Hello, y'all. I have a mug from Big Bend Ranch state park today, a park which sits next to Big Bend national park.
When trying to decide which of the two parks to camp at, Big Bend Ranch won out because it sounded almost entirely undeveloped with camp sites miles apart, which is what we value most when camping. There is nothing worse than going camping, specifically choosing the primitive option to get as close as possible to nature, and showing up only to find the whole camping experience is going to be ruined because there are neighboring campsites filled with folks who would prefer to listen to a radio at all hours of the day rather than bird song. I don't understand why people don't stay home and listen to the radio if that's what they're into; don't ruin the outdoors for the rest of us! Or, at the very least, leave the primitive sections of the camps to us nature nerds. One time a group actually dragged a generator over two miles to the primitive sites. Thank goodness my husband does not suffer from an aversion to confrontation the way I do - he made those folks see fit to leave that generator off and untouched until they skedaddled early next morning.
Well, that was not a problem in Big Bend Ranch. First, we checked out Fort Leaton State Historic site, since we hit it on the way in. I always love that stuff. Then, once we checked in at the park office, it took us over 2 hours to drive to our campsite over some very dodgy terrain. Once we set up camp, we didn't see or hear any signs of another human for a full week. It was pure bliss. I also fell deeply in love the complete lack of humidity. Naturally, we didn't have access to showers or anything during that whole week, but not once did we feel unclean, or stink, or anything of that nature. Humidity is what causes those ills, and it never ceases to astound me that I've since willingly moved to an area that sees consistent rainfall. The grass stays thick and green through the summer here, y'all! It's wild.
We took the scenic route through Big Bend on our way out from camping, and though the two parks abutt eachother, the differences seemed stark. As I understand it, Big Bend used to be a sea bed, and the colors and view were pretty much what you'd expect a dried up old sea bed to look like. Big Bend Ranch, however, has a solitario in it formed by a laccolith, so the colors and rock in that area are all impacted by that ancient upheaval of magma, and everything seems much more vibrant. Both parks are gorgeous, though, no question.
Remember how I said it took over 2 hours to drive to our campsite? Well, what I didn't say was how harrowing that experience was, and how we were amazed when our vehicle made it out of the park intact. Or, mainly intact. We had to fix a flat on the way in, change out that same tire with a spare on the way out, and when we finally hit smooth highway and we're halfway home? Two of our tires blew out, and the rest of the trip home was spent sitting with a tow truck driver. The destroyed tires were no namby pamby tires, either, and our truck was no toy; that's just how undeveloped the road out there was at the time. It was an incredible experience, every bit of it!
When trying to decide which of the two parks to camp at, Big Bend Ranch won out because it sounded almost entirely undeveloped with camp sites miles apart, which is what we value most when camping. There is nothing worse than going camping, specifically choosing the primitive option to get as close as possible to nature, and showing up only to find the whole camping experience is going to be ruined because there are neighboring campsites filled with folks who would prefer to listen to a radio at all hours of the day rather than bird song. I don't understand why people don't stay home and listen to the radio if that's what they're into; don't ruin the outdoors for the rest of us! Or, at the very least, leave the primitive sections of the camps to us nature nerds. One time a group actually dragged a generator over two miles to the primitive sites. Thank goodness my husband does not suffer from an aversion to confrontation the way I do - he made those folks see fit to leave that generator off and untouched until they skedaddled early next morning.
Well, that was not a problem in Big Bend Ranch. First, we checked out Fort Leaton State Historic site, since we hit it on the way in. I always love that stuff. Then, once we checked in at the park office, it took us over 2 hours to drive to our campsite over some very dodgy terrain. Once we set up camp, we didn't see or hear any signs of another human for a full week. It was pure bliss. I also fell deeply in love the complete lack of humidity. Naturally, we didn't have access to showers or anything during that whole week, but not once did we feel unclean, or stink, or anything of that nature. Humidity is what causes those ills, and it never ceases to astound me that I've since willingly moved to an area that sees consistent rainfall. The grass stays thick and green through the summer here, y'all! It's wild.
We took the scenic route through Big Bend on our way out from camping, and though the two parks abutt eachother, the differences seemed stark. As I understand it, Big Bend used to be a sea bed, and the colors and view were pretty much what you'd expect a dried up old sea bed to look like. Big Bend Ranch, however, has a solitario in it formed by a laccolith, so the colors and rock in that area are all impacted by that ancient upheaval of magma, and everything seems much more vibrant. Both parks are gorgeous, though, no question.
Remember how I said it took over 2 hours to drive to our campsite? Well, what I didn't say was how harrowing that experience was, and how we were amazed when our vehicle made it out of the park intact. Or, mainly intact. We had to fix a flat on the way in, change out that same tire with a spare on the way out, and when we finally hit smooth highway and we're halfway home? Two of our tires blew out, and the rest of the trip home was spent sitting with a tow truck driver. The destroyed tires were no namby pamby tires, either, and our truck was no toy; that's just how undeveloped the road out there was at the time. It was an incredible experience, every bit of it!
. I wouldn't last 7 hours let alone 7 DAYS 
! Although, I definitely understand the desire for seclusion - that's why we built our house on 10 acres and our driveway is 1/4 mile long 
.
. When my husband and I moved in together, he bought his mother's house and she moved into an apartment (a few years later, we built a house and now she lives in an apartment IN our house 
). Anyway, she left a buttload of mugs in the cupboards of her old house. Most of them were donated when we moved again, but this mug followed us - I suppose because it looks nice and it wasn't a "promotional-type" mug like you get when you start seeing a new dentist or something (which is what most of the other mugs she left us were).
