Sunday, March 1…Morning Has Broken (Cat Stevens)

    All went to bed at a decent time because we were getting up early for Gabe’s hike.  A car alarm jolted me awake at 3 a.m.  What got me out of bed was the realization that it was our truck! Scrambled to get the key fob, went to the window to shut it off and noticed somebody across the driveway, wearing a headlamp and sneaking around a couple of trucks parked over there.  What?! Is that why the alarm went off...someone trying to break into vehicles? I watched a minute longer, with so many thoughts racing through my head. Finally decided to call 911 and ask that they send someone over to check it out.  A deputy made a drive-through, but the headlamp had disappeared by that time. Eventually, I was able to get back to sleep. Until the truck alarm went off again at 4:47! This time it woke Kim, who thought that Gabe had gone out to the truck after going to the bathroom. No, he went back to his bedroom. Then Kim mumbled that the key fob probably needs new batteries. Well, this happened at 3 also. Why are you talking about batteries?  Then he explained that the alarm had gone off a couple of times when they were at the stargazing event, which makes him think it needs new batteries. Well, do you think you could have mentioned that to me when you got back?!  And when we left this morning, there were a couple of work trucks clustered togethered so I suppose someone could have been transferring equipment from one truck to another. Odd time to do it, but whatever. Overall, I was embarrassed that I’d called 911, but I did what I thought was right with the information I had, so I’m cutting myself some slack. But, still, Kim could have said something.

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   Up for real at 6 o’clock; this area is said to have the darkest sky in the country, and I’m a believer, because it was so incredibly dark at 6:25 when we left for the park. We’re 3-7 minutes from the park entrance (depending on the road construction traffic light system) and about an hour from Chisos Basin, so we got to watch the park come into view as the sun slowly started turning on its light, which made for some dramatic landscapes.  Took a lot of pictures…not sure if they truly captured what my eyes were beholdin’, but I tried.

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   Dropped Gabe off at the trailhead a bit before 7:30 a.m. for his adventure, made a plan to be back by 1:30, and then had to decide what we wanted to do with the next 6 hours. The sun that provided such a treat for the eyes as it was coming up over the mountains was suddenly a royal pain for the eyes, shining right into the side mirrors as we headed west to the Santa Elena Canyon. After turning onto the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, it was surprising to see that the sun still had a mountain or two to climb. Not that it was dark by any means, but we were still in the mountains’ shadow. Didn’t take long before the sun popped over the mountains, though. A stop at the Sotol Vista showed not only the mountains near us but layers of mountains in the distance…and let me know that the temperature was rising and it was time to take off the sweatshirt that felt comfy when we left this morning.

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   We’d been to Santa Elena Canyon on a previous trip to Big Bend. I didn’t take note of how downhill it was from the desert area to the riverbed.  We didn’t stay long in the canyon area. We weren’t interested in doing the hike to the overlook again…just wanted to get to the river, take some pictures and head back. We’d stopped a fair amount on the way in to take in the scenery and had to be mindful of the time.  

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   We were back at the RV for less than an hour when Gabe texted that he was done already. Back into the park we went. After we picked him up, a late lunch was on everyone’s mind, so we headed back to Terlingua…the real Terlingua. All this time, we thought that’s where we were staying, but the RV is actually in a little town called Study Butte. Terlingua is located about 15 minutes to the west down 170. Huh!

   Anyway, lunch was at DB’s Rustic BBQ in Terlingua, then we drove further west because Kim wanted to put the drone up. Couldn’t do that in Big Bend, although he was very tempted at one of the more remote, higher places we stopped. But a dead battery on the phone saved him from crossing that line. Anyway, now was the time to fly the drone. At times, the Rio Grande flowed right beside 170, so he found a good spot to do his thing, then we headed back to the RV. We spent the evening doing various things, then we all came together for a rousing game of UNO, which I won. Not bragging, just reporting the outcome.

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   Plan to get up early to start the drive back to Arizona. Not looking forward to another 10-12 hours on the road but that’s the hand we dealt ourselves.  The truck has been sending us nasty grams about needing an oil change, so that’ll probably happen somewhere in El Paso.