Big Bend National Park on US Thanksgiving Day

The alarm went off at around 06.30, too early really but needs must.

The road to Big Bend straight as far as you can see

A quick brekkie in the Hotel and after buying some very expensive, for the US, fuel we were on the road by 08.00 or perhaps earlier and we drove in to the centre of Alpine and looked for the US 118 to the park and then the signs were saying BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK 105 miles and then we were on our way. At first the road is relatively flat and as the minutes went by the road began to change with large mountains in the distance and roads stretching out for miles in front of us. We stopped a couple of times for some photos and passed a couple of small villages. There are a lot people who live in RV's in this area, actually lots in the USA all over, as its cheaper than buying a house.
So after about a 100 minute drive we arrived at the main gate and then showed our pass and we were inside. We drove three of the mail routes in the park and stopping to read the various bits of information and also for some photos. We finally visited the famous river of the Rio Grand which is the border between USA and Mexico where Jennifer went down the boat ramp and checked it out.

Jennifer in the Rio Grand River

We also went to the visitor centre and chatted to the staff and had a coffee of indistinguishable taste and a snack to keep the taste buds happy. We then went to the main visitor centre where they were serving a special Turkey Lunch to celebrate Thanksgiving Day and when we looked at the all you can eat buffet we were not impressed and decided to stick with our Brie and biscuits outside in the fresh air rather than in the rather hot and airless dining room.

The scenery in and around the park is fabulous with great mountains and canyons wide sprawling areas with mountains in to the distance. There are mountain Lions and bears, not that we saw any, although we did see several birds of prey. By 14.30 it was time to head back and we took it slower this time and eventually came to another Border Police Control Post where they checked out our passports, thank heavens we had them, and asking question about our past travels, presume they had noting better to do.
The weather was fantastic today with a solid blue sky and a final temperature of around 25 degrees Centigrade.
We arrived back in Alpine around 16.30 and drove around to see the town but most of it was closed due to the Thanksgiving Holidays but the town is not inspiring. The back to the Hotel where thank heavans the internet was working again and so Noel booked Hotels for the next few days of out journey and Jennifer plated a ham salad.
Tomorrow we again must leave early for Marfa and then on to Deming in New Mexico as a technical stop en route to our next destination Tucson , Arizona.