Big Bend Epiphany...

This will be a long blog. Sorry. Grab a beer/wine or coffee or delete if you don't have  two minutes. 

I was returning to my campsite at the Rio Grande Village when I noticed my cheap Walmart camp chair was gone. My solar shower had been kicked around like a soccer ball too. Crap! I left my Coleman stove in the storage box and sure enough it had also gone missing. Double Crap! 

I looked yonder to a neighbors camp. Hmmm! That looks like my chair. It was. Maybe my Coleman stove is in their storage box. It was. I grabbed my gear and flung it in Barley the van. 

Off I went to explain my plight to the campground host. 

I must have interrupted the volunteer in the midst of a Vincent Van Gogh ear amputation surgery. One third of his ear was detached from his head and still bleeding. (I'm not making this up!) I tried my best to be as nonchalant as he was. This wasn't a "I cut myself shaving" wound. 

He assured me he would look into the matter and speak to the accused when they returned. I moved campsites knowing the culprits were Texans and carried a U.S. Army Reserve's worth of weapons in their Mini-Van. I own a dull Swiss Army knife. I wouldn't  stand a chance. 

The thieves pleaded ignorance. They reckoned I left Big Bend NP and couldn't be bothered with taking my gear with me. Hey! I'm in Texas! They really believed that. So they picked up my valuables in order to keep the campground litter free. They were being good Lone Star State citizens. God Bless them for trying to make a difference.

So Jeff...what's your epiphany?

There are times it's best to just hunker down in a real town in the "tweener" seasons. Between fall/winter. Between winter/spring. 

Barley the Van living is based upon warm and long days. A van gets awfully small in inclement weather or 13 hours or more of darkness. I have too much time to think and ponder things. Thinking too much is the arch-enemy of single people. You actually realize you are alone. 

In my future I'll rent temporary pads in places where there's hiking, a few pubs, more humans, warmer temperatures and Spring Training Baseball. 

In 10 days, I'll be hunkering in Tucson. That will be another blog. 

Good night from Big Bend Bandits National Park. 

I'm going to sleep with one-eye open and my Swiss Army knife under my pillow.

PS. Those are real live Mexican horses. The Border Patrol didn't bother them about "Green Cards." 

One side=U.S

 

The other side=Mexico. See the difference? Well, neither do I. 

On a blustery, cold day I hiked from Rio Grande Village (a store, gas station, laundry  and campground) to some hot springs. A few of the bathers swam across the Rio Grande and actually touched Mexico! I expected alarms to go off, but that didn't happen. 

Mexican Nationals leave goo-gags and walking sticks along the trail with requests for "donations." Capitalism is alive and well South of the Border too. 

Meanwhile our Border Patrol can fine or arrest you for doing business with these Mexican craftsmen. It's a strange world we live in. 

Speaking of strange! The temperatures are considerably below average here. This will be the second night where water will turn to ice. At least my beer is staying chilled along with me. 

Believe it or not, Big Bend is booked solid for Spring Break! Who would have thought college kids would want to party on in West Texas instead of Fort Lauderdale? Whatever happened to the days of "Beach Blanket Bingo"? 

Finding a home for Barley and me might be a challenge in the next few weeks. 

I might actually have to sleep under a bridge down by the river.

Who would have thunk it? 

Borderlands National Park...

would be a more descriptive name than Big Bend. 181 miles of the park's boundary is the Rio Grande River. This puny desert stream (dry in many places due to upriver impoundments) forms the border between the U.S and Mexico. 

Down here in West Texas, the idea of two separate nations gets a bit muddled. The river is not a deterrent for people's meanderings. Green and white Border Patrol vehicles ply the paved and dirt roads. Oftentimes, they are seen sitting dormant with a sole occupant scanning the long horizons for "human sign." 

It's all seems sort of sad. A huge effort on America's part to keep the people who clean our hotel rooms, pick our fruits and vegetables, cook our meals, frame our homes and landscape our yards out. I wish the "Powers to Be" could come up with a workable solution to this quagmire.

I'm a first generation American. Sid and Clara were both from the Old World. I feel fortunate and thankful, this nation found space for the two of them. There were immigration questions then and there still are now. An answer is long overdue.

Anyway...Big Bend National Park is a pretty out-worldly looking region. 

It's the most visited place in Texas (even more than the Alamo). One must make an effort to get here. It's out of the way and off the grid. I like that, even though tonight's forecast is for cold, rain, sleet and possibly White Death. I'm hoping the inclement weather goes away soon, or I'll be going away soon. 

Good Night Y'all