Big Bend NP – A great week with friends

Big Bend NP is one of the best kept secrets in the United States. This National Park is AMAZING!

What a great time with old and new friends.

We had been planning this trip for a few weeks. When it came down to it, Mark and I were the only ones who could make the jaunt down to southern Texas. I left NW Arkansas on Monday morning to make my way to Oklahoma to meet up with Mark for a quick lunch. We would then make our way to Wichita Falls Texas for the night. This would cut down on a super long day for tomorrow.

This is the last picture with our rigs being semi clean.

Credit – Mark Driscoll

We got up early, ate a quick hotel breakfast and hit the road. It would be a nice 9 hour drive to get to our camping location in Terlingua-Study Butte. The drive was uneventful, if not long, however we made it in pretty good time. We got our tents set up and relaxed the rest of the evening. Mark’s brother and sister in law, Brian and Nancy were already at the camp site there sprinter van was set up and they were cooking dinner. Not a bad way to be greeted. Howard and Ruby were also there in their big Class A. They were rolling in style. Mark and I were very happy to be camping in our gazelle tents. These tents would be tested later in the week when the weather changed.

After a great meal and catching up with friends, we turned in. We were excited to hit the trails in the morning. Not a bad way to start the trip.

Brian and Linda have a great little Sprinter van. Jamie and I would love this rig.

We were greeted with a beautiful sky and decent temps. Mark cooked us up some breakfast and then we all loaded up to hit the trails. Brian rode with me and Nancy tagged along with Mark for the day. I guess they felt that their van would not be a good choice for todays trails.

We hit the Panther Junction visitor center before jumping out on the trails. Today we would be doing Black Gap road. This is a Jeep badge of honor trail, however it was an easy trail and our little 2DR JK with 33’s and a 2″ lift did it easily. Heck even Marks Tacoma made it. (I joke.. I Joke) It was a fun trail and it was awesome seeing the reaction from Brian and Nancy as they had never experienced this type of off-road adventure. The weather was amazing and we all enjoyed the day.

Masks were mandatory in the NP visitor center.