Dominos

While Gabriel is at school and daddy is at work, Ethan and I find lots of little ways to keep us occupied - keep us off the streets, if you will. This is one of Ethan's favorite videos and therefore, this (pictured below) is a common activity.











(please don't judge us for our dirty base boards. we actually never got around to painting them and this is where Duncan loves to sleep. primer really attracts dirt!)

BB 2011 Final.

In the morning, we packed up and headed out. Gabriel went in to the visitor center and got his Junior Ranger badge. It was actually a super cute mini-ceremony and I'm kicking myself for not taking my camera. If I knew then what I know now...

We headed out and the landscape was so pretty - with shades and highlights almost constantly changing.
Goodbye Big Bend.
Final critter count:

a bunch of deer
a bunch of skunks
one friendly fox
one lizard
one wildcat
a few javelinas

BB 2011 Day Four

Some deer wandered into the camp.


Gabe and Ethan took care of it.


We drove down a very primitive road to the Grapevine Hills Trail.





Cairns were very helpful on this hike. There is a dry creek bed that goes parallel to the trail. I kept ending up on it!
Oh look! Back on the right track!

Shade!

Ethan and Gabe were both very impressive how they scrambled up the rocks.

Rock chair!

Can you see Gabriel? He had a lot of fun on these boulders.
The balanced rock! This is what we came for!



Then we drove down to the Hot Springs.


Ethan shed his shirt.
B looking at the river.
Rio Grande. Or Rio Pequeno as Scott put it.

It was a hot day so hot springs weren't all that relaxing. We sauntered down to Dugout Wells. Another oasis in the desert. This area was called the cultural center of Big Bend. Early settlers came here because of the availability of water. Eventually they built a little school and a small community cropped up. None of that remains - except the windmill and the oasis.

This tree is even bearing fruit!

Feather.


Ethan found this flower stalk. It reminded me of Peter Koch in the book, "Exploring the Big Bend Country" he made a boat out of stems and called it the Broken Blossom. He was a rugged naturalist and a poet and artist all at the same time. Very Davidic.



We found the javelinas. There was a mama and baby but a certain SOMEONE in my group scared them off. Grrrrr......
A view of the beginning of the Chihuahua Nature Trail. I didn't take this trail - Brandon and the kids went partly down it and turned back. I waited in the shade at Dugout Wells.