I was up early, excited to pack up in anticipation of getting back on the road. It was really quite a chore to get all of the frozen and refrigerator food packed up with ice in every available container to keep it cool/cold. The camper has been sitting in 90 degree sun over the weekend without any electricity so it will be hot! And the fridge doesn’t stay on while driving and we have a camp site without electricity in Big Bend. Luckily I have several 31 cooler bags with me. We were at Paulino’s RV Shop as instructed. The owner kindly let us plug in the camper to start the cool down process of the refrigerator; I transferred the food into the hot fridge, tried to walk Maddie—she sits down with her back legs straight out in front of her as her brake system! The owner came and gave me instructions on how to download the app and get the new brake system up and running. By 10:45 they were hitching up the car to the camper but the app wasn’t working. They all stood around muttering that they could fix anything mechanical but when it came to the internet and apps…they threw their hands up and absolved themselves of any knowledge or responsibility. I finally called the manufacturer and after three transfers, I was eventually connected to someone who actually knew what he was doing and he walked me through what was wrong. The owner insisted that I go out with the mechanic for a test drive. Joanne eyed an ‘anti-gravity’ chair and was wishing to have it…We have lost our leisure time that we had planned for Big Bend and at Carlsbad Canyons there will be no time to sit around the campsite in chairs…
We could see the wide open landscape with mountains in the distance to the left, crossing dry creek beds, climbing steep little hills sliced through on either side to make the road. The topography got more interesting the closer we got to our destination. We finally turned off Hwy 90 which we had been on since San Antonio and headed south on 385. Suddenly we were at the entrance sign! I had to back up 100 yards to get the picture and we drove on through a winding more hilly landscape. More brush, more green, more different kinds of cactus—especially the purple ones. The Visitor center at the entrance was closed. We drove to Panther Junction and stopped at the visitor Center for maps, advise for the quick and dirty 1 day tour of Big Bend. We were unable to get 2 nights reservation as Bog Bend is booked solid months in advance. As it turned out, our campsite at Cottonwood Campgrounds is where much of the cool vistas and sights are! We filled up with gas—we are getting much better gas miles with the old brakes ‘braking’ us back all the time!
We have a plan for tomorrow and I think we will get to see all that we really wanted to see before we have to leave tomorrow by 3:00 ish.
The drive from the visitor Center down to Cottonwood Campground is one of the top sights of Big Bend so we enjoyed the drive in the late afternoon light. When we got to the campground around 5:30 pm we were pleasantly surprised that there were actual trees—cottonwood—DUH! and a beautiful ‘butte’ that towered off to the north east. We found our campsite. Dusty, no electric and 94 degrees. We sat outside until sundown when if became almost bearable to come into the camper. All of the windows are open, the ceiling exhaust fan can run off of our battery. The fridge is on propane—first time so I’ll see how that works.
Joanne is reading her book on her phone in the dark . Maddie is curled up beside me stretched out in the heat. Slowly the cool evening air is seeping into the camper. Hopefully we can sleep tonight. We need to be up before sunrise to get to our first stop 8 miles up the road for the early morning sun on the canyon walls.