Big Bend Day

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Today we put our golf clubs in the Jeep and headed out of Alpine to drive the 108 miles (~160 km) down to the Big Bend National Park. It is a beautiful, mountainous park in the panhandle of west Texas. It also runs along the Rio Grande River and that river divides Mexico and the US in that area. The drive out was uneventful but the closer we got to the park, the more spectaular the landscape became. We drove first to Terlingua/Study Butte and had some lunch. Thre is a golf course in terlingua that we were going to look at playing but it was just too hot! We then carried on to the Big Bend Lodge which is up in the mountains and facing out into the Chisos Basin. I hope the pictures do it all justice. The temperatures were very high down in the lower parts were up to 39C (102F) but dropped down to 28C (82F) up in the mountains. So, being outside up at the lodge was comfortable but when we went down to Rio Grande Village down by the river, the heat was almost unbearable for me!We walked out a bit into the grass and trees that line the river but didn't last long! Then we drove a little further on and got out and walked a bit into the desert to do some cactus hunting. We found some interesting ones to photgraph but the heat was so intense, we didn't last long! On the drive back we drove up to Marathon (about 30 miles east of Alpine). Part way up the road to Marathon, there is a US border partol stop where they check all cars for illegal immigrants and/or drugs. When we got to Marathon, we had a lovely dinner at the beautiful Gage Hotel there. A delicious and very expensive meal but a joy to experience 😊 As soon as we got back after this long day, I sat down here to do some typing and photo uplaiding and then I am going to bed!

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Photos

Hole #8 at Study Butte Golf Course
A target golf course...better hit your mark! Can you see the little red flag? :)

Ocotilla plant
This plant was at least 12 feet tall

Looking toward Mexico
The big mountain in the back is Sierra del Carmen, Mexico

Looking toward the Rio Grande and Mexico
The river is righ tby the green patch in the middle of the picture

Living Stone cactus
You have to look hard to see these!

Resurrection plants
These plants appear totally dead until they revvceive some water....it rained last night!

Comments

[Jean-François]

Bon voyage
Je suis votre voyage grâce à ce BLOG. Bonne continuation. Bises JF & C