I have become such an astronomy nerd; these night sky programs are becoming one of the highlights of my time here. I’ve been getting much more comfortable with constellation stories, planet identification and telescope talks. Recently, during winter break, I talked about Astrotourism and told stories about the stars to 430+ people during the Christmas holidays. What a crowd and what a rush that was!
Besides the night sky hype, the visitor center has been keeping me on my toes with lots of questions and Junior Rangers. When I do get time to go outside, I try to hike new trails I haven’t seen yet. I recently got to hike the Persimmon Gap Draw trail and check out some old Persimmon groves that had been planted by a rancher, and hike out to a nice view of the northern park boundary.
I recently developed a new guided hike talking about the return of the black bear to Big Bend and it’s a great excuse to take people outside and enjoy the trails. But of course, the busier we get, means I need to make sure I have my unwind time and park breaks. Luckily, I have a great group of gal pals that I go out with from time to time for hikes and dinner dates. Recently we all went out to Terlingua for a night, got a nice dinner and went out for ice cream afterwards at Milky Way Treats!
As fun as exploring the park is, breaks and time outside the park is always much needed. I enjoyed a wonderful solo getaway to White Sands National Park in New Mexico, and it did not disappoint! The park was pretty small, but the trails were stunning and unlike anything I had seen before. I enjoyed hiking, jumping down sand dunes and watching the sun set over the hills. It was a quick overnighter but definitely worth the time!
As beautiful and vast as Big Bend is, nearby we have the Big Bend Ranch State Park just over an hour away with more hiking trails and sprawling scenery. Jessie and I went out there for an afternoon and we got to hike the Hoodoos Trail and Closed Canyon. Honestly, Jessie and I were underwhelmed by the Hoodoos trail, it was a view of the Hoodoos and then a whole lot of nothing. I guess you could say I am hard to please after seeing Bryce Canyon, but what can you do! I did enjoy Closed Canyon though; it was a neat slot canyon with great views.
After exploring the state park, I got to check out Marufo Vega with Christy and Karen. One of our more challenging hikes, it is a 14-mile day hike that is hot, dry, exposed with no shade throughout the entirety of the trail. However, if you get far enough on the trail, you’ll get pretty stunning views of the Rio Grande River. We decided to put in about a 10-mile day and enjoyed a nice lunch in a tiny patch of shade under some boulders. Fortunately, it wasn’t too hot, and we were able to explore a good portion of the trail. When we were heading back, to keep our spirits high, I asked everyone to take guesses of when we would return to the trailhead, and I was right on the money at 4:17, just like a true ranger would be!!
It’s the holiday season! Christmas looked a little different this year, but I was lucky enough to get the 24th – 26th off to spend it with my boy! I drove out to Johnson City on December 23rd, arrived around 8:00pm to a TOWN! And towns decorate for the holidays, so I got to see Christmas lights!! Michael and I went on a cute little hayride, walked around the town and saw Christmas lights and had a blast.
We spent Christmas Eve in San Antonio and visited the Alamo Battlefield Site, went to Trader Joes and Target, and ended the night at a local church.
We must have been pretty good this year because Santa paid us a visit and brought us lots of goodies. We enjoyed some family zoom chats with both the Baers and the McDevitts, went disc golfing at a local park and visited the LBJ Ranch unit.
The day after Christmas we stopped by the LBJ main unit and boyhood home before heading back down to San Antonio and checking out yet another park site, the San Antonio Missions! We visited all 4 mission sites, got a classic lunch at Cracker Barrel and then it was time for me to drive home, prepare for another work week and look forward to the arrival of my parents next. Until then, Ranger On!
