Texas is one of the few states with hundreds and hundreds of miles of untouched roads. For an adventurous family road trip, Texas is a great destination, so off we went, looking to get away, relax, enjoy nature, and forget about the daily distractions of life.
I called a Texas Park Ranger to be our family trip planner, hoping she could point out the best Texas RV Park. She suggested Big Bend National State Park. The park offers nature lovers diverse wildlife to potentially encounter, hiking trails, mountain biking, RV camp sites, cave exploring, rafting, canoing, and kayaking.
This Texas road trip was the perfect way to rejuvenate, re-energize and relax. Big Bend’s picturesque scenery of mountains, valleys, and canyons made us feel like we were taking a vacation right out of an old western movie.
On the way to Big Bend National Park, we planned time to wander through the many small towns. We ate at mom & pop diners along the route, and took in some classic Americana Texas style. When we got about 60 miles from Big Bend, we stopped at Ft. Stockton to fill our ice chests full of groceries and water. One of the Park Rangers from Big Bend forewarned me to pick up supplies before entering the park, and her advice paid off. When planning a road trip to any National Park, it's always a good idea to call the park directly to help you prepare for & bring the right camping supplies.
We elected to stay at different RV camp sites every night to get the different experiences the park had to offer. The first day we camped at the Chisos Mountains and took a short hike on a nature trail. Watch out for the cactus!
Every night, while my husband and I set up the RV, the kids went exploring and gathered sticks to begin our campfire. Of course, we always ended up roasting marshmallows. Campfires are truly a family-bonding experience! But the warmth of the fire is also essential because it gets chilly here at night.
While staying at the Chisos Mountains, we had to place our food in metal boxes so the black bears would not visit us at night, and thankfully they did not.
*Great Idea* Before going to bed, we placed some spackling mud we brought along to fill a few holes in the ground. We wanted to see what type of animal visitors came over while we were sleeping. We ended up with the best home-made souvenirs and it aroused the curiosity of the kids to find more wildlife, and to take notice of their environment throughout the trip.
The second day we ventured over to Cottonwood Campsite located in a shady grove along the river, and set up a tent for the night. The grass provided a much better cushion than the hard mountain ground for roughing it in a tent.
On our last day we wanted to explore more of the park and figured that hiking wasn’t going to get it done fast enough, so we hopped in the RV and let the roads be our guide. We ended the day snuggling up near the campfire watching the beautiful sunset over the horizon. The dark sky was so clear and beautiful. I wanted to my kids to remember the radiance of the west Texas skies forever.
Tranquil family trips like this are hard to come by without heading to a remote destination like Big Bend. Memories like these are what family road trips are all about.
A very interesting trip report. We have a trip report section at IndianWildlifeClub.com and I have given a link to this in the National Park section.
http://www.indianwildlifeclub.com/usercontent/index.asp?topicid=3
Posted by: Susan Sharma | November 16, 2007 at 11:13 PM