March 19 and 20, 2018 - Big Bend National Park.

A lot of Monday was a travel day.  We started late and covered 400 miles.  Instead of having people with the stop/go signs, there are automated devices to control the traffic where there is only one lane traffic.

Every bridge we have seen in Texas has this sign.  Texas, really.  Yup.

  Tuesday morning we are out before dark, on the way to Big Bend National Park.  The sun finally started to catch the mountain tops at 7:58 a.m.  Central Time.

 Western Texas is the mountain part of the state.  A lot of it is above 4,000 feet, but drops the closer you get to the Rio Grande.

 The mountains were pretty with the morning sun.

 Big Bend was originally a State Park, formed when the land was donated to the state.  Texas deeded the land to the US Government and in June 1944, the National Park was created and encompasses 

over 801,000 acres.

 All around Texas roads, there are warnings of flash floods in the event of rain.  After getting in to the park, we took the Maverick Road, which was dirt, that led to the Santa Elena Canyon. This was the  Maverick Road.  The canyon was cut away by the Rio Grande River.  We took a hike up the canyon. On the other side of the river is Mexico.  The river was surprisingly narrow in many areas.

 The entrance of the canyon.

 A Blind Prickly Pear Cactus almost ready to blossom.

 

 Grammie leaning towards the inside as we hiked along the overhead trail.

 Behind us, the Santa Elena Canyon and the Rio Grande River.  This was the end point of the hike as the canyon walls would not allow us to go any further.

 Along the trail back to the car, we saw a Roadrunner run down the trail, quickly went into a bush, and as quickly, came out with lunch. They do run fast.

You can bet Mexico isn't going to pay for a wall.  The tall ones canyon in the background are in Mexico, and run for miles.

 The Prickly Pear Cactus already in bloom.

 Along the next section of road from Santa Elena Canyon to the Castolon Visitor's Center, we stopped at a viewpoint, while across the road was another view of the Rio Grande

 Grammie caught the Mule Ears.  Great picture Grammie.

 Yucca plant seed pods.

 A map of the Rio Grande campground area and nearby Boquillas Canyon.  The border crossing in Boquillas Canyon was closed in 2002.  It was reopened in 2013 but only from Wednesday to Sunday.

 There are places where one can skip hop to Mexico and back and hardly get your feet wet.

It was a great day to be out in the open.  By the end of the day, the campground was getting full.
On the was back, next to the road was a Border Patrol checkpoint.  No need to worry about stopping to answer questions about your citizenship. By the time you got through, they already had taken a picture of you, and got information about the vehicle using license plate information.

Another great day on the road.  Thanks for checking up on Grammie.