Texas: Big Bend Natl & State Parks

El Paso, TX:  Huge city with tons of traffic.  Much like everything has been in the Southwest, Desert Dry!  El Paso isn’t bad, but there are several refineries that billow out black smoke which hangs in the air over part of the city.  So sad for the folks living in that area.  Luckily I stayed only one night, but had an incredible ‘custom’ ice cream sandwich.  A peanut butter Nutella cookie on one side, a chocolate chip cookie on the other, and dark chocolate ice cream in the middle.  It was worth every penny!

Stayed a night in Van Horn (I think I liked it) and a night near Marfa.  Marfa is very small but with many historic buildings.  Has a quaint, artsy feel about it.  I would have liked to spend some time there but had a schedule to keep.  Also, Alpine TX is nice and historic too.  Unfortunately, it took me 3 hours to find propane for the RV, and gas for both RV and Car.  The thing about gas at this point… small towns don’t get the gas so every pump but one will be out of order.  Long lines and small gas stations that won’t fit either the height or the length of my setup.  How frustrating!  Cost of gas in Texas is pretty good ranging from $4.15 to $4.5/gal.   I also needed a new air compressor (tire inflator) since mine blew a hole in the air hose.  It’s not rated for the pressure my RV tires need and I think it finally had enough.  Included in my 3 hour foray was a stop at 3 places looking for the correct air compressor.  I bought one at Tractor Supply and decided to try it right there (thank goodness I did).  The air hose and cord combined only reached about 15 feet which would never work on the RV rear tires.  So I had to return it.  I ended up going back to the first place I stopped and bought one that would do the trick.  Not exactly what I wanted but I didn’t have the choice to wait for something from Amazon. 

That was only the beginning of the frustrating day.  I drove south of Alpine to near Big Bend National Park.  I made reservations at the Eco Ranch Sustainable Living Center. This is an off-grid farm and I thought it sounded interesting.  Dry camping there and less costly than most.  The gotcha is that it’s a 5 mile drive on dirt roads to get there.  Not a big deal normally.  Most of the road was fine but there was one steep short hill that was my downfall.  This road is the one recommended for larger motorhomes and trailers.  There is a big difference in ground clearance between trailers (more) and motorhomes (less).  I made it just to the crest of the steep short hill when my electric step hit a rock jutting out from the road.  By the time I could stop it was too late.  Totally creamed my step which now doesn’t work.  Stuck in the in position just like my slide.  One more thing to have the RV repair shop look at and quote. There were several very sandy areas on the balance of the road but luckily I was able to get through them. When I got settled, I found that I had lost most of my full tank of water. Not sure if it was the steep hills or if I have a leaky hose (it got down to 12 degrees the night before).   The Eco Ranch wasn’t quite what I thought it would be but still a neat place.  Part of the main house is made of Adobe and Glass Bottles (what is called a bottle house).  Robert and Debbie live here with their 4 dogs (3 Chihuahuas and a guardian dog Anatolian Shepherd), 2 cats (Albert and Henry), a massive amount of chickens, roosters, ducks, geese, turkeys, and goats.  Robert gave me a tour of the barnyard and I had a blast petting the goats and getting to know some of their names.  My favorite was the male Tom Turkey named Blue.  He loved strutting his stuff and followed me everywhere.  My favorite goats were Chewy (a young buck who loves people) and Sampson (the head of the herd so to say and Daddy to all the little goats).  There was a new little goat only 3 weeks old and so adorable.   It amazed me that all of them were living together in one huge barnyard pen.  There was one horse as well (not with the others).  Robert also showed me their hydroponics building where they grow vegetables using very little soil and mostly water that goes through a filtrations process and gets fertilized by fish poop from their Koi fish.  I didn’t get to see a lot of veggies as a cold front came through and killed most everything. But some did survive.  Robert also cultivates seeds from an endangered yellow barrel cactus, and grows them for wholesale.  It was interesting to see how the farm works and how they make money to keep it all going.  There is a rain catchment system but with an ongoing drought, water is being brought in.  A well was being drilled during the time I was there but they hadn’t struck water yet. (update: unfortunately the day before I left they stopped drilling and never did reach water, so they will have to keep hauling in water).  The electricity is from a solar system.  And they have septic tanks for the house and camping areas.  I just can’t imagine how much work it would be every single day.

I hiked the Santa Elena Canyon trail in Big Bend National Park.  It was short but beautiful and fun. The Rio Grande river runs through the canyon although there wasn’t a lot of water.  I also drove all the way across the park to see what I could see.  It’s a long way in between places.  I stopped for lunch at a naturally occurring Spring / Oasis where there were trees and a little trail for bird watching.  The windmill at this Spring was 100 years old and is still working to pump water up.  The park service maintains it so it will continue to supply this oasis in the desert.

One day I went into the neighboring Big Bend Ranch State Park which I felt was prettier than what I had seen at the National Park.  I walked the Closed Canyon trail that follows a wash through a slot canyon.  It was very impressive and I got to do some very minor rock scrambling.  It was a lot of fun and everyone hiking there were very friendly and having a good time.   I really thought I would be ultra sore the next day but surprisingly it wasn’t that bad.

OK, I think I’ve had enough desert now!  I’m really looking forward to more trees and water (I hope). What’s up next?  San Antonio!