Day 4: Big Bend NP, day 1

Today was by far our longest driving day, about 500 miles, but we Howlands always find a way to pass the time. This time it was by playing Password. During one round after miss-hearing the password and after giving a couple bad hints Jessie declared from the backseat "Oh! I have it!...Asscrap!!" Dad and I burst out laughing, nearly in tears we were cracking up so much while Jessie sat there clueless. We continued to play Password, but none of the rounds were as memorable.

As kind of a rest stop we visited Seminole Canyon SP. The park was closed so we wouldn't be able to actually hike down into the canyon. We did however walk around the exhibits in the visitor center, seeing the history of local ancient Indian tribes and the more modern cowboy culture. We also took pictures by an interesting statue called The Peace Maker, which was a robed deer holding up farming tools and a ceremonial staff.

The rest of the day was devoted to Big Bend National Park, the majority of the time spent driving. When we stopped at the visitor center, we were amazed to find that the park ranger was from Sycamore too!! We talked about home and politics, before continuing on to our hotel.

Saving the major hike up Emory Peak for the next day, we only made several scenic stops in the park, snapping pics of the breath-taking mountains and sunsets. Our last stop in Big Bend for the day was right along the shore of the Rio Grande, were we walked along the sandy shore, gazing up at the monstrous cliffs I nicknamed "The Cliffs of Insanity". Since the river was running low from the drought, it was cool to only be a stone throw away from Mexico. We meandered around, picking up neat looking rocks to add to our collection. Then, after making our way back to our car, we stopped only a couple more times to get pictures of the night sky over the desert. We then called it a night, wanting to get as much sleep as possible for the brutal hike that awaited in the morning. The photo shows the view of the night sky over Emory Peak from our balcony. The song sure rings true, "The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas..."