TAKE DAYS FOR BIG BEND

There are lots of great places you can drive to from Bastrop for a quick getaway. Fredericksburg and Port Aransas are favorites but for a real change of scenery, you cannot beat going a little further west to Big Bend. And by a little further I mean seven hours, if you don't stop for lunch.

That's why on our first day we decided to stay the night at a nice hotel for a little luxury and a good meal before we hit the hiking trails.

Day 1: Its about a six hour drive to Marathon Texas where we stayed at the Gage Hotel which has been welcoming generations of travelers since 1927. It's a favorite stop for us whether we're headed to Fort Davis or points further west. The property is charming and comfortable. The 12 Gage Restaurant, which is attached to the White Buffalo Bar is a splurge but we knew we'd be eating our own cooking for the next three days and the food is superb. The quail added to one of their specialty salads came highly recommended and was really special.

Day 2: Wake up refreshed and drive about thirty minutes west to Alpine Texas and the last decent sized town to stock up on gas and provisions before heading south towards Terlingua. We stayed the next two nights at a solar and wind powered vacation rental on a secluded 20 acres called Casa Tranquila. Teriligua has other cool accommodations like tee-pees, yurts, big transparent bubble domes to star gaze, and you can even glamp in luxury in a cave!

Day 2 continued: After unloading our groceries, we headed back out to explore Terlingua. Don't miss Terilingua Trading Company for a souvenir, a cold drink or if its really hot you may want to pick up a sombrero. The Starlight Theatre Restaurant & Saloon has been the stage for countless Texas musicians. Visit an interesting historic cemetery there in town and you've just about seen all there is to see in this dusty little town that's home to a famous chili cook-off since 1967. From here we drove to both the Big Bend State Park and the National Park to get our bearings and decided hiking the National Park because of the higher peaks and historic landmarks. We went home to Casa Tranquila just in time to fire up the grill and the gas fire pit for steaks and wine while watching the sunset.

Day 3: We ate a good breakfast of leftover steak and eggs and then loaded up our gear and sandwiches for a day of hiking. Ten minutes outside of Terlingua ( about 30 minutes from Casa Tranquila,) we entered Big Bend National Park which offers 150 miles of hiking trails, 1,200 species of plants, 450 species of birds and 1,252 square miles of public land.

The park is so massive there are several small towns, some abandoned, within the park. We took the Santa Elena Canyon road which eventually led us right down to the Rio Grande river.

Even if you don't fancy yourself a photographer, you'll be stunned at the shots you'll get with your phone.

Day 3 (Continued) - Along the Santa Elena Canyon road there are numerous trails heads to hikes of varying lengths and skill levels, all listed and rated on the park map available upon entry. A must hike for us was the Homer Wilson Ranch trail which is only about 1 mile but includes an abandoned ranch foreman's house and outbuildings and equipment for handling 4000 sheep and 2500 goats in the early 1900's. It was abandoned in 1945 but the walls, fireplace and reed ceiling have survived.

By far the most scenic drive, in my opinion, is to take the Chisos Basin road to one of the highest peaks in the park, in view of Emery Peak (7825 ft.) to walk the spectacular Window Trail. Luckily the Casa Tranquila has a well equipped kitchen because we arrived home after dark to make a homemade spaghetti and meat sauce dinner.

Day 4: Packed up our car and headed back out to the park. We drove out past Panther Junction to the Rio Grande Villiage where you'll find natural hot springs, the remains of an early 20th century abandoned resort and see petroglyphs (cave paintings) from ancient inhabitants. At Boquillas Canyon Trail you can buy pottery and tchotchke brought over from Boqullas Del Carmen just on the other side of the Rio Grande. Rather than backtracking out the main entrance, we left the Park on Highway 385 at about 1:pm to make the one hour scenic drive back to Marathon. If you drive like mad and eat leftover sandwiches in the car for lunch, you can make it back to Austin for a late dinner, which we did, then on to home.