Thursday, March 10, 2016

Rio Grande Village Campground, Big Bend National Park, TX

Sunset Over the Campground
Wednesday, March 9, 2016, Rio Grande Village Campground, Big Bend National Park, TX, 115.2 Miles, 5,078.3 Miles for the Trip

Gulp - a sign at Maraton, TX (80 some odd miles from the campground) stated the campgrounds in the park MAY be filled. I decided to keep going since MAY isn't all that definite. At the Persimmon Gap Entrance Station (46 miles from the campground) the ranger had not received the daily report on the Rio Grande Campground, so again I kept going. At the Panther Junction Visitor Center (20 miles from the campground) they had a sign that stated the electric sites at Rio Grande Village were full, but all other campgrounds in the park were open. They have fuel at both Panther Junction & Rio Grande Village (at $2.30 per gallon for regular) so I didn't need to worry about that, so again, I kept going.

At the campground I pulled into the first empty site, started to set up, then looked at the post - the site was taken until the 12th. I calmed down & drove through the campground. Many empty sites that had departure dates of the 10th - maybe the bad weather chased them away. In any case, there were 4-5 sites that were officially open, & I took one of the shorter ones, leaving the longer sites for larger RVs. I'm in site 64, a end of the loops site with lots of room on either side. Like most National Parks, dry camping for $7.00 per night with the Senior Pass. ($14.00 without the pass). The bathrooms (no showers) are just across the loop. There are showers ($1.50 for 5 minutes) at the Rio Grande Village Store, about 1/4 mile from the campground.

After setting up I walked to the store, bought a "T" shirt - hey, I haven't bought one in a long time! While they do have many basic supplies, it sure isn't a Safeway. After getting back to the trailer, some very red birds (maybe Vermillion Flycatchers, although my iBirds Plus app doesn't show a photo of them with the crest raised as in the last photo) jumped around in the trees next to my site - I took a few photos.

It looks to be cool through the weekend. Mid 50's during the day & 40's at night. (Added note during posting - Actual temperatures were 71°F during the day & only 60°F at night, at least last night) Heavy clouds, but no rain as of yet - it is predicted most days until Saturday. We will see how well my solar panels do under heavy clouds. They haven't been subjected to that since going to Alaska in June.

Dinner was a grilled Chicken Andouille Sausage & beans. As expected, there is no cell or Jetpack service here in the campground. There is WiFi at the store, so I'll probably post this tomorrow if the connection is fast enough for the photos.

Speaking (well, typing) of photos, I took a short drive to the Boquillas Canyon Overlook for a couple of photos just before sunset. Some very pretty light on the sides of the canyon, even from the campground. The rest of today's photos are at today's LakeshoreImages page.

Until the next internet connection -

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