SPUR OF THE MOMENT ROAD TRIP TO BIG BEND
Spur of the moment road trip to Big Bend materialized after mother nature robbed us the year before from seeing the Milky Way. I was more determined than ever to get back out to Big Bend so that my kids could experience the unbelievable night sky that this International Dark Sky Park is known for. This was the main driver behind my spur of the moment road trip to Big Bend.
BIG BEND ADVENTURE PART II
Since that first trip I had been looking at all the new moon dates for each month, trying to find dates that would work. It was my personal quest now that my kids experience it during a new moon or pretty close to it so that the sky would be at its darkest. But none of the dates lined up with our schedules. Except……. Christmas Day!
Who takes road trips on Christmas day? Well we do and I very much recommend it. I didn’t get the green light from my wife until a few days before Christmas. She knew how much this trip meant to me and how I really wanted her and the kids to see the milky way, so she agreed.
We told the kids on the 23rd to pack their hiking boots and clothes for a short trip and that we would be leaving at 5am on the 25th. With the plans set and the forecast calling for clear skies on the 26th and 27th, all we needed was for the weather to cooperate.
BUC-EE’S
As is standard on all our driving adventures, we made the mandatory stop at buccees to load up on sweets and drop about $200 dollars! I swear we can never just walk in, get a drink and a snack, and walk out within 10 minutes. This stop will not only set you back financially but also on your drive time estimates. By the time everyone uses the restroom and gets what looks like groceries for the week, it feels like an hour has passed by. Every Texas dad knows what I’m talking about. We just kind of look at each other in the parking lot and give that (I feel your pain brotha) nod.
Back on the road and now behind schedule I tried to make up some time by taking advantage of the high west Texas speed limits. I had to be careful though because I have a penchant for getting pulled over on family vacations. Our photobooks are littered with warnings from kind troopers throughout the years from various states. Just on the last trip out this way I was stopped 17 minutes apart on the same stretch of road!
Our Hotel
This time we stayed in a proper hotel and not the “No Country for Old Men” property from the last trip. (I don’t think my family will ever let me live that one down, lol). We checked into the Holiday Inn Express, freshened up, and went out for dinner. Of course, there was nothing open but if you remember the Christmas Story movie then you learned that Chinese restaurants are always open on the 25th. So, we all got our phones out and searched for Chinese food. And thank God we found one!
Come to think of it, the only other time we started a road trip on Christmas day we also ate Chinese for the same reason. On that trip we were driving to Denver and stopped over in Wichita, Kansas. Good memories.
SANTA ELENA CANYON
The next day we headed out to explore the Santa Elena Canyon area. We didn’t visit this section of Big Bend on our last visit so this was new terrain for them. I had visited once before when I was 13 and me and my dad swam across the Rio Grande to Mexico and back. So technically I did swim across the river to get here (once), lol.
The Texas Wall
As we started to get closer to the canyon you could start to see the outline of the walls and it is pretty impressive even from afar. As soon as my kids seen the rising walls, they said it looked like the Game of Thrones wall. Looking at the photos and with a little snow, it’s easy to imagine the night watch towers on top.
We parked our vehicle at the Santa Elena Canyon Trail Parking Area and then headed east across Terlingua Creek. My wife decided she would stay behind because of her bad knee. My son said he would stay with her so she wouldn’t be alone. I continued hiking the trail with my daughters who were talking up a storm and joking around the whole way up the paved steps. When we got to the top of the trail’s crest, we took a water break and enjoyed the stunning views of the canyon stretching out before us.
It was a beautiful and peaceful moment that I’ll always cherish. When we looked down below you could see people on rafts slowly floating on the Rio Grande in between the 1500 ft limestone canyon walls. I can only imagine what it must look and feel like when you’re in that small raft looking up. To float the entire canyon is still on my Texas bucket list. One day… One day…
End of the Trail
The trails descends slowly until it becomes a single-track dirt tread and ends when the canyon walls meet the river. I actually wiped out on this trail right at the end. I got too close to the embankment and slipped off a couple of feet. My girls were laughing because I threw my cell phone towards them to save it. It was a slow motion slide off too. We recorded a short video when we completed the trail. The Santa Elena Canyon trail got a big thumbs up from girls and I couldn’t agree more!
Mule Ear Trail
After leaving the Santa Elena Canyon, we made our way to the Mule Ear Trail. This trail starts at an overlook where you can see the mule ear looking rock formations that gave the trail it’s name. We didn’t attempt to finish this 3.8 mile roundtrip trail but instead explored the overlook area around it. We also took silly pictures positioning our heads so that the mule ears lined up with ours.
It was getting late in the afternoon now so we decided to make our way back to the hotel for an early dinner. I wanted everyone to rest up because the highlight of the trip was coming up in the late evening. The partly cloudy skies were clearing as it got later, and I was ecstatic. At around 10 pm I couldn’t wait any longer, the time had come. It was showtime for mother nature.
Prepping them for the grand finale
I wanted the night sky to be a complete surprise for them, so I made sure to tell them not to look up when we were walking to the minivan from the hotel. While driving to the viewing spot I asked them to try to not look out the windows. Complete shock and awe is what I was going for. We headed back towards Big Bend National Park and I took them to the spot where I had first seen the milky way as a kid in 1987. After making the turn south from Marathon I drove 20 miles and then parked the van on the side of the road and turned the engine off. I made sure the interior lights were off and told everyone to get off the car and look up.
The sky was full!
“No way dad!” “Is this real?” “Wow!” “It looks scary!” These were just some of the things I heard my family say. Hearing them go on and on and on about how cool it was and watching them trying to record it on their iphones (you can’t with the models we had back then) was priceless. You must understand that my kids were born and raised in Houston (3rd largest city in the US). They’re lucky to see a few stars on a clear night. To go from seeing that measly amount all your life to suddenly looking up to a sky that looks like a planetarium show at the museum is shocking to the senses. Literally the whole sky is full of stars!
Finally fulfilled my dream.
Seeing my family’s reactions as they took in this incredible experience was emotional and made it all worth it. The 2 road trips out here, the cash depleting buccee’s stops, the No Country for Old Men motel stay, the flat tire, all of it. All of it boy. It was sweet redemption for me personally. Mother Nature had won the first round, but she graciously allowed me to make it the second time around. Now my kids know exactly what dad was talking about all those years when I would tell them that Big Bend has the best night sky in the lower 48 United States. It all made sense to them now. That beautiful image and memory will live on forever in their minds.
Lesson Learned – Bring the right camera!
Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures or videos of the star filled sky because all I had was an iPhone 8 camera! So, a lesson learned from this trip that I want you to take away is bring a good camera that can shoot night skies and the milky way. Do not rely on your smartphone or apps. You have already made the decision to drive several hundreds of miles, make sure you capture it all correctly. And since I could not get any video or pics, you know what that means. Big Bend Adventure part III will be coming soon!
If you enjoyed reading about our spur of the moment Big Bend road trip , then take a look at our Road Trip Adventure to South Dakota post.