One of our favorite spots on the trip was our time at Big Bend National Park.
Quiet, isolated, and massive, Big Bend offers an open landscape to get away for awhile. It may sound funny to say that sometimes we need to “get away” on this trip, but we often find ourselves craving isolation in nature. 
Funny sidenote – on our way into Big Bend, we experienced our first taste of the South’s liquor policies! We stopped into the grocery store at 8:30am to stock up for four days in the park – groceries, snacks for hiking, and wine for a reward after a full day of hiking. But when we got to the checkout counter, the girl helping us immediately said, “I can’t sell you that!” We looked at her in surprise – we’re young, but not THAT young. Even after we produced our I.D.s, she still wouldn’t sell to us – telling us to come back in 3 hours, when we could purchase alcohol after noon!
It definitely was not worth waiting around for, so we hit the road wineless! (But not whine-less….)
Big Bend offers primitive semi-backcountry camping for RVs – rare for state and national parks! Unfortunately, for our first night, no spots that could accommodate our beast of an RV were available. So, we opted for a tent spot instead! Who would have thought that tent would actually come in handy?
We loaded up the motorbike with our gear (we took two trips on the way there, but were able to fit everything on in the morning. It was a tight ride!). We chose a campsite located right next to the Rio Grande River, and near the Hot Springs we wanted to visit that day.
The Rio Grande is gorgeous – slow and wide, it’s an impressive curve separating the United States and Mexico.
Near our tent we found a dried up river bed – flowers, horse hoof prints, and (scary) large pawprints were all throughout the dried and caked mud.
It was so cold that night! We bundled up into several layers of clothing, and spent the night stargazing, reading, and enjoying a different pace than RV camping.
Good to know we can still “rough” it once in a while! 🙂
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