Ken & Diane Travel

 January 26, 2025 Another week has passed and we are doing fine. We managed to hike several trails this past week hitting our step goals each time. First we visited Big Bend State Park and hiked the Closed Canyon Trail. What an amazing trail. You head down into a wash which takes you into a gap between the mountains. From the road and even 100 feet away you cannot see the opening. We walked and climbed down the very smooth rocks (Diane slid down, lol) until we came to the "end of the trail". The sign hung over the section of the gap that was filled with water from the Rio Grand River. When the river is high or in the rainy season you need to be careful hiking in this area as it can flood quickly. It is amazing how smooth the rocks on both sided of the gap are from erosion over 100s of years. (I have a video that I will share on FB of the gap). We were glad we had our jacket along as the temp was at least 10 degrees cooler in the gap. Rio Grand River in Gap and not far from Me...

 January 19, 2025 This past week we did a bit of hiking and trail riding. Last Sunday Diane and I hiked around Indian Mountain, an easy 3 mile walk. It is close to the RV park and works its way into the Big Bend National Park. A lot of big boulders lying along the path. Some pictographs can be seen but have been damaged by humans needing to place their names on the rock surface. Diane couldn't keep her hat on as it was a windy day on the trail. This is called the "room" as you can get under the huge rocks and walk under and thru. I went back on Tuesday and walked the trail in reverse, giving a different perspective. I headed into the wash and walked that for about 45 minutes before getting back on the trail to head out. What is amazing, in the wash are perfectly formed balls of mud and stone as it is rolled through the wash during heavy rains.   Balls in the wash. They are just clay and small stone compacted into a sphere. If you pick it up and drop they fall apart. ...

 January 9, 2025 What we believe is a "first time thing", we saw rain last night. Freezing temperatures this past week with a storm that people hoped would bring snow to the mountain top delivered a little rain. We had ice cycles hanging from the RV this morning. This is the first rain since May 2024. It is supposed to warm up by the weekend with temps in the 50s and 60s.  We did take a drive around the area looking at areas we traveled 5 years ago. Stopped and talked to one home owner up on the mountain. We drove past his place when it was being built and thought what a wonderful place. The view was amazing with all glass windows on the south side going up two stories.  He said they build during the pandemic as a place to get away from it all: they surely did.  Always amazed at the size of rock that has fallen from the mountain side and wonder when it happen and if anyone saw it happen.  I am  standing in front of this bolder.  As you drive around the...

 January 5, 2025 This past week we did a little exploring into the Big Bend State Park which lays about 20 miles west of Study Butte along HWY 170. We purchased a day pass in Lajitas and then drove for about one hour to the entrance into the park. It did not take long after entering the park that we got lost. The dirt road weaves inside and out of the park and we thought we were on the right track. We ended up on road 169 going north.  We spotted this along 169. Stands maybe 30 feet tall. Not sure if it is stainless or granite.  Road 169 did connect with HWY 67 and we did know where we would end up. After roughly 120 miles we ended up in Marfa.  We had stayed in Marfa before. This is were we ran into one of the stars from the TV show Young Sheldon. Also the movie Giant was filmed just outside of town back in the 50's staring James Dean, Rock Hudson and Elisabeth Taylor. Large billboards of the Movie. James Dean Elisabeth  Taylor This is new, we think it is the o...