Thankful #5

I am thankful for vacations, especially our latest vacations. Neither RW nor I understood how much we needed time off from our regular life. RW, Sonny, and I drove down to Big Bend National Park a couple of weeks ago. Well, RW drove. Sonny and I were just passengers. We stayed at Big Bend for 4 days/3 nights. It was heavenly. We camped at 3 different primitive camp sites, where it was just Sonny and us. Big Bend National Park is just huge at 750,000 acres; the park is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. The park has the Chisos Mountains, the Chihuanhuan desert, and the Rio Grande. It was tons of fun.

The above picture is of Ernst Tinaja. We hiked out there on the morning after our first night at Big Bend National Park. RW and Sonny climbed all over the area while I was photographing everything in sight.

We have a 4 X 4 Jeep Cherokee, so we drove along on the primitive roads in the park. The park had ranches, mines, and towns in its boundaries that are now ghost ranches, mines, and towns. One day, we saw only 4 people all day. Of course, since the park is one of the most remote areas in the country, we had no cell phone coverage. The isolation was wonderful. For a 5 days, we didn't talk on the cell phone, we didn't hear any news, and we didn't hear anything about the economy. Did I say, it was wonderful? One day, we drove along the Rio Grande for about 4 hours. We threw Sonny's poo across the Rio Grande, so Sonny has poo(ed) in 14 states and 2 countries. Not that we are counting or anything. The photo to the right is of the Rio Grande running inside of Big Bend National Park. Yes Mexico is on the other side of the river. Of course, Sonny defaced a National Landmark in the park. RW had to hide the evidence with a rock.

After leaving Big Bend National Park, we drove the River Road in the Big Bend Ranch State Park, which is 1/3 of the size of Big Bend National Park at 250,000 acres. The River Road in Big Grande, for 60 miles. We ended up in Presidio, which is a border town.




From Presidio, we drove north to Marfa, which is in the Davis Mountains. Yes, Sonny and we saw the Marfa Lights. For some reason, I thought that the lights were going to be like the Northern Lights, but the Marfa Lights were pops of lights similar to flashlights. These pops of lights would move along the horizon. Again, we had no cell phone coverage in the Davis Mountains. We actually stayed in a hotel that night. Sonny loves hotels! The above photo is of Sonny in our room at the Thunderbird Motel in Marfa.

The next day, we went to Alpine and Fort Davis in the Davis Mountains area. Fort Davis has their original Western fort from 1856. We visited the fort, which is a National Historical Site. And yes, Sonny defaced the National Historical Site. RW had to run back to the jeep for a plastic bag, because the park rangers were watching us.

We camped that last night at Balmorhea State Park, which has a spring fed swimming pool. The pool is about 1.75 acres big. Everything in Texas is big. The water temperature in the pool is a constant 72-76 degrees year round due to the natural spring that feeds it. Believe me, after 5 days of 90 + degrees and desert dust, we were ready to swim. From Balmorhea, we drove up to Interstate 20 and followed it home. We did stopped at the Odessa Meteor Crater, which is 500 feet in diameter and 30 feet deep. The crater is a National Landmark. And yes again Sonny left his mark right in the middle of the crater. Sonny must have felt the "vortex" of the crater. Luckily this time no one was watching, so RW covered up the evidence with a rock. Are you noticing Sonny has a theme on our vacations?

BUT the real reason I'm thankful for vacations is that I learned on this vacation is how important it is to take time off. Not just time off from work, but time off from everything. Time off from the news, the economy, other people, and regular life. Both RW and I returned home relaxed finally. It took 6 days away from civilization for us to feel relax. During that time away from everything, RW and I spent time together being in the moment with each other.

I realized that we, all, can't take vacations as often as need them. What we can do is to remember to turn off those television sets and shut down our computers. Then go and take a walk with our loved ones and be in the moment. Take the time off, even if it is only an hour a week. RW and I are committed to taking time off together.