| Route: | Big Bend National Park |
| Miles Today: | 205 |
| Total Miles: | 2,107 |
I'll get to what proved to be an interesting ride today, but let's address the big news first. At 6:00PM, as all of us were headed to the restaurant for dinner, we saw a crowd of people standing behind the cabins. Several were pointing and clicking away on their cameras. When we asked what was going on we were told that a Mountain Lion had cornered two deer. I ran back to the room and grabbed my Nikon and managed to squeeze off a few shots of my own. Here are two images from my camera.
It's very hard to tell from the images, but this animal was large. Large and deadly quiet as he moved down to the deer. Eventually, the deer scrambled into the road and took off. He did not follow, perhaps because we were there, and he eventually wandered off to parts unknown. I even managed to take a shot of the mountain lion snacks before they decided to depart.
James talked with a park employee and learned that our new friend is named 'George' and hangs around the cabins frequently. This little fact puts our 5 hike into the woods in a slightly different light.
We started off the day's ride with a familiar routine. Get up, saddle up, and ride for 30-60 minutes for breakfast. The only morning event of note was that Dad encountered a javelina standing in the road. You have to be careful as they cannot see very well and are somewhat unpredictable as you bear down on them. No problems with that this time. Today brought us to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant called the Roadrunner Deli.
Before you think I am trying to make fun of this restaurant, you should know that the food was excellent. Kudos to the cook. The restaurant was part of the famous Study Butte mall. The remainder of the mall can be seen below:
After eating, we took off for the Rio Grande riverside ride through Big Bend Ranch State Park to Presidio, TX. We cut the ride off before Presidio on the advice of a deli patron and headed back to Terlingua, TX.
All of the rain in the area has the flowers blooming and each stop presented opportunities to photograph the local blooms. A few samples follow:
Here is a shot of Dad and James standing in the parking lot of the Big Bend Ranch State Park:
The road along the Rio Grande was a true delight to ride. We stopped several times for pictures, and I have included one here. Please note that you are looking at the US/Mexico border. USA to the left, Mexico to the right.
Towards the end of the overlook drive, we stopped near the river and yes, I jumped in, or at least my feet did.
While I was standing in the Rio Grande, I felt the timeless movement of water that has flowed from Colorado to the Gulf for millenia. Time only knows the number of natives that have fished, canoed, and swan in its waters since the dawn of man. I was so close to Mexico that I was sure that the Border Patrol was going to start barking at me through a megaphone. This is as close to Mexico as I will ever come (25 ft).
Before we returned to the lodge, we took a detour to Castolon visitor center. The day had become very hot and as you can see below, the group stopped for a much-needed hydration break.
Of course, all day long, we were treated to the sensational Big Bend landscape:
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