2011 allowed us to once again take the Bi-Annual Big Bend Family Trip. As Kristy and I were driving we realized that our son has had the opportunity to go on this trip 4 times...he's only 6. His first trip happened when he was only 4 weeks old!! He's already a veteran at climbing "mountains". I have a feeling in two years it's going to be a big fight to try and keep him and Aly off of Casa Grande. What that means is I have two years to get back in shape and be ready to climb that beast with them.
Normally we only go to West Texas the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. However, this year we decided to take the entire week to see the other sites in the ares...Fort Davis, McDonald Observatory, and the Marfa lights. As things turned out we ended up being on this extended trip with the King family. This worked out perfect as our kids adore the King kids and it's great to see that interaction. I think the highlight of this leg of the trip was......the LASER used at the observatory to show the constellations. I know there are probably 5 of us trying to figure out where to get one of those things. If you have the opportunity to visit this area I highly recommend it. Between the history and clear skies that reveal stars you never knew existed, this is simply an amazing area.
On Wednesday we took our time getting down to Big Bend and enjoyed some geocaching (if you want an addicting habit, email me and I'll explain this game to you). Caleb actually located his own cache from beginning to end which was very excited. It's fun to watch him and Aly search high and low for these little treasures.
We finally made it down to Big Bend and as we were unpacking I noticed our camera was missing. I figured it would turn up...but it never did. Towards the end of our stay it dawned on me that I had left it on the back of the truck at one of our stops inside the park and didn't remember putting it back in the truck. Camera lost...or was it. Stopped at the Ranger Station in Panther Junction and the Rangers had the camera! Upon further inspection, it would appear that it had been run over. So I don't have a ton of pictures from our trip for this reason.
As always, Big Bend was amazing. Kristy and I opted to stay on easier hikes and allow the kids to be able to explore. Keeping Caleb on an existing trail was a chore as he always wanted to take the path less traveled. The trip overall was another great experience and I'm glad we keep up with tradition and are able to show our kids these types of awesome places.
