BJ's RV Park (by Asher)

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On the way to BJ's, we stopped at the El Capitan overlook in Guadalupe Mts. NP.

BJ's was a dump. The only thing nice about it was the small library right by our site. Mom, dad, and I went to see the Terlingua Ghost Town, an abandoned mine town.



The next night we had a campfire with spaghetti and s'mores. 

We went to Big Bend NP through the West Entrance. The first thing we did was turn down Old Maverick Rd, a 13 mile gravel road. We took that as a shortcut to the Santa Elena Canyon.

The Santa Elena Canyon trail was my favorite trail in Big Bend. The cliffs were straight up and they were up to 1,500 feet tall. There was a bunch of smaller rocks that we had fun climbing on. The trail started at the base of a cliff and the canyon went into the cliff.

The trail followed the river into the canyon a little bit. There wasn't much water in the river at all. We didn't think that it was the Rio Grande since it translates literally into "big river," but it was. We were at a part that was only about six feet across so I was able to touch a Mexican plant that was hanging over the water.

We drove the scenic drive over to the Rio Grande Village. There's a small immigration station there and we brought our passports to go into the town of Boquillas, Mexico. Fun Fact: you don't need a passport to get into Mexico there, but you do to get back. And as dad said in his blog: we weren't prepared to move into Mexico.

We walked down to the Rio Grande and waded across because the water was so shallow. You could also pay $5 to be taken across by the Boquillas International Ferry, which was a guy in a rowboat.

Once across, we walked to the town (and skipped the $7 horse ride there). It's a small town that relies entirely on tourism. We learned that the border had been closed for 20 months due to Covid and it had only opened up a few days earlier. Almost every kid we saw was trying to sell us homemade bracelets.

We ate lunch at one of the two restaurants in town. Caleb bought a homemade bracelet and mom bought two bottles of Mexican vanilla. We waded back across the "big" river. We put on the swimsuits we brought and went to the Natural Hot Springs. Because there was the ruins of an old spa built there, it was like being in the biggest hot tub ever.

Some people say you can't do Big Bend in a day, but we did everything I wanted to do except Chisos Basin.

Location: FM 170 West Rd, Terlingua, TX 79852, USA

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