Day 3
Each day kept being incredible. Today was no different and in several ways, possibly my favorite,
Again, the kids were up before the sun, wanting to explore the Casita grounds. This day, we had a full day of hiking Big Bend on the agenda. We had a vague plan but were ready to explore where ever God took us! Around 9AM we left the casitas, not to return for nearly 12 hours! After entering Big Bend National Park again, we drive down a 6 mile rock and gravel road to the trail head for the Grapevine Hills with the famous Balance Rock feature. Although it was only a 2 mile hike round trip, it took us 2.5 hours at a 55 minute mile pace! Everywhere you looked, the kids wanted to explore and us moms wanted to snap a picture.
Then we explored the Ranger Station where the kids got their Junior Ranger badges by completing activities in their Junior Ranger Activity books.
Hot Springs Hike - We went down yet another incredible interesting curvy gravel road and this time, the road scaled mountain edges and we arrived at the trail head right along side the US/Mexico border. There was a 0.31 mike flat walk with canyon walls on one side containing anicient pictographs left by Indians and lush bamboo grasses on the river side. It was pretty cool to step foot into water along side the rushing Rio Grande and for it to seriously be hot, not just warm. One of my favorite memories of the day was all 10 of us in the natural hot tub. Of course it wasn’t too relaxing when 6 kids decided they wanted to jump into the actual cold Rio Grande, adjacent. Talk about amazing experiences they won’t soon forget.
The Window Trail at Sunset - We rushed leaving the Hot Springs in order to get across the park back into the Chisos Mountain section to witness a Big Bend Sunset at the “Window Trail.” The little ones were in amazing moods and were so adorable along the trail. After nearly a 11 hour day in the Big Bend National Park, the drive back to Lajitas and our Far Flung Casita was memorable following the picturesque new moon the whole way.
Dinner at La Kiva - It was a Sunday night so our plans for walking the 50 feet from our casita to nearby Mexican restaurant’s door was up for review when it was closed. Our waitress at the Starlight Theater the night before had recommended La Kiva for dinner so we decided to check out their famous homemade pizzas. Here we got to experience life as a true native Marfa teenager. Our 18 year, recently engaged, waitress named Ashley gave us quite the insight into her life and we even got to meet her fiancé, the pizza cook.
Then we explored the Ranger Station where the kids got their Junior Ranger badges by completing activities in their Junior Ranger Activity books.
Hot Springs Hike - We went down yet another incredible interesting curvy gravel road and this time, the road scaled mountain edges and we arrived at the trail head right along side the US/Mexico border. There was a 0.31 mike flat walk with canyon walls on one side containing anicient pictographs left by Indians and lush bamboo grasses on the river side. It was pretty cool to step foot into water along side the rushing Rio Grande and for it to seriously be hot, not just warm. One of my favorite memories of the day was all 10 of us in the natural hot tub. Of course it wasn’t too relaxing when 6 kids decided they wanted to jump into the actual cold Rio Grande, adjacent. Talk about amazing experiences they won’t soon forget.
The Window Trail at Sunset - We rushed leaving the Hot Springs in order to get across the park back into the Chisos Mountain section to witness a Big Bend Sunset at the “Window Trail.” The little ones were in amazing moods and were so adorable along the trail. After nearly a 11 hour day in the Big Bend National Park, the drive back to Lajitas and our Far Flung Casita was memorable following the picturesque new moon the whole way.
Dinner at La Kiva - It was a Sunday night so our plans for walking the 50 feet from our casita to nearby Mexican restaurant’s door was up for review when it was closed. Our waitress at the Starlight Theater the night before had recommended La Kiva for dinner so we decided to check out their famous homemade pizzas. Here we got to experience life as a true native Marfa teenager. Our 18 year, recently engaged, waitress named Ashley gave us quite the insight into her life and we even got to meet her fiancé, the pizza cook.
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