Travel Day 47

West Texas, Del Rio, Marathon, and Big Bend National Park

From San Antonio, we drove to Lake in Del Rio, Texas. There is actually a military base there that my dad was at before when he was learning to fly airplanes. We did not do a lot because we were in the middle of nowhere, and it was really hot the days we were there. One good thing to keep cool was the big air trampoline park. They had basketball, slides, bull riding, trampolines, rock walls, and even zip lines! My favorite part was the slide. It was a 90-degree drop into a curve where you went flying and got “big air”. It was the best trampoline park I’ve ever been to, and it was so fun! Other than the park, we went to a short hike and got some really beautiful views of the lake.

Current leg: 157

Total miles: 6171

Next up was Marathon, Texas just north of Big Bend NP.

We are at Marathon RV park for a 3-day stay. There was not a lot in this town, but they had some local food we were going to check out. On the first night, we went to Ghostfire Pizza. It was the best pizza because of the perfect homemade dough and sauce! I ate 4 pieces, and after the owner said, “How do you like it so far?” I said that it was the best pizza I’ve ever had. After that, he offered to take Eli and me to the back to make some food for customers!!!! First when we got to the kitchen, we washed our hands and picked out the dough. After that we put a lot of cheese on it (because we were making a cheesy garlic bread) and put the garlic and olive oil on, then sent it to the bakers to cook it. It was really nice that he let us come into the kitchen and make orders for actual customers, and I think it was the best place we’ve eaten so far on the trip! And after we made the pizza he let us take some dough home to grow and use to make pizzas, we named him Gage, after the guy’s last name who let us cook. Marathon is right next to the border of Big Bend, so, of course we had to take a hike on one of the days. The hike we did was a place called Dog Canyon where we hiked across the desert until we went to the fun part, the canyon where we walked another mile to get to one of the biggest canyons I’ve ever seen! We took a quick break to get some snacks and then we walked back, it was really hot so we stayed inside for the rest of the day

Current leg: 164

Total Miles: 6335

Now on the Teralinga, Tx and Big Bend NP

One of our most highly anticipated national parks was one by the name of Big Bend, where they are known for their stunning deserts and gorgeous canyons. This makes it one of the prettiest parks in the nation, and we got to do 4 hikes for a three-day stay. The best part about this place was the Window Trail, which we did on the first day at Big Bend. The beginning of the trail slowly dips and goes below the valley, down rocks and rivers (dried up). The best part of the hike, though, was the window view at the end. You came up to it, and it was just this perfect cutout in the rock where you could see for miles ahead. We sadly couldn’t wake up at 4 a.m. to catch the sunrise at the window because our camper was a few miles away. After the window, we went to the visitor center and got our stamps and stickers for our National Park books. On day 2, we decided to go to the Santa Elena trail, the most famous in the park. We walked through this massive canyon beside the Rio Grande River until we got to a little part where we could dip our feet in, and it felt really nice after a long, hot hike up the canyon. Dad, Eli, and I waded into the river and touched the other side of the canyon, which was actually Mexico! Following our hike, we traveled along the beautiful route back to the campground, where we stopped to look at the iconic mule ears, a combination of two rocks perfectly shaped to resemble mule ears. On the third and final day, we ventured off to the fossil mine and nature trail. The trail was a short 2 miles where we hiked to the top of a cool rock mountain and got an unobstructed 360-degree view of Big Bend and even a little bit of Mexico! After the nature trail, we took a quick stop to get our stamps and then we rode in the car to the fossil discovery center inside of the park. They had a whole lot of exhibits, and we got to see some really cool fish skeletons.