Galveston, Austin, San Antonio…it was time for
us to leave town literally and get ourselves out into the country. Our next goal in Texas was Big Bend National
Park. According to park literature: “The region was named Big Bend for the
drastic change in course of the river from a southeastern to a northeastern
flow. As the Rio Grande flows through the Chihuahuan Desert, it carves not only
majestic canyons, but also a political boundary. Big Bend’s location on the
United States/Mexico border has always provided a mystique to the park.”
On the way, we over-nighted in Fort Stockton,
Texas, home of the World’s Largest Road Runner.
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| His name is Paisano Pete. |
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| Here's the real thing that we encountered later that day. |
In the morning, we picked up some sandwiches in Marathon where
we met this handsome pooch.
Then we proceeded to take the Ross Maxwell
Scenic Drive through the park. Here is
some of what we saw.
I was fairly awestruck by the beautiful scenery
and am still wondering why the Rio Grande is so green. My attempts to look to Google for the answer
to that question have failed so far. I imagine that it has something to do with
the mineral makeup of the area. But,
even if I never find out, I will never regret the time we spent in that beautiful place.
We got home yesterday evening around 5:30p.m. Round trip from Central Massachusetts to
Marfa, Texas and back: 6,716.1 miles in
25 days with over 5,000 photos stored on my laptop...most of which will be
dumped into my virtual garbage can. But
I have to say, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.
