Author: ToadMama

We’ve really been enjoying our time here in Terlingua, Texas. I’m a bit behind on posting because we have been keeping busy. I have also spent a bit of extra time staring at my various electronics working on future reservations, which is a very good thing. We are now booked (mostly) through mid-June. Anyway… back to the fun stuff.

As I may have noted in previous posts, our campground is only a few miles from one of the entrances to Big Bend National Park. We’re only about 20-30-minutes from a state park, too. Since we’d gone into the national park a couple of times already, on February 6 I chose Big Bend Ranch State Park as a nice place to spend my birthday.

I didn’t have a lot of expectations for the place. By that I mean I hadn’t read much about the state park, so I didn’t know what to expect in terms of scenery, viewpoints, road conditions, etc. We were both pleasantly surprised. The park is gorgeous. And it feels just as big as the national park.

The state park is so lovely, in fact, that I have an overabundance of pictures I’d like to share (almost 80!) and had to upload them to Google Photos to make sharing possible.

I did pick a short list of pics to share here, for folks who don’t like clicking elsewhere to view post-related images.

 

According to the state park’s website, “The scenic drive along the River Road (Texas FM 170), following the meanders of the Rio Grande, is among the most spectacular in the nation.” I have to agree. The scenery was spectacular. And the weather was perfect during our visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Belle hadn’t been feeling herself for a week or so. I think all of the recent changes (lots of new campsites in a short span of time) overwhelmed her. She’d been limping on her right front leg, too. That and the fact that we are in a very different environment than what she’s used to — we are near the northern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert — and there’s not a blade of green grass to be found. For a few days, she even refused to potty outside.

She’s feeling better now. A trip to the “local” vet (a 90-minute drive each way!) and some anti-inflammatory medication for the leg seems to have helped. And she’s gotten more used to the desert. We are both very happy she seems to have turned the corner and is more herself again. She’s going to be 15 in June, so we kind of take things day by day with her, making sure she’s still happy and living her best life, given her advanced years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If these mountain images bore you, you probably won’t care to see the extra photos that go along with this post. If you like what you see here and want to see more, click this link to see the Google Photos album I prepared.

 

Being fortunate enough to experience Big Bend National Park (BBNP) is a treat in and of itself. That enjoyment was elevated quite a bit on Friday when, upon driving into the Chisos Mountains within BBNP, we realized hoar frost had coated some of the area. It was really, REALLY cool (pun intended!).

Neither of us had ever experienced frost like this. I’m not entirely sure it’s hoar frost, it could be rime ice. One clue is that the frost only formed on one side of the vegetation (see pic below). For sake of simplicity, I’ll just call it hoar frost from here on out.

 

According to the volunteer at the visitor center, frost like this is pretty rare. It only happens once, maybe twice a year. And the atmospheric conditions have to be just right for it to occur.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took lots of pictures, trying hard to capture the beauty of the scenery. I’m not convinced pictures can do it justice.

 

 

 

In case any of you have ever wondered, I do realize how blessed we are to be able to have this experience. I am thankful every day that we get to wake up and enjoy full-time RV life. It isn’t all sunshine and roses, no matter how wonderful and prefect my pictures make it look, but it is pretty fun.

We left Fredericksburg, Texas on February 1 and headed west and slightly south to Terlingua, Texas, which is where we are staying while we visit Big Bend National Park (BBNP).

Terlingua is only a few miles away from one of the park entrances. I added a red arrow to the map shared below (from Mapsofworld.com) to show you where BBNP is located. It’s pretty remote.

It took us about six hours to get here from Fredericksburg. We left on a Tuesday. On Thursday, just about all of Texas was under a winter weather warning for snow and ice. The Big Bend region was spared the precipitation, but it did get pretty cold. So cold, in fact, that the campground had to turn off their water to prevent the system from being damaged by freezing.

We just hung out around the campsite on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, we decided to take a drive into the national park.

 

The park looks pretty small on the map I shared above, right? Relative to the state of Texas, it is kinda small. But Texas is a huge state. It’s hard to imagine just how big this place is until you are here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the unique features of BBNP is that it has its own mountain range, the Chisos Mountains. As noted on Wikipedia, “The mountain system covers 40 square miles (104 square km) and is contained entirely within the boundaries of Big Bend National Park, making it the only mountain range in the United States fully contained within a national park.”

 

 

 

 

 

As we were headed back in the direction of camp, we decided to dip south into the Chisos Mountain Basin. Many of the following images were captured there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I actually captured quite a few more images as we drove up into the Chisos Basin. As it turns out, the atmospheric conditions yesterday were just right for a rare — once, maybe twice per year — hoar frost to settle on some of the vegetation. It was amazing to see.

My next post will feature pics showing the hoar frost we saw in the Chisos Mountains.

After our tour of the living history farm with Jerry and Lynne, we were all ready for some end-of-day libations, so we headed over to what is essentially Lynne and Jerry’s “local” bar, the Albert Icehouse and Dancehall.

One of the things I like about travel in general is learning new things. When we were in San Antonio, I read about establishments that sounded like bars,  but were called icehouses. It sounded like a Texas version of a dive bar.

I didn’t really think much of it until Lynne and Jerry invited us to join them at the icehouse in Albert, Texas, which is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from their RV site at the state park.

If you’d like to learn more about icehouses in general, check out this article on the Texas Highways website. Basically, they are a kind of dive bar and are typical in this part of Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imagine how cool it would be to hang out in the yard on a pleasantly warm evening below that massive Live Oak tree that’s hung with strings of outdoor lights. That would definitely be relaxing.

We said goodbye to our friends, Lynne and Jerry, at the Albert Icehouse. We definitely enjoyed our visit with them and are hoping to cross paths again later this year.

As mentioned in my previous post, our friends Lynne and Jerry Goebeler are currently volunteering at the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park & Historic Site. It’s located about 17 miles east of downtown Fredericksburg, Texas. (Lyndon B. Johnson [LBJ], our 36th president, was born and raised in the Texas Hill Country.) LBJ’s ranch is across the Pedernales River from the state park and is part of the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park.

Lynne and Jerry were both working on Thursday, so we decided to meet up with them toward the ends of their shifts. Lynne volunteers in the visitor center. Jerry volunteers at the Sauer-Beckmann Farm, the park’s living history farm.

I went in to see Lynne first as that’s where you go to get the permit necessary to tour the LBJ Ranch as well as the state park and historic site. It was so cool seeing Lynne at work. She did a great job delivering the tour directions and site overview to me, too. From there we made a brief visit to the LBJ Ranch and then met both Jerry and Lynne at the farm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While Mike went into the visitor center and looked at LBJ’s collection of antique cars, I took Belle for a stroll around the property. On the opposite side of the ranch house, I was tickled to see some more Hereford cattle. The cattle were tickled to see Belle.

 

 

 

After we toured the ranch, we stopped briefly at the visitor center so Mike could also see Lynne in her element. Then we went to the farm. Because it’s a living history farm, the volunteers and rangers all wear period-specific clothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was super-cool having Jerry as our own personal tour guide.

He shared all kinds of information with us about the buildings and their contents.

 

 

 

The kitchen is a working kitchen. The rangers prepare lunch in that kitchen on a daily basis to feed the staff.

 

 

Lynne said that volunteers are all photographed through the door and window of the tank building as mementos of people who have volunteered at the site through the years. Mike and I both agreed that would be a cool shot, so Mike took Belle around for a photo op.

Lynne enjoys her gig at the visitor center, but she and I both agree that Jerry has the cooler assignment. How cool would it be to work at a living history farm? Very cool if you ask me.

In my next post I’ll share pics from the Albert Ice House, which is where we went after we finished touring the farm.