Big Bend Vacation 2008 Day One

It’s Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008. Leslie and I are at Big Bend National Park, and having a wonderful time! Yesterday, at 2:30 a.m. our kids left for Student Life Camp in Shawnee, Oklahoma. I got to pray for everyone on the bus right before they left. Then I went home and went back to sleep. About 10:30 a.m., after packing the van, Leslie and I were off to Big Bend. It took us about 10 hours to arrive here, including the stops along the way.

It’s funny. I thought Leslie might enjoy going to the Dallas/Fort Worth area for something different this year, so I suggested just it as a vacation idea. We never go to the DFW Metroplex for vacation. It’s usually for some conference. But Leslie wanted to go to a quiet spot where we could get some hiking and biking in, and reconnect. We’ve had such a busy summer already, and have been meeting each other coming and going. So I was happy that she wanted to do this. Truth is I’d rather be in Big Bend than Dallas/Fort Worth any day of the week!

It’s in the middle of the afternoon, and we just got back from a 4.5 mile hike on the Window Trail here in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend. Now when you go on a hike in a state or national park, you always hope to see some wildlife. Well, today certainly did not disappoint. On the way down to “the Window” we saw black bear scat right in the middle of the trail; and it was fresh! We just continued on down the trail.

Once we came to the large opening in the rocks called “the Window,” we encountered a group of college-aged students. They were members of the Environmental Corps, which is an extension of Ameri-Corps. They were here to do improvements on some of trails here in the park. Thank God for people like this who take care of these park and wilderness areas.

On the way back to the trailhead, we noticed the Environmental Corps members standing in the trail, looking up in a tree. The leader of their group pointed up to the branches. There was a beautiful black bear with her two cubs! We must have been 25-30 feet away. It was pretty exciting. I’ve included a picture of the momma bear here. I’ll check in either later today or tomorrow. Thanks for reading.