Texas - Big Bend National Park and our Pups

 Last week we made it into the National Park finally. Admittedly we only saw about 1/4 of the park. We only had the one day and we had the pups with us. This sadly kept me from any hiking as dogs are not allowed on the trails which is normal for National Parks to protect the habitats. Sadly we couldn’t leave the babes in Lucy as just a couple days prior we got a message, while at the pool, that a neighbor called in that our pup (Oliver) was missing us due to his barking. Oops…… we admit we don’t want to be the people in the RV park with the barking pup. So that put a stop on us venturing out alone. A handicap but something we have to work with.

Big Bend National Park is stunning. Gorgeous Rock formations and Desert views. It has mountains, with Emory Peak the highest at 7825 feet. Over one million acres of stunning beauty and so many different habitats for animals. It is named ‘Big Bend’ due to the curve if the Rio Grande River in that area. So the park borders Mexico and one can cross on a boat and ride donkeys to the nearest town. Of course for that outing one needs a passport. There are hot springs one can hike to in the park as well. You can raft or canoe on the river. Truly a marvelous playground and it is kind of empty and neglected due to its location. Last count was just 464,000 visitors in a year. That is crazy as other National Parks like Rocky Mountain or Zion National Park pull between 4 to 6 Million a year. Let that sink in and if you like to not be in long lines and love the quiet and solitude then Big Bend should be on a travel destination list! We loved it but yes it is desolate. The closest ‘Walmart’ for example is a 3 hour drive, one way. So no quick stop to go to Walgreens or any store that has a bigger selection or decent prices. So one thing is you have to come prepared. 

Texas - Lajitas Golf Resort

 The RV Park we are staying at is part of the Lajitas Golf Resort so the benefits are you can use all the amenities the Resort offers plus what the RV Park offers. We have the heated outdoor pool and the beautiful hiking trails that start right at the campground. 

Ron and I had dinner at the Resort Restaurant and it was wonderful. A tad pricy but very good and the scenery overlooking the golf course and Mexico was stunning. 

The other part of the resort we used so far was the Agave Spa. Again, a tad pricy but darn, the 80 minute deep tissue massage by Michael C. Grady L.M.T. was the best we ever had so totally worth it! And we had plenty massages over the years. Both, Ron and me agreed we never felt better then we did after those 80 min. Now I admit, for three days I felt like a horse had kicked me and as if I had bruises all over my body but it was what I consider ‘good pain’. After the three days I walked more straight, felt more stability and flexibility. Truly life changing in a sense as it made me join the bi-weekly yoga class offered at the park and I could move better then I have in years.

So should you find your way down here to this most beautiful area, in our eyes the best area of Texas, then please make an appointment with Michael at the Agave Spa. You will not be disappointed I promise.

To say we love it here would be an understatement. We came here planning on a three night stay. We ended up adding a week, and today my husband went and added 5 more days. So our three night turned into 14 nights here and we are loving it.

Mexico - Rosalina’s and our first trip to Mexico 🇲🇽

 Yesterday we finally made the jump, well drive, into Mexico. We decided to do the crossing from Presidio, TX into Ojinaga, Mexico. We had to drive to Presidio due to wanting Rosalina’s back right tire looked at as the warning sign of low pressure kept coming on in the last few months. Ron kept it going with the compressor for a while but since we wanted to do longer drives into the National Park we did not feel like taking a risk. So Ron found a tire repair place and within 30 minutes we were ready to go. Our impulsive selves thought we should be checking out the other side of the border, this without any plans or idea of what to expect.

The crossing was pretty simple and the only challenge was what felt like a mile long drive over super high speed bumps that were only 3 feet apart. Talk about any vehicle taking a beating. Well we made it through the check point and the only thing we needed to show the Mexican Authorities was the car registration and my passport. Now that sounds simple but no no it was quiet interesting. For one, she did not speak (or at least claimed) to not speak English or German. She couldn’t figure out where my passport was from and kept pointing at the cover which says ‘European Union - Deutschland). I kept saying ‘Germany, Deutschland and Allemagne. Well the Allemagne finally made an impression and she waved us through without even wanting to see Ron’s passport. Her not speaking English should have given us pause but hey after traveling all over the world for most of our life we were sure we cross paths with others that did speak English. No no no. Our whole time over there not one person we tried talking to spoke English. And then to our dismay what came on? The low tire pressure sign for the back rear tire! I think those speed bumps were to blame. So we aimed for home again. While it took about 10 min to enter Mexico it took 1 hour to get back into the USA. The border agent was super nice and when asked if we had lunch in Mexico and us telling him we kind of missed out on it all he recommended a great place in Presidio, The Bean. It was super yummy food and when we got to the tire place he told us the tire pressure was still good and that the issue is we have not taken her over 50 mph yet. I of course loved that responds so I told him ‘Thank you for giving me permission to speed’ 😂. Let’s just say the overall speed limit there is 30 mph to 45 mph 😉

Then it was time to head home to Lucy and the pups. This however took a long time as the drive between Presidio and Lajitas is absolutely stunning. Ron had to pull over about 15 times so I could take pictures. The road follows the Rio Grande on one side and gorgeous rock formations on the other. We made it home to our pups and we were beat! Let me tell you us older people get easily exhausted and I could barely keep my eyes open over dinner. Lucky us it was left overs from the amazing dinner we had the night before at the Resort.