Spring Break Day 4: Big Bend's Chaco Canyon

Unfortunately Olivia had a rough night, or rather, she and I had a rough night. She woke up at 3am and I pulled her into bed with me, but she seemed to be wide awake and wouldn't relax and cuddle. Instead of waking up CK and Sofia, I decided to take her into the sitting room to read and cuddle with her. She was awake for a few hours until she finally fell asleep at 6am. I put her on the couch and read my book until CK and Sofia woke up around 9am. We originally decided to get an early start and spend the entire day driving and exploring Big Bend National Park. Aside from the late start, it was also a very windy day which made the visibility terrible, which isn't great for looking at scenic mountains. We got ready and decided to go ahead and drive into the Park, since there really aren't a lot of other options in Marathon and we felt like we'd already explored Marfa and Alpine. So, once we were dressed, we ate, loaded up in the Jeep and headed toward the Big Bend National Park entrance. The girls had their books between them and were happy.

Once in the Park, we headed toward the Chisos Basin and the main Visitor Center, where we planned to have lunch. We had originally hoped to stay in the Chisos Mountain Lodge for a few nights, but it was full by the time we planned our trip a few months ago. Luckily the wind had died down and it was amazingly clear views! The landscape seemed to change dramatically with each mile and as we approached the outside of the Chisos Basin, it was really spectacular! At one point, we pulled over so CK could take a video of the mountains. Both girls got out and stretched their legs and admired the mountains. We loaded up and headed to the Visitors Center. The mountains were beautiful and the views incredible. We parked next to the Visitors Center and went through the gift shop to the restaurant. Lunch was surprisingly very good, especially given that the restaurant/visitor center is easily 100 miles from any normal size town and I wondered how they got their food. All of our food came with fruit and Sofia's cantaloupe was honestly the best I've ever eaten! The girls both ordered pizzas and they were great, too. After lunch, CK got a Big Bend t-shirt, I picked out a Big Bend baseball cap and Sofia picked out a small Mexican-painted cactus with a gecko on it. After taking a few pictures, we got back into the car and headed on our way.

Sofia used the little yellow cosmetic bag (it originally joined us on the trip full of hairbands) given to her by Aunt Shirl and Uncle Steve at Christmas to put all of her "treasures" in, which included crayons from lunch, little rocks, the Big Bend National Park coin CK got her, her lizard off the cactus, a cactus spike, and leaves of plants she liked. We drove and enjoyed the incredible views and tried to pull off at all the lookouts. We stopped at Tuff Canyon, and decided to get out, stretch our legs and take a small hike. Olivia was exhausted and only wanted me to hold her, so CK and Sofia walked down one edge of the canyon almost to the floor. They turned around and walked along the far side of the canyon to take in the view from the lookout. Olivia and I made our way over to join them and Sofia was desperate to go for a hike, so I gave Olivia to CK and Sofia and I headed down the path toward the canyon floor. It was a short hike, but very pretty and only two other people were on the canyon floor. We walked to the area where CK and Sofia originally started and we were able to crawl our way out of the canyon from there. It was a little slippery, but we made it. After, we loaded up and continued on to the Visitor Center near the Rio Grande River. We took bathroom breaks, bought some cold water and continued on to see the Rio Grande River!

She sleeps - finally!

The views are incredible!!

Heading toward the Chisos Basin

Beautiful

Pulling over so CK can take a video, and stretching our legs

Entering the Chisos Basin

Incredible!

After lunch with the girls. Sofia was very proud of her crossword puzzle and drawings on her kids meal menu

The four of us

Right next to the Visitors Center

The aptly-named Mule's Ears

Tuff Canyon (CK and Sofia are down looking into the canyon)

CK and Sofia exploring

CK and Sofia on the far side of the canyon

The view of the other side of the canyon

CK and Sofia looking down into the canyon from the lookout

Sofia and I heading out on our hike

In the middle of the canyon floor

Back on top!

Cactus ready to bloom

Love this image!

Spring Break Day 4: The Rio Grande

We caught our first view of the Rio Grande River and found a place to pull over so we could get a closer look. The river was a little narrower than expected, but with the tall cliffs of Mexico on the other side, it was very dramatic. We watched the river for awhile and then walked around the other side of the road to take a look at the scenery. It was so dramatically different to have the river and greenery on one side of the road and the arid, beautiful landscape of the Park on the other. We got back into the Jeep and continued on to a boat loading area, where we parked and decided to dip our toes into the river. The water was cool and muddy, but the girls loved it. Of course, Olivia originally thought she should take off all of her clothes to go into the water, like she does in our backyard. Instead, she kicked off her cowboy boots and took off her tights and she went into the water up to her knees. Sofia took off her shoes and socks and walked right into the river. The girls had a ball and after a few minutes we decided we should get moving since we still had a lot of miles to cover and it was already well into the afternoon.

CK and the girls taking in the Rio Grande River

The river

Another of CK and the girls

The cliffs of Mexico in the background.

Olivia trying to catch up to CK as he takes in the views

CK takes in the views

Olivia acting silly

CK and Sofia taking in the views

Looking toward the cliffs of Mexico

Sofia ready to go into the Rio Grande

The girls and me by the river

Olivia is ready to go in

Sofia gets her feet wet

And she's out!

Spring Break Day 4: Big Bend Drive

At the Rio Grande, we were basically the furthest point away from the Park entrance that we drove through that morning. Since we didn't want to double back and see all the same scenery, we continued on the only road we could, Old Maverick Road which is about 15 miles of unpaved road. Once again, we saw one or two other cars coming the other way but otherwise we had the place to ourselves. The drive was beautiful and we actually came across a small house that was falling down. Apparently a family of 12 lived in it in the 1880s and the man lived until he was 102 (we joked that it probably just felt like he lived that long). I can't even imagine how the family survived or found/grew food, but somehow they did. Old Maverick Road was rough and it was pretty slow going at times. We made it to the Maverick Junction Park Gate and headed out toward Alpine. The only way to make it back to Marathon is to drive to Alpine and then over to Marathon. There aren't exactly a lot of road options in the area. We drove through the Christmas Mountains and enjoyed more beautiful views.

Once we made it to Alpine, we decided to eat at McDonald's - literally the girls' first time there. We were all tired and hungry and the thought of sitting in an actual restaurant or continuing on to Alpine was more than we could consider. We ate our meal and headed back to our hotel in Marathon. Both girls were pretty exhausted, so after getting the girls showered, CK put them to bed. We followed soon after. What a fun day!

The view ahead

Love the rocks

The house that once held the family of 12 kids

More incredible views along the drive...

Spring Break Day 5: Ft Davis

On our last full day in the area we decided to explore Fort Davis. We'd driven past the Fort on our first day in West Texas and we really wanted to get back to learn more about it. The little town of Ft. Davis is cute with an old-time General Store, several antiques and gift shops and not a whole lot else. It looked like a fun little place to explore. We drove through Ft. Davis to the Fort, where we started our adventure. Sofia loved reading the plaque about Ft. Davis to us. We visited the visitor center/gift shop where we paid the fee and watched a short movie about the founding of Ft. Davis. From there, we walked around the Fort and tried to imagine what life would have been like then.

Once again Sofia was ready to go for a hike, so we explored a little longer and then returned to a trailhead near the parking lot. The trail was not very long but gave us a great view of the Fort and both girls were happy to get a hike in. CK and the girls posed at the top of the trail for some cute pictures before we headed down to the Jeep. Of course, Sofia found a section of cactus that she just absolutely "needed" along with several rocks.

We drove into the town and stopped at the General Store where CK and the girls had milk shakes. Olivia was very tired and restless, so I took her upstairs to the little gallery. The very first painting was beautiful! It was an oil painting of a rock formation that is so common and beautiful in that area. I loved it! After milk shakes I told CK to take a look at the gallery, while I took Olivia back to the Jeep for a diaper change and a nap. He liked the painting as much as I did and bought it as well as a black and white photo of the prairie and mountains in the background. So exciting to have a great reminder of our fun adventure and some beautiful original art.

We loaded back up into the car and Olivia fell fast asleep - a much-needed nap! We had reservations for Reata in Alpine later and decided to drive from Fort Davis north toward Balmorhea before turning toward Alpine. The view was typically beautiful and arid, but once we reached Balmorhea the roads were lined with canals full of flowing water! We drove past the Balmorhea State Park which boasts the "World's Largest Spring Fed Swimming Pool." The town was very cute and looked like a fun place to spend a day or two, but unfortunately we had plans in Alpine and Olivia was still sleeping. I later learned that the spring that feeds the swimming pool in the Balmorhea State Park supplies 26 million gallons of water per day to area farmers! Water is stored at the nearby Balmorhea Lake and the rest flows through the canals to area farmland. It was pretty remarkable to see after seeing so little water in the area. Hoping that we get a chance to explore the cute town and swim in the pool on our next trip.

We made it to Reata and enjoyed a delicious meal, as expected. After dinner, we headed back to Marathon to pack and get ready to leave the next day. As we drove, the girls enjoyed singing along to the songs in the Princess book that Grandpa and Grandma got Olivia for Christmas. We probably heard the girls sing along to the songs at least 100 times on the trip and it proved to be great entertainment when they weren't reading Thomas Train (Sofia) or looking through the pile of books we brought (Olivia). We made it back to our hotel and enjoyed our last evening all sleeping in the same room!

On our way toward Ft. Davis

Another early settlement from the 1890s

The adorable town of Ft. Davis

CK and the girls in front of the Fort Davis Historic Center

The girls and me

Ft. Davis

Sofia reading about Fort Davis, Olivia pretending to read....

Fort Davis

CK and Sofia exploring

Sofia and Olivia learn about a covered wagon

Going for a short hike

The view from the trail

CK and the girls overlooking Fort Davis

Love this picture!

Heading back down from the trail

The cute General Store where CK and the girls had milk shakes and where we bought our art

This looks very similar to our painting!

Reata for our final dinner

Spring Break Day 6: Good Bye West Texas

On our final day in West Texas, we woke up, packed and got ready for the day. We ate breakfast at a little coffee shop on the edge of town called Marathon Coffee Shop. It's the first little place we saw driving into town, but wasn't open until Friday for some reason. The pancakes were awesome even if the coffee wasn't great. We walked the block back to the Gage Hotel and the girls ran around and played in the little courtyard while CK settled up the bill. Sofia ran around making up songs (that rhymed) about West Texas, hiking, horses, etc. She really does have an amazingly creative gift that comes to her so easily. CK found us and had two fluffy new Gage Hotel bathrobes with him! We loved wearing them all week and I am so excited we have our very own now!

We said goodbye to Marathon and the Gage Hotel and drove to Alpine where we found a car wash and worked over Tex's car to remove the mud, dust, dead bugs from the outside and the gum wrappers, crackers and various girl projects from the inside. The Jeep looked so different once we were done! After, we headed to the airport where we loaded up and flew home. It was a fun week in West Texas exploring beautiful land and we hope to return soon!

The Gage Hotel's main building

12 Gage, the delicious restaurant

The Marathon Coffee Shop at the edge of town - such a great West Texas scene.

The Gage Hotel's history

At the airport

Girls loading up

Goodbye, West Texas!