cannot adequately describe the night sky at Big Bend, other to say that it is beyond anything I've seen before. Because there is essentially no ambient light at Big Bend, every star jumps out at you from the night sky. I could even make out the Milky Way. Amazing!

On Wednesday, we got up early to drive over to the other side of the park by 9:30AM - we wanted to attend a two-hour "Geology 101" program. We met the volunteer Interpreter and other interested visitors at the Sotol Vista Overlook and enjoyed a very nicely presented introduction to 500 million years of geology in Big Bend.

Then we drove to canyon overlook to learn more about the effects of rivers on erosion and canyon formation.




After that, our group went to Tuff Canyon for a closer look. It was a very interesting time.

After the "Geology 101" program was finished, we made our way to Santa Elena Canyon. Along the way, we stopped to look at ash hills, formed by volcanic ash.

Then we made a stop at the Castolon Visitor Center for lunch - a sandwich and potato chips from the store. Then on once more to the Santa Elena Canyon.

Santa Elena Canyon - 1500ft Cliffs

The majestic Santa Elena Canyon is perhaps the most impressive in Big Bend National Park - it is visible for over 10 miles away, as the Rio Grande changes direction abruptly after following beneath the straight Sierra Ponce cliffs for several miles and heads due west, cutting through the mountains via a deep, narrow gorge - the cliff walls are approximately 1500 feet high. This sharp bend in the river was formed by movement along the Terlingua fault zone that crosses the park.

Sierra Ponce Cliffs

Lynda looking westward, into the canyon

Looking from the canyon towards the east, into Big Bend

During the two full days we toured around Big Bend, we put more than 230 miles on the car. Visitors sometimes forget how vast this park is, and poor planning can result in running out of gas. After this busy day, we were low on gas by the time we got back to Panther Junction and filled up.

We were pretty tired out by the time we got back to the motor home this afternoon, and have just been relaxing.. We leave tomorrow for El Paso, where we will spend a couple days on our way to Arizona.

I highly recommend a visit to Big Bend National Park. Best timeframe to go is November through March, otherwise it is too hot for most people to enjoy. Check the park's website for information about places to stay, eat, get gas, etc. Big Bend is not a developed park such as Yosemite or Yellowstone and so you need to plan ahead.  You also might enjoy this video: