Big_Bend

If you really want to get away from it all, the place to go, in Texas, is the Big Bend area. The State Park and the National Park are back to back. These desert lands offer a variety of diversions, including, but not limited to: camping, hiking, rafting, fishing, horseback riding, sightseeing, tours, museums, programs in archeology, Longhorn cattle drives, and my favorite-- photographic opportunities. It is more than a hundred miles to the nearest freeway, hospital or shopping mall. This is what first attracted me the Big Ben area, and keeps me coming back again and again. If you make the long trip which seems like a visit to the past you will want to stay for at least a few days.

It is truly a land of contrast. In addition to the desert badlands, this area has a green belt snaking through it, created by the Rio Grande River. It has canyons that are so narrow and deep that they seem like gigantic cracks in solid stone. In addition, it has cool mountains that are forested with pines, firs, and cypresses. From a distance the mountains seem to have scarcely any trees; they appear to be huge bare rock formations. Although, as described by me, that is exactly what some of the mountainsides are-- breathtaking sculptures in rock. Everywhere I looked there were beautiful landscapes, and I was lucky enough to get to watch a storm rumble in, over the vast and isolated vista.