Well I am writing the last chapter of my Big Bend adventure from my childhood home in California! So how did I get here? I’ll outline my final days at Big Bend and my journey home here, it was a fun one and boy am I glad to be done!

As the end of season rapidly approaches, so it goes where I soak in the final fun moments, plan my final trips and even have friends tag along on my last few ranger programs. My last few weeks coincided with Big Bend’s busiest time of the year, spring break! I led my Homer Wilson ranching program and my final night sky talk and even had some friends finally join who loved it!

Over my short weekend I helped with traffic control and earned some overtime hours. Traffic control is surprisingly pretty fun, mostly because you’re outside all day and just chatting with folks who are excited to be in the park.

Each park experience I have had has been different, with highs and lows. Exciting things and challenges. But one thing I loved about Big Bend is because the park and staff are so small, you get to create much more intentional connections and relationships across divisions. This was my first season where I really got to befriend the volunteers, law enforcement and trail crew to name a few. It was just a great group of people that I’ll miss. To show my appreciation for them all, I had everyone over for a Wii game night and it was just fun and nostalgic to bowl, play tennis and have quality time together. Unfortunately, I didn’t take many photos of my last few weeks and travels home, so you’ll have to rely on my narratives!

In the midst of my final days and last weekend, Michael came to see me, which was wonderful! We had such a nice time together, and he even packed my car for me which was a huge bonus, because he is much more tetris minded than me!

Day one I took him and our good friend Jessie to Pine Canyon, a gorgeous mountainous hike to a pouroff. We ran into several couples who reported spooking a bear on the trail, and we heeded their warnings but of course with our luck we did not see anything!

Day two, Michael and I did a mix of packing the household, and we did a short hike to Mule Ears spring. We couldn’t stay out too long though because it was Opening Day, a national holiday in Michael’s eyes. We made sure everyone knew who we were rooting for and repped the Phillies well!

The best surprise though came on our drive home. About 1/4 of a mile from the junction of the scenic drive, a Mexican black bear ran across the road right in front of our car! This was incredibly unusual to see the bear in the desert section of the park but we were over the moon.

Only about 15 minutes prior, Michael got an exciting phone call confirming his summer park, he accepted a position at Rocky Mountain NP in Colorado! Between that and seeing the bear, we decided it was God’s little way of saying farewell to Big Bend for us, and leaving us a nice parting gift.

Day three was one of the most unique experiences we both have ever had. I got to go up with Scott Taylor, our park pilot, once again, and bring Michael along with me! We flew the Lower Canyons route which was out the southern end of the park and continued following the Rio Grande river for about 90 miles. It was such a gorgeous day and a unique experience we both loved.

That night, we drove about 2 hours north of the park and attended a star party at the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis. On the way, we stopped at the Davis Mountains and enjoyed great views of the rolling green hills. A nice change from the desert.

After a couple days of fun, it was time for me to leave the park and for Michael to return to Lyndon B Johnson for a few more weeks. I embarked on a 6-day journey from Texas to California, with lots of stops, and excitement along the way. I visited 5 national park units, putting me at over 100 of 433 units visited, camped, saw some college friends and family and had lots of fun. Enjoy the compilation of photos with short blurbs of how my journey home went.

At this point in the trip, I started to be around people again. I got the best sushi lunch with my college friend Emily, and I stayed with Jacob and his girlfriend Emily in LA for the night. But in true Rachel fashion I didn’t take any photos oops.

Jess took me to a super neat event called Brass Mash, which happened the first Friday of every month at a local brewery called Liquid Gravity. The group is a bunch of people ages 25-60 who all play different brass instruments: trombone, trumpet and saxophone and they do covers of popular songs from the 1980s- modern day. It is such an uplifting vibe with lots of dancing and wholesome fun!

I arrived home Saturday afternoon, exhausted but happy. Traveling and living in different places is such a unique epxerience, but there is truly no place like home. It was so good to just hug my folks and be in my house after not living here for two years. Time for two weeks of relaxation until the final park adventure begins, Alcatraz. Until then, ranger on!