Monday April 15th, 2024
Today’s plan:
- Visit Big Bend National Park
- Make a quick trip to Fort Davis National Historic Site on the way
- Spend the night at Seminole Canyon State Park & Historic Site (this was a list-minute change)
I spent the previous night at a primitive campsite and had nice conversations with the RV couple in the spot next to mine, but per my usual camping routine I fall asleep very early and wake up very early so that I can be at the next park as they open.
While taking down and packing up my tent at 3am I chose to fold the tent and toss it into the trunk of my car rather than to roll it up and place it back in the bag as I would under normal circumstances.
That part is so “crunchy.”
Today that park is the Fort Davis National Historic Site.
I got to this location a bit early and parked my car in the town and tried to sneak in a quick nap.
Here is a dramatic reenactment image.
I pulled in at the same time as the rangers and I got to watch them open the gate.
One of the habits I have developed recently is that when I hear birds I open the Merlin app on my phone to determine what bird I am hearing.
There are some interesting birds here that live in cacti.
I had a nice chat with one of the rangers at this park and I mentioned that I am on this trek as it will be my last blast before moving to New York and he told me that he started his career with the national parks at the Statue of Liberty.
I will need to schedule a visit to the State of Liberty one day. I don’t think there is an elevator on the inside, though.
I will need to get into better shape if I want to attempt getting to the top of the inside.
I think you can climb stairs inside of the State of Liberty to get to the top, or the torch or something.
I have never looked into this.
Here’s a neat looking building I passed on my way to Big Bend.
While checking in at the Northern entrance to the park I got into a conversation with a nice old lady who told me that her father used to own some of the land that is now part of this park.
She told me about the shop her dad ran and how they had to sell due to The Great Depression.
It was her first time back to visit in sixteen years.
She helped put together these displays about her family, the Cooper family.
She also told me about the cave across the road from the building that we are in and that it is no longer suitable for naps as it is now filled with snakes.
This is a very large park with various attractions that are connected by roads that have a speed limit of 40 mph (64 kph).
The first place I chose to visit is the fossil site, where at one point someone tried to steal dinosaur bones.
The items on display now are replicas due to this.
There is a nice overlook of this area as well.
I spotted a fossil!
The following picture does not count as spotting a fossil.
Also a neat flower.
And a neat bird.
There are a lot of rare plants in West Texas, especially around El Paso. I’m always amazed at how much more life there is on our planet that we don’t know much about.
Next stop is the Panther Junction Visitor Center of the park.
At Carlsbad yesterday I had a conversation about National Parks and postcards and the person I was speaking with mentioned that the post office here does hand cancellations.
When I heard this I smiled, nodded & pretended to know what it meant.
It’s the ink stamp they make over the postage stamps.
They have a hand stamper to do this here.
I mailed out a few postcards during this visit and had a nice chat with the postal courier.
I had several conversations during this visit, one of which was with another park visitor where we discussed documenting our travels.
I explained my love for the passport books, but that I don’t believe that New York’s state parks have them.
This woman was kind enough to show me how she documents her travels and allowed me to take a picture as well.
I like the idea of using these plastic sleeves and of using construction paper as backing for items like receipts.
Notice how she stamps her own paper rather than the passports on the right side there.
What a cool idea.
Also like me, with my occasional ranger bear pictures, this woman takes photos with Owney, a post office puppy mascot.
It was a lovely visit to the park and I can see why folks hold this place in such high regard, but unfortunately I was unable to reserve a camping spot here.
Well, that’s not true. I did find one camping spot, but then I came to learn that the campsite was not near the parts of the park that I would be visiting and would require me to lose two hours of travel and so I reserved a campsite for the night at Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site.
This is another park that I should have researched in advance.
There are tours to visit ancient cave paintings that I was unaware of, but on a Monday night this site is fairly empty.
On the plus side, this location has a bathroom and shower near my campsite as I am now on day three of this trip and I have not taken a shower, yet.
So now that I am parked at my campsite, it is time to finish putting together this replacement pole.
I know it works and I just need to read the instructions and figure out how to put the rubber band cord on the inside.
There are these plug pieces that I assume that I will need to tie the rope to and use to seal both ends of the pole, but it turns out that this is not necesary.
There are extra pieces depending on whether your needs are for a pole with outtie or innie ends.
It was much easier than I anticipated and I wish that I had done this at home rather than out in the desert just before dark, but hey. Adventure.
Look at how nice this came together.
Forty dollar tent restored to its previous glory.
Hiking and exploring time while there is still daylight, now.
Birds of prey are common here.
I am realizing during this hike how worn out I am and I decide to turn around earlier than anticipated.
I’ll take that adventure shower at the state park bathroom and spend some time relaxing in the tent.
When you walk into the bathroom you’re in the main area with the toilets, but off to the side is the shower area.
Pictured above is the first room of the shower area which has a long bench and hooks on the wall.
The next room is the shower.
The water temperature is nice, though the shower head is a bit odd.
I also brought water shoes because my wife is very worried that I will get athletes foot.
Do not worry, Lauri. I kept my feet protected.
And then I had to figure out what to do with a damp towel.
And the wet bag of soap thing.
One last night in the desert.
One last sandwich in the cooler.
One last can of H-E-B cola.
Time to relax.
One issue with the desert heat is that I can stay in the shade of the tent, or I can stand outside to feel the wind on me.
I do not want to get sweaty right after taking a shower and so I choose to stand outside.
It is late enough in the day that I can’t sit at the bench under the shelter as this would put me directly under the beating sun, and so I must stand next to the shelter to take advantage of the shade and wind.
I thought I had a chair in the car, but I was unable to find it.
I lost a few of these recently.
Let’s take a look at the state of my cheap tent.
Dollar store rope attached to the roof to replace a lost line.
A rip in the top of the tent where the poles go through. This is due to pushing through one of the poles that became separated due to the rope on the inside disintegrating.
Bent stakes.
Melted antacids.
I admit this last one is for my tummy and not for the tent, but it was a frustration that I faced on this evening.
I do not recommend this type of antacid. Most of it was stuck to the paper packaging which made it very difficult to eat.
But the tent survives and continues to offer shelter!
Time for some coffee.
I always bring along my Aero Press and I never end up making coffee.
Usually because I’m up at three in the morning and trying not to wake the neighbors, but to heck with it. I want something tasty and it’s still fairly early in the evening.
I don’t have any big plans for tomorrow.
The goal for the last day is to visit a few state parks along the way home.
Heck.
I didn’t bring a mug.
One thing that I do have in the trunk is a clean milk container, though.
There is a $2 deposit when these are purchased and so I keep them in the truck with grocery bags so that I will remember to return them to the grocery store.
Step 1: Clean the funnel. Why didn’t I do this before the trip?
Step 2: Admire the clean funnel.
Step 3: Scoop the coffee grounds.
Step 4: Put the coffee grounds into the funnel and Aero Press and mention that a filter was placed in here earlier, but not documented with a picture.
Step 5: Place over cup, or in this case a milk jug that does not fit properly, so attempt to seal it with your hand.
Step 6: Pour in water.
Step 7. Spill water onto the ground and your knee because your hand does not make a good seal.
Step 8: You’re in too far! Don’t stop now! Keep pouring in water!
Success!
Step 9: Add creamer and/or sweetener. In this case creamer would be a pain to bring, sugar takes a while to dissolver, but maple syrup should do the trick.
We have two containers of maple syrup at the moment, and I do not want to try to pack and ship these to the new apartment in a month.
Step 10: Enjoy.
Mmmm.
Delicious for my mouth and for my knee.
Best to eat one of those antacids that sticks to the wrapper as well.
I’m going back into my tent to place all of my national park stickers into the passport book.
One small note, I bought the Big Bend sticker on accident at a national park in San Antonio several months ago.
Today that purchase pays off.
It’s one that’s too big for the book and so what I do is I place the smaller sticker on the underside of the larger sticker which leaves a seam of sticky part to adhesive the paper.
This leaves a flap that can be lifted to read the extra information.
See?
Top of the flap.
Bottom.
Learned this trick from a ranger in Utah.
Now it is beginning to get dark, but there is a truck blaring down headlights onto my campsite.
It looks like this guy pulled into a RV spot and forgot to turn them off.
I’ll run up there and ask him before it gets dark and before I get frustrated.
He was very kind and took it very well.
Now that it is dark, let’s see if we can find anything interesting with the black light flashlight.
A little bit of glowing on this cactus flower.
I found something weird and had to turn on my regular flashlight to figure out what it was.
It’s a spoon.
But that is it for this evening.
It is time to rest and prepare for the final ride home where I will try to visit more state parks along the route, though air conditioning and a bed sounds awfully nice right about now.
The adventure must continue.
Remus says “Hi.”
Adventurenet.net 
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