Roaming the Wild West!

Well, if this isn't one of the most beautiful places on earth! Every drive we take brings us to somewhere even better than before. And we haven't made it to Utah yet which is supposed to be spectacular.

Right now we feel as though we are in the wild west, where all the old cowboy films were made. We are in an area around Marathon and Alpine, on the outskirts of the Big Bend area. In case y'all start worrying we wont be online for at least 5 days, maybe longer. Tomorrow we are heading into the wilderness. Lol. Well, we are heading into Big Bend National Park which has no electricity, no water, and no wifi. We are spending a few days 'dry camping', as they call it, without RV hookups. So don't be worrying about us. I'm betting our mobile phone won't work either so, if there are any emergencies, you will have to call Big Bend National Park.

Yesterday we spent almost 9 hours travelling. We were relieved that we didn't take the interstate, because route 90 may have taken longer, but we just loved the scenery along the way. The locals tell us there's not much here to look at, but we disagree, as its just a totally different world to Northern Ireland. We drove 400 miles at least, and the scenery is just vast. In every direction, as far as the eye could see, was desolate cactus filled desert mountain land. We stopped quite a few times along the way just to absorb the landscape and stretch our legs. When we did get out of the RV Jimmie couldn't believe how 'Texas' the whole place looked.

The local people in Marathon are lovely. Last night Dan happened to meet the chef, waitor and bar tender of the local hotel. This is pretty much a one horse town, and they rely on the passing

tourists to make money. Tonight we are going to eat at the hotel, where the staff have promised us the feed of a lifetime. Dan spent all evening chatting to them last night. They told us if we come for dinner they will let us try all sorts of local dishes.

Last night we spent the night in a motel (part of the RV park). Just as we arrived in marathon our gas detector started beeping, and nothing could be done to reset it. We shut off the gas, phone Cruise America, and told them of the problem. Since it was night and no mechanics could be found, the paid for us to sleep in the motel, as the noise from the alarm was migraine inducing. Oh wow, it was so nice to sleep in proper comfy beds! The first thing the kids noticed was that the motel room had a TV, and they sat watching cartoons happily. At the moment the gas detector is switched off until we come out of Big Bend park, where a mechanic will be fitting a new device for us. We couldn't complain at Cruise America's service, they were great about it.

Well, if you haven't looked at the photo albums lately, check out Texas Albums 1 and 2 for more pics of the amazing area we are staying in. There are also some photos from our trip to San Antonio zoo, which I didn't get time to blog about.

The weather here now is just perfect. It's hot, but not at all humid, so it's just lovely. The sun is out, theres no sign of rain (thank goodness, we've had enough of that). Let's hope it lasts.