After a fun and successful LOE, Louise and I decided that since we had already crossed the great expanse of West Texas, we might as well stay out there a few more days and visit the spot where we met - Big Bend Ranch State Park. This time, in contrast to the February visit with a group of other RV'ers, we decided to stay in the "big House", renting one of the three bedrooms (the one we stayed in might have been the Master when occupied by the former ranch owners) and enjoying the great food and friendly nature of the park staff. It turned out that we were the only guests there for the three days we stayed, and therefore we had the entire house to ourselves, and felt very much like we living at our own comfortable wilderness retreat.
This trip included an all-day horseback ride out into the hinter-lands of the park, a nice lazy day of hiking and just sitting, and a little "dawn patrol" flying to see some of the geological features from overhead in the calm morning air. We took a lot of pictures, but also experimented with the video feature of my now-aging Canon SD400, capturing a flight around the interior of the Solitario (a 10-mile diameter collapsed volcanic dome) and out through a canyon that drains the crater to the south. We also shot a little video of the landing at the BBRSP airstrip - a nice paved runway about half a mile from the ranch headquarters. We also shot a lot of still pictures, but are still doing some organizing - we'll add them here when we pick a few out.
All in all, a fabulous way to unwinds from the hectic visiting of LOE, and a remarkably scenic and secluded hide-away. We are talking about organizing another group trip, but have a lot on our schedules - we'll let folks know when we decide to go again! Maybe....
Solitario Video
Landing at BBRSP Video
This trip included an all-day horseback ride out into the hinter-lands of the park, a nice lazy day of hiking and just sitting, and a little "dawn patrol" flying to see some of the geological features from overhead in the calm morning air. We took a lot of pictures, but also experimented with the video feature of my now-aging Canon SD400, capturing a flight around the interior of the Solitario (a 10-mile diameter collapsed volcanic dome) and out through a canyon that drains the crater to the south. We also shot a little video of the landing at the BBRSP airstrip - a nice paved runway about half a mile from the ranch headquarters. We also shot a lot of still pictures, but are still doing some organizing - we'll add them here when we pick a few out.
All in all, a fabulous way to unwinds from the hectic visiting of LOE, and a remarkably scenic and secluded hide-away. We are talking about organizing another group trip, but have a lot on our schedules - we'll let folks know when we decide to go again! Maybe....
Solitario Video
Landing at BBRSP Video
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