2014 Back Again.

Well here we are back in the good old USA.

For our readers a quick update, last year we had the misfortune to become the target  for an idiot deer in Tennessee and it left Bonnie looking a little worse for wear.

Imagine our delight to find out that George had worked a miracle.

Our first destination was a place we have been wanting to visit but haven't because it is a bit out of the way.  Big Bend National Park is located in West Texas which can only be called huge. The park is 801,106 acres. The county of Oxfordshire is 638,162 acres just to give our U.K.readers an idea of the scale.  It's only 405 miles from Hawley to the Park!!!

This is a part of Texas that is totally different with it's mountain ranges and large areas of high desert. It is Approximately1800 feet at the Rio Grande River and rises to over 7830 feet at Emory Peak.

The Park runs along 180 mies of the Rio Grande and the Rio Bravo and forms the boundary between Mexico and the U.S.A. It's only 414 miles from Hawley and it's still in Texas.

This is West Texas big skies and big horizons and very few people.

We catch our first sight of the mountains on the horizon.

Another 2 hours driving and we finally get to the mountains. 

Like most mountains they have their own weather system and as 

we start to climb and the clou

ds get that much closer.

We finally get to Study Buttes where we are staying, it's only a 4 mile drive into the park.

This is our Motel which we actually drove past the first time.

If you look to the left you can just see the sign behind the tree stump.

Big Bend is big it has over 100 miles of paved roads 10 miles of dirt roads

and over 150 miles of hiking trails. We'll stick with the paved roads!!!

You have to watch out for the wild life and this time of year the male Tarantula's

are out looking for mates. Needless to say the Boss sat in the car watching from a distance.

Look quite cuddly really.

This is the rock formation called the Mule Ears easy to see why.

Time for food back to motel for Dinner!!!