Tag: postaday

こんばんは and Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was our last day at Big Bend National Park and we decided to check out the east part of the park. On the way there we stopped at the Panther Junction Visitor Center and bought a new National Park Passport book. In it, you can collect stamps from all the parks you visit. In the photo below, you can see Bay and Mariko stamping our books. It’s a fun activity, and we hope to add many more stamps in the future!

Next we headed to the Boquillas Canyon Overlook, where you can look across the Rio Grande into Mexico. At the parking lot there were a bunch of handcrafts for sale, and you can leave money in a container for whatever you might pick out. However, it’s not legal to buy these since they are technically considered contraband. But it was interesting to see how the border in Big Bend is just a small river, which can be easily crossed.

Our next stop was the hot springs ♨, which is just a short 1.5 mile drive on a gravel road to the trailhead, then a 15 minute hike to the springs. Along the way, there are “ruins” from when the area was a bit of a resort back in the 40s. Also you can view some petroglyphs and pictographs along the wall next to the trail.

Before long we found ourselves at the actual hot springs. I had changed into some shorts so that I could try the waters. I mean, why not, right? The springs were not too hot, but pleasant and I could have soaked in them for a while, but since I was the only one in our group who wanted to get wet, I only sat in the springs for a few moments.

Finally it was time to leave Big Bend National Park, but not without a little excitement. On the road out of the park, we got a flat tire. Luckily, putting on the spare went without a hitch (and Bay helped me!) and we were back on the road in no time. Toyota recommends a maximum speed of 50 MPH on the spare, so it was slow going to our next stop, Fort Davis.

We arrived at our Bed and Breakfast at around 5 PM, got settled in our room and then headed for the one restaurant in town that was open on Thanksgiving – Blue Mountain Bistro. Mariko and the boys enjoyed nice turkey dinners with all the trimmings, and I opted for the Beef Bourguignon. It was all delicious and we left satisfied. Plus there was live acoustic guitar music which gave it a wonderful atmosphere. 🎸🎶

Thanksgiving 2016 was a memorable one for us, and I have to say that I am thankful for the chance to visit our country’s amazing National Parks 🌵🌲 and make good memories with my family. 😊

I hope you had a nice day too!

おやすみなさい！

– B 

こんばんは！How’s it going?

Today was an exciting day because we finally made it to Big Bend National Park. And by “finally”, I mean that it was a very long drive to get here, and also it took us 17 years of living in Texas to finally visit the state’s sole national park.

We didn’t rush to get here, but instead took a short driving tour of the city of Alpine and then drove to Terlingua to check out the famously quirky town and grab a bite to eat and a coffee. From there, it was a 40 minute drive to reach the Chisos Mountain Lodge where we are staying for the next 2 days.

The Chisos Basin is an amazing place, with the massive Casa Grande looming on one side, and the beautiful Window on the other side. At sunset, we walked the short Window View trail and took a bunch of photos, then had a nice dinner at the restaurant before heading to our room for some relaxation and star viewing.

Big Bend has a spectacular sky so I did a little bit of astro-photography using Mariko’s X-T10 and kit lens. I think the photos turned out pretty good. I even saw a beautiful shooting star!

Tomorrow will be a full day of sightseeing and hiking, so I’ll end this post here and get some rest.

おやすみなさい！

– B 

こんばんは！How’s it going?

I’m writing this post as I sit by the fireplace in the lobby of The Holland Hotel in Alpine, Texas. Today we started our vacation in which we will visit Big Bend National Park for the first time! But to get out here, it takes forever… Texas is so darned big. 😜

So this first day, we decided to drive to Alpine which is a 6-hour journey by car. Luckily the speed limits on I-10 in west Texas is 80 MPH so we cruised along and made good time. 💨

We arrived in Alpine around 3:30 in the afternoon (we got a nice, late 9 AM start) and wanted to go to the Big Bend Brewery, but unfortunately they are closed on Mondays 😔 so we just checked in at the hotel, shot some pool, and relaxed before heading out for dinner. We decided on the Reata restaurant, which is known for their steak and it was only a few minutes walk from our hotel.

The steak was delicious (we split a 16 oz. between three of us) and we also got a sour-cream enchilada plate which was also yummy. A great meal to start the vacation! Oh, and we toasted with a couple of Big Bend Brewery draft beers, so we did get to taste the local brew. 🍻

And that brings us up to date with the trip! I’m going to finish my glass of wine (we brought a couple bottles along with us) and then get some rest.

Hope you had a nice day!

おやすみなさい！

– B