In this episode we take you on a 7 hour road trip from Austin to Big Ben National Park for a weekend trip to glamp at Bubble Terlingua, explore the desert town of Terlingua, see the most amazing starry night sky and ride donkeys from Big Bend into Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico.

We updated our Big Bend Itinerary to now cover 4 days in the park and nearby areas.

If Bubble Terlingua is fully booked, take a look at these other unique stays near Big Bend National Park. Also check out these fun experiences in the Terlingua area we recommend from our Viator Shop for all activities we recommend and even some that we wanted to do but couldn’t get to.

Before you go, also listen to our episode on 3 days in Big Bend National Park for more hikes and things to do.

Find a great flight deal to nearby Austin or El Paso by signing up for Thrifty Traveler Premium and get flight deals sent straight to your inbox. Use our promo code TSP to get $20 off your first year subscription.

Austin to Big Bend Road Trip

0:35

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hello fellow travelers.

Hey, squaddies.

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad podcast.

This week we’re heading out to West TX on a weekend road trip from Austin to Big Bend National Park.

0:53

We’ve been waiting for you to do this trip, Kim, because you have been in Austin for a while now and the drive, it is quite a road trip.

It’s like a 7-8 hour drive from Austin to Big Bend.

But Jamal and I went in December 1 year and we absolutely loved Big Bend National Park and we’ve been talking about it.

1:11

We have an itinerary about it.

So I’m really glad that you got to experience this and you had such a different trip than what we had.

So I’m excited that you get to share this experience with our squaddies.

Yeah, it was December of 2023, Brittany, when we had gone and we were just raving about it.

To you, Kim, we’re like, man, you live in Texas, you need to go.

1:29

So really glad that you finally did.

But we do have a previous episode talking about Brittany and I’s trip to Big Ben National Park.

But just for you squaddies who do not know Big Bend National Park, it’s in a remote area of West, TX.

As you mentioned, Kim, it’s in West, TX, but it protects vast areas of the Chihuahuan Desert at the mountain ranges out there.

1:49

And of course, the Rio Grande, which is the border between Texas and Mexico in that region.

And this was just an amazing desert landscape that I really love.

It’s so dark out there.

You could see the stars so lit up brightly, the Milky Way, all of that.

2:07

So Big Ben really has a lot going for it.

And I’m really excited to hear about what you did when you went out there, Kim.

The episode that we did with your trip that aired back on August 13th, 2024 originally, so if Squatty’s you want to go back and find that one, you can also go to travelsquadpodcast.com/episodes and type in Big Ben and that will pull up for you.

2:28

We did have a very different trip, so if you want to hear about other experiences outside of this episode, that’s a really good one.

And then we’ll link the itinerary in the show notes.

I am going to make some updates to it that will be live when this episode airs so that you can expand from a three to a four day Big Bend trip.

2:46

So Kim, before we dive into everything you did along your road trip and your time in Big Bend, why don’t you give our squatty some tips?

Tips.

Tips for the road trip from Austin to Big Bend?

I would say #1 do not speed.

It is a 7:00-ish hour drive out there, and most of these roads are vast, wide open spaces with very little cars, seemingly very little police on the roads, and it’s very easy to speed.

3:12

Sometimes the speed limit is 80 mph, which is plenty fast and you’ll be tempted to go faster, but I’m telling you, do not do it.

Can you tell us why other than just general safety?

Kim?

I know something happened, so don’t leave our squaddies in anticipation and suspense, OK?

3:27

Just don’t speed tip #1.

Yes, and you know being out in those wide open spaces, there’s very little car.

So if a cop does happen to see you, you’re one of the few cars they’re going to have their eyes on so be careful.

Second tip I’ll say is bring a glow in the dark blacklight flashlight.

3:44

You will use this to help spot scorpions at night.

They do glow with the blacklight, so when you’re out at night in the desert where scorpions live, you can keep your eye on them and you can also use the black light, which is less harsh than a regular flashlight so you don’t mess up your stargazing abilities.

4:02

We both went in December.

I went December 25, you went December 23.

And I think December is a great time to go because of the weather.

It’s very, very hot in West TX.

During other months, it was even about 7080°.

4:17

When I was there in December, during the day, even at night, it wasn’t even that cold.

So December is a really great time to come.

Just keep in mind that December daylight is a lot shorter, so there’s a lot less stuff you can do during the day, which makes for a three or four day trip that much better because you only have a short window of daylight.

4:36

But one of the best things to do in Big Bend is the stargazing.

You have these amazing dark skies.

There’s very little light pollution out there.

In fact, they’ve done a lot to prevent shops and stores from opening or having lights out at night to keep that light pollution away.

4:55

So the stargazing is what you want to do.

You want those long nights, so go in December.

And I think you hadn’t mentioned when you went there was a little bit of a moon glow, so it didn’t light the sky up as much.

So if possible, go during a new moon because that would be ideal for the dark starry nights.

5:13

Yes, look at the calendar and if you have a choice, choose the new moon.

And then as far as cars go, we didn’t necessarily need a four wheel drive vehicle.

We did rent a small SUV.

I think that’s a good recommendation for any road trip so you have more space and you can put all your stuff in the back and have more comfort.

5:33

We didn’t necessarily need 4 wheel drive, although some roads in Big Bend depending on what you do you will want one.

I would recommend ASUV with a sunroof though, so that you can pop open the sunroof, pull over on the side of the road, go out the top of it, look at the stars as you’re driving.

5:50

Well, those are some good tips, Kim, so why don’t you tell us all about your trip?

Who did you go with?

So I went with my friend, we’ll just call him Big Frankie, and it was a good trip.

He’s not from Texas, so he came in on a Friday.

6:07

We got in the car, we started driving from Austin to Big Bend and like I said, it’s a 7 hour drive so you don’t ideally want to leave at 7:00 PM in the evening.

You would want to leave earlier in the day, get out there and get settled in, but that’s not what we did.

6:24

So our drive was a little bit different.

We fully intended on having two nights out in Big Bend Friday night and Saturday night, comeback Sunday.

We left Friday pretty late and we started driving.

We drove about an hour out West and an hour W is Johnson City.

6:44

We happened to see some of the most beautiful Christmas lights covering this massive tree space.

Every trunk, every branch was covered in lights.

It was so pretty and it looked like there was some type of community, that Christmas parade or something going on.

7:00

So we stopped, we got out, and that’s part of a road trip, right?

You see something on the road and yeah, stop and explore.

Johnson City is a really cute little town.

I know it’s only an hour down the road, so you might be tempted not to stop, but I would say stop.

You’re on a road trip, have some fun.

7:16

So that was really pretty.

We stopped for like, I don’t know, 15 minutes and then we kept going on to Fredericksburg.

Fredericksburg is the wine country out here in Texas and it’s just about another 3045 ish minutes past Johnson City, so we’re continuing on.

7:32

We’re like let’s stop in Fredericksburg.

It’s a great little town.

I would recommend it.

Maybe for your ideal road trip doing it on the way back would be better than doing it on the way there, but either way it’s a great place to stop.

The downtown Fredericksburg is a really cute Germantown.

7:49

It had a ton of Christmas lights when we went, but even without the Christmas lights in December, it would be a beautiful little town to go explore.

But we decided to stop into a place called Ready Wines.

We wanted to have a quick drink, a little bit of a dinner stop.

8:05

But this is this is kind of where a road trip ended for the night.

We didn’t actually make it to Big Ben on Night 1.

That does not surprise me.

It does surprise me, Kim, but it also doesn’t surprise me.

But you are the more spontaneous type of course, when you’re doing these things.

Brittany, of course, you know, it’s really rigid schedule, although she does allow for flexibility.

8:24

But I can assure you, if your plan was to be in Big Ben that night, you had to have a hotel.

So I know Brittany wouldn’t let a hotel burn.

So what did you do with that one?

Did you call the hotel where you’re staying at, tell them, hey, you’re still coming, but you won’t make it today?

Like what did you do?

I messaged them, I emailed them and just let them know that we’d be in the next day, that the flight got in late because the flight was delayed.

8:45

That’s part of why we left so late.

And then the other reason was ready wines.

They have great wines.

It’s a really beautiful place just to like go in and have some wine and enjoy company.

But the person that worked there, very, very nice man, very big talker.

9:02

Like truly we were the only ones in there.

We ordered a glass of wine.

He sat down with us and for the next two hours did not stop talking.

That could keep you for quite a while then.

Well, especially if he is engaging and you actually did enjoy it versus getting annoyed.

9:20

Because if you got annoyed, I’m sure you probably would have gotten up a little bit, but.

It was a good conversation, but we really didn’t say much.

This man really talked a lot.

You’re like, OK, so then we ended up buying a box of wine from Ready Wines and we took it and we’re like, all right, we got to go.

9:36

But when we looked at the clock, it was already like oneish AM at this point.

And so we thought we could keep driving.

I just don’t know what’s between here and there as far as hotels go, because the roads are vast.

There’s nothing out there, right?

The next day as we start driving, we did see that there were a couple of other places we could have stayed maybe an hour or two down the road, but we just didn’t know.

9:56

So if we would have kept driving, we would have gotten in around 5:00 in the morning without any other stops.

So we were like, let’s just get a hotel here in Fredericksburg to sleep, get up early, continue on the drive.

So that’s what we ended up doing.

We found a really nice IHG hotel and called it a night.

10:15

Day 2 started off really strong.

Amazing breakfast buffet at the IHG.

One of the best I’ve ever seen honestly.

Biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, sausage, warm cinnamon rolls.

And the ambiance inside the IHG just felt like a cozy Texan Christmas lodge.

10:37

That sounds really nice.

Like I think of warm cozy and cinnamon rolls and coffee and that just sounds like the perfect morning breakfast and stay.

Good way to start the morning.

So I’m not feeling so bad about losing out on the first night of the bubble, Which in hindsight, I would not recommend getting to the bubble at night.

10:56

It would be really hard to find.

It’s hard to find during the day.

So yeah.

Well, you’re talking about maybe the road that is off the main road to get to the bubble Hotel that you were staying at.

But it is dark out there, right?

Of course, it’s great for stargazing.

But even when Brittany and I arrived in Big Bend ourselves, where we were actually staying by the time we got there, because we drove from El Paso, which is probably the closest major city to Big Bend National Park.

11:24

Like we got there at night and our hotel room was like no more than 20 feet away from where we parked, but you couldn’t even see it because it is that dark out there.

Yeah, so we started the drive and I’m doing my makeup in the car.

That’s a great way to save time.

11:40

Great way to save time.

Just like I’m going to do my makeup in the car.

I’m only like a halfway through my makeup when we get pulled over by the police.

Oh, right off the bat.

Right off the bat.

Yeah, so it’s what I said.

Don’t speed on these roads.

You’re going to be the only one out there.

11:55

Even just past Fredericksburg, the road start to get really vast.

But the police officer was really, really nice.

He came up on my side of the the vehicle in the window.

He’s telling me that he likes my nails.

They had bows painted on them and he said right off the bat, it’s just a warning.

12:14

Let me just go check your license real quick.

So we’re like, OK, he already told us it’s just a warning.

And then he tells us, make sure not to speed because it’s fawning season for the deer right now.

I don’t know what that means, but it’s fawning season.

I think fawning is when they give birth or they have their young, so they’re out in the roads.

12:32

They don’t know very much then, so they could just go out to the roads before they realize, oh shoot, there’s danger here.

These cards speed, so that’s probably what he’s referring to.

That would make sense.

I didn’t know if it was like mating season or what.

But essentially the point is they’re on the side of the road like crazy.

12:49

So during the day they’re it’s not too bad.

Night it more so is, but we continue on.

We’re driving, living down and now we really wanted to get there so we didn’t do any stops.

But there are a lot of cool stops along this road towards Big Bend.

You can stop at the Caverns of Sonora.

13:07

You’ll start to see big billboard signs advertising it.

It looked really cool.

I would have loved to stop if we had more time, like we were only planning to do 2 days here.

I really do think three nights or 4 four days would be ideal because you might not think there’s a lot to do out in the desert, but there actually is a lot to see do out here and the caverns of Sonora would be a great stop on the road trip.

13:29

There’s also Marathon, which is the last little town before you get to Big Bend, kind of has a lot going on.

You could stop and get something to eat here.

You could maybe load up on groceries and then Marfa is another really weird little artsy town.

They have like a fake Prada store there.

13:45

It’s about an hour further W from Big Bend, so on your way back that could be a good place to stop too.

I was going to say, based off of where you were coming, you did not pass that Prada store, did you?

Because Brittany and I did.

It’s out in the middle of nowhere, just this one random installation.

But you did not see that yourself, did you?

14:03

If you’re doing this road trip Austin to Big Bend, it would be out of the way to go there.

Right, see, and we did not see the Sonora Caverns coming from our direction, which I would love to do because you could hear caverns, you could assume it’s a cave, but these are nice caves with stalagmites, stalagtites, like really, really cool.

14:22

So, you know, a lot of people think, oh, the desert, there’s nothing, just kind of like you said, but really, there’s lots of stuff to do.

And I was like so impressed.

I know the caverns aren’t in Big Bend National Park, but I really loved it out here because it was just such a unique desert environment.

14:37

That was really cool.

Definitely, and there’s a lot of military forts and mining ruin sites that you can stop into and you’ll start to see those signs on the side of the road as you’re driving.

So it’s a 7 hour drive technically, but I would plan for more so that you can stop and see things.

14:54

Now the main main draw for me on this trip while certainly was seeing Big Bend National Park and knocking off that National Park on my list, but the main, main thing for me was the glamping experience that we booked.

We booked A2 room spot at the bubble Terlingua.

15:14

It is a nine bubble resort in the middle of the Terlingua desert.

It has a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom.

It’s so cool.

I know you guys have stayed in one like this.

Yes, but your sounds bigger because the one that we had was only one room.

15:31

It had like a area where you go into the bubble, then the main room and then the bathroom.

But you sound like you have like a living space to enjoy as well.

Yes.

So when you walk in, it was similar to your bubble experience where you have like a galleyway with two doors.

You have to keep the doors closed otherwise it deflates.

15:47

From what I hear in the reviews, if you just close the doors, it’ll reinflate.

So don’t worry in case that happens to you.

So you go into that galleyway, there’s shelving and storage and things, and then you open up the door and it goes into the living room.

There is a couch and the couch is looking at to one side of the bubble that’s completely clear.

16:05

So you have desert gazing stargazing ability right from your couch.

There’s a little kitchenette with a sink and a mini fridge and a coffee maker.

Then you go through the little hallway area.

There’s a bathroom that you can zip closed.

It has a shower, flushable toilet, sink, running water and then there’s the bedroom with a huge bed.

16:26

So comfortable, the most beautiful linens.

And when you lay on the bed and you look up, the top of the bubble is all open for stargazing too.

In the living room area, did it have that as well or was it only in the bedroom?

The living room area was when you’re sitting on the couch.

The whole front of the bubble was open.

16:43

But not the ceiling, right?

Because I’m looking at photos right now of Bubble Terra Lingua and I could see exactly what you’re talking about.

It’s like what our experience was when we did the bubble.

And by the way, when we did a bubble hotel stay, it was in via the Guadalupe and wine region in Mexico, not out here when we went to Big Bend.

16:58

But when you’re laying in bed, the ceiling is what is clear on the bubble.

So you’re lying in bed, you can see the stars, but it seems like your living room top was closed, so to speak, in terms of you can’t see through the roof, but it was just a large open window so so to speak of the clear out from the living room.

17:15

So like when you’re sitting, you can see out versus looking up.

Yes, that’s correct.

And so you checked into your bubble hotel.

Did you take time to enjoy it?

Did you guys hit the ground running?

Obviously you were delayed by a day really getting out there.

So what did you do from this point?

17:30

Every bubble has its own hot tub, too, private hot tub, which is so amazing.

It was ready to go when we got there.

And then next to the hot tub, little few steps away, maybe 10 feet away, was a fire pit with two wooden adrenic chairs that you could sit in and just enjoy.

17:47

The desert landscape was really, really nice.

So it’s a nine bubble resort.

Each bubble is separated by a super tall cement wall.

So you have to go in your own gate to get into your area.

And then it’s two cement walls on both sides of you and then open in the front.

18:04

So technically if you walk out to the front, you could see into everyone else’s bubble space, but everyone kind of minded their own area there.

And then for that whole resort, you have a shared pool in the summer.

That would be very nice.

And how was the water temperature?

18:20

Did you go to the pool at all or did you just stick to the hot tub?

Yes, we did go down to the pool and there’s a bunch of chairs that you can lay on, so we were just hanging out there for a while.

The water was like a cold plunge, so if you were interested in cold plunging, you could do that there.

18:36

So we got in and at this point we kind of were planning to go into Big Bend, but it was about two O clock and we were like from where we’re staying at Bubble Tour Lingua into Big Ben to do one of those hikes is an hour drive.

So we just got off a drive and we’re thinking kind of don’t want to get in the car and going to go hiking.

18:57

Let’s just enjoy our space here.

So we decided to get in the car, go into Turlingo, which is only, you know, 5 minutes from the bubble where we’re at, and go to the Chili Pepper Cafe.

I recommend the Chili Pepper Cafe.

They had great food, Tex Mex meals, extremely good prices like a plate of enchiladas with beans and rice was $12.00.

19:18

I don’t even remember hearing that name float around as a restaurant to go to when we went, but it sounds really good.

We drove by it and then in our book that was inside of the bubble with recommended places to eat, that was one of the mentioned spots.

I do recommend it.

They had really good food, extremely good prices.

19:35

They serve beer and wine.

They don’t have a liquor license.

So we had Tex Mex and Mexican beers and Cheryl was our server.

She lives in Terlingua and she’s just was a hoot.

So great service too.

You know, one of the things that I enjoyed most about our time when we had gone to Big Bend was actually eating in Terlingua, because I felt like every restaurant that we went to was really good.

19:59

And on top of that, it had some sort of theme with it.

I don’t know if the Chili Pepper Cafe had a theme or if it was done up like really well.

I know you’re saying the food was really good and you would recommend it, but to the point of what I was saying, like every place we ate was like really good.

It’s not one of those places.

Where?

Oh, it’s a town outside the National Park and they really put up businesses to capture, like tourists.

20:18

And they don’t really care about quality.

Like everything was good when we ate.

I have to agree.

And you don’t really see a lot of the places because they kind of blend in with the desert landscape.

But there’s a lot out there and everything we ate was really good.

That was one of my favorite things, like I said.

20:35

So maybe next time when we go back to Big Bend, when we got that Mexican craving, we’ll go to Chili Pepper Cafe.

That’s right.

That’s right.

So we did that.

We went back to our bubble.

We enjoyed the pool a little bit, like I said, and then we moved over to the hot tub.

We busted out that wine that we got from Ready Wines in Fredericksburg the night before, and we sat in our hot tub for quite a while.

20:59

By this time it was probably like 4:00, so still daylight out, but we were in in the hot tub as the sun went down and as the stars came out and Oh my God, as you start to see the stars emerging in the dark sky, just blown away.

21:15

I have never seen that many stars.

It was insane.

It’s like they’re always there, but you can’t see them.

And, and when you do, I can’t even put into words how insane it is.

We could see the Milky Way, we could see the Big Dipper, we could see a bunch of different constellations, planets that were super bright.

21:32

It was really beautiful.

You know, Brittany and I, and of course some of those trips have been with you, Kim.

We’ve been to lots of places where they say the stargazing here is like absolutely amazing, right?

I’m thinking about when Brittany and I were in Uganda, we were on the equator and they’re supposed to see it.

21:49

And of course, there’s no light pollution out there because you’re in the middle of the jungle.

It was like fantastic, right?

When we were taking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, one of my regrets is I didn’t spend more time stargazing, but we were at a really high elevation, an area where you’re supposed to just see the stars, the Milky Way, in such an incredible way because there is no light pollution.

22:09

And I wish I stayed out and looked at it longer.

But as nice as it was, I don’t think any place I’ve ever been has been as impressive as Big Bend National Park.

Like really, it’s something different out there and I don’t know what it is that makes them so much more bright and so much more vast to see in a different way than other places that are supposed to be really good for stargazing.

22:29

I mean, when you compare it to the Inca trail, there’s no light pollution out there either.

I I don’t know what it is either but it’s absolutely insane.

That’s one of the biggest draws of Big Bend for me was the bubble and the stargazing.

And the stargazing did not disappoint.

22:45

But when we went it just so happened to be a full moon day.

And so around let’s say 7 ish, 8:00-ish maybe the moon starts to come up and we start to see the stars get less.

There’s still a lot out, but we’re seeing less and less stars and we look beyond our big tall cement wall and we see the big bright moon is starting to come up.

23:07

So we’re like, OK, let’s just enjoy what we can.

Look at this side of the sky, it’s still dark, this side starting to light up.

The moon itself looks really cool too.

Watching a moonrise is actually really cool and amazing.

Yeah, it was still really pretty, just took away some of the stars.

But because we were out there for so long, we really got to see it really dark and then the moon come up We’re.

23:29

So we decided to get out of the hot tub.

We’d been in there for quite sometime.

We’re getting pretty pruney and we put the cover back on the hot tub and we laid on that with blankets.

And so we were just watching the sky.

We could see shooting stars was really cool.

23:44

The moon, we couldn’t really see the moon from where we were laying because it hadn’t fully risen above our cement wall yet, so still blocking out some of the light there and we just enjoyed that for quite some time.

Did not see any scorpions.

I will say that we were looking with the black light and there were no scorpions in our area.

24:03

That’s good, we didn’t come across any either when we were on our trip.

I sort of wanted to see one like in the safe distance, but there were none just in case you were worried about it like I was.

We did bring fire for the fire pit, and if you’re going to have a fire pit and want to use it, you have to bring your own wood.

24:20

Wood is not sold out here.

It would be probably hard to find some in Terlingua where they’re selling it.

You probably could, but can’t confirm, nor did I.

So we did bring wood.

We were planning to make a fire, but we didn’t end up actually doing it.

We wanted to roast marshmallows and make our fire and be cozy and sit in the chairs, but we ended up kind of going into the bubble around like 9 or 10 and just going to sleep.

24:42

How was it laying in bed looking up at the stars?

I mean, obviously I know that’s what you’re doing for quite a while, but a different experience when you’re just laying in bed, comfortable, warm in the sheets and just that’s what you’re looking up at and seeing.

Yes, it was really cool.

It’s not as good of viewing because it’s a plastic cover, so it distorts it a little bit.

25:00

But in the middle of the night, I did wake up and the moon was right over where the window is and it literally felt like a light was on.

It was like turn the light off.

So anyway, that was fun.

It was a really great night’s sleep.

There’s air conditioning and heating in the bubble, so we were plenty comfortable.

25:19

We woke up on day three in the morning and we had some mimosas sitting out on the chairs by the fire pit, just enjoying that vast desert landscape.

There’s something so peaceful and like really calms the nervous system, just looking out at the mountains in the desert with nothing around.

25:36

Did you bring your own supplies to make mimosas or did they have stuff there?

Like did they have a refrigerator and things like that?

We did bring our own stuff but they did have a mini fridge OK and they had a coffee maker so we had coffee and mimosas and enjoyed that and then we packed up and got out of there.

25:54

We went to a restaurant called Venga for breakfast.

I highly, highly recommend this spot for breakfast or lunch.

It is a BYOB restaurant so you can bring in your own alcohol.

They don’t serve alcohol here.

And the restaurant is really cute.

26:10

It’s got a ton of art and desert decor inside.

It’s really beautiful.

It has these big windows so even when you’re inside eating, you feel like you’re outside around the desert landscape.

There is some outdoor seating too if you want to enjoy your meal outside.

26:26

I got a breakfast burrito here, Big Frankie got a BLT, and we enjoyed a little bit more mimosa and had a really good time in this place, so everything on the menu looked really good.

So from here now we’re ready for Big Bend National Park.

Finally making your way end after all that time.

26:45

But good for you though.

I mean, half of the experience of going to Big Bend is doing exactly what you did, just enjoying Terra lingua, the environment.

But here is the highlight, so to speak, of at least crossing off an Udlar National Park.

Yes.

So we were really debating back and forth between Hot Springs, Santa Elena Canyon, or crossing over into Mexico.

27:07

All of those three are great options and we did all of those except for the Mexico crossing, although we did cross into Mexico when we were in the Hot Springs because it’s right along the river and then you could just get across.

But there’s a specific Mexico crossing that you’re talking about.

So, and they’re in different parts of the park, which is why I was saying you really do need 3 or 4 days to do all of this because during December when the light is shorter, you won’t have time to get across the park and do all of these things in one day.

27:34

So we decided, OK, Santa Lana Canyon, it’s beautiful, it’s amazing, but it’s way over there and we’re going to cut that one out.

Hot Springs.

This was one of the things I’ve always wanted to do in Big Bend National Park.

I love Hot Springs, but we had really, really bad floods back in July and they came all the way down here and washed out a lot of parts of the park.

27:56

So the road to get to the Hot Springs has been washed out and it’s closed.

So formally you could drive, park and hike of like half a mile to the Hot Springs, enjoy them, go back to your car because that roads gone.

And even with that road, that road is kind of sketch, like you would want a four wheel drive vehicle on that road without it being ruined.

28:15

So now that it’s all washed out, I could just imagine how bad that road is.

And it’s closed.

You cannot drive on it.

The National Park has closed it.

So that makes that half mile, little trek 5 miles.

And so that adds time to what you can do in the day.

And then when I looked at a recent YouTube video of someone that went there, it also looked like the Hot Springs were a little bit washed out.

28:36

They weren’t as designated with borders like they were prior, and they looked much more muddy than they did when you 2 went.

OK.

So as much as I would wanted to do that, if we had one more day, I still would have done it, but we decided not to.

We’re like, all right, let’s do Mexico crossing.

28:53

As I’d watched some videos on this.

It looked pretty interesting.

It looked very unique, even though there’s not a lot to do when you cross Mexico, it’s kind of the the journey is the destination, right?

So you guys didn’t get to do this.

Was it because of timing or why didn’t you go?

29:11

We didn’t go, I don’t think it was open again after COVID yet or if it had been open it was just like barely starting and when we had talked to a Ranger they said they wouldn’t recommend it at this time.

OK.

And I think Brittany, you had done some research too that was talking about like if you go to the other side, like cross into Mexico where they have the designated crossing, there’s only so much that you could do on that side before you have to cross back.

29:35

So we went to Santa Elena Canyon.

We actually did the window view trail, another hike as well.

We did the Hot Springs.

So I think that one we just kind of nixed out too.

Yeah, that makes sense with all those factors.

So we did the window view trail as well.

29:52

It’s only a .3 mile loop near the visitor center and it loops you around.

You have this beautiful quote UN quote window view that the desert landscape creates and it actually is a very beautiful stop.

So if you’re going down to the Boquias Crossing to get into Mexico, stop there and check that out.

30:08

It’s just a short little venture off to the side.

And in this area, we did not see it for the window view trail.

And I doubt you saw it, Kim, because I’m sure you probably would have said something to us or either on the episode right now.

But I don’t think a lot of people realize this because this is the desert environment.

30:24

But there are bears here in this National Park.

I saw the signs for it.

Yeah, specifically in this area.

And I was like, so confused.

I was like, how are their bears out here?

But apparently these bears have come from Mexico.

They’ve crossed the desert.

And in this region right here where you’re up, yes, you’re in the desert, but you’re kind of in this little mountain range.

30:43

So it creates a good environment for them.

So they’re not like big, large like black bears that you’ll find like other places.

They’re rather small, but bears nevertheless.

And when we were hiking this trail, we came across somebody who said the day before they saw a bear out here.

30:59

So you can see bears.

Wow, lots of wildlife out here actually.

Of course.

So we drive on to the Boquies Crossing, we park in the border crossing parking lot.

And if you’re planning to do the squaddies, this is the process that you’ll go through as well.

31:16

Park in the parking lot, walk into the border crossing office.

There is an agent in there.

The agent gave us the rundown of who to pay for what, how it’s going to work and even what restaurants to go to when you get into Mexico.

He said everyone’s really nice.

31:32

I would go to any of those restaurants.

But by the way, 4:00 PM border closes and if you’re not back by 4, you’re sleeping in Mexico.

Is there places to sleep over there?

Like, is there a little hotel?

There are, yes, more B&B style.

The restaurant owner has the place you can stay.

31:48

We’ve had a conversation and she was offering us a place to stay.

You know what’s really crazy about him saying that as obviously that really is the last border crossing time that they do have.

But what is so funny is you are in this vast desert and then the Rio Grande, of course, is the border between the United States and Mexico here and it’s very shallow.

32:10

So, so we crossed into Mexico several times just crossing the river and even when we were at the Hot Springs.

So I love how he says that to you, but it’s like you could just walk a little bit down the desert and then like cross.

I know that’s such a terrible thing to say cuz everyone’s like, oh, border security, whatever.

But like that’s weird how that’s the only official spot but so many places in the park you could just walk across like no big deal.

32:30

So true.

We were kind of scoping that out too, because we crossed around 1:30 PM, so we didn’t have a lot of time.

We didn’t know that it closed at 4.

And so we’re like, if we don’t get back by 4, we’re like, we could just literally walk around the fence where the office is, but the fence is locked.

32:45

So our car would have been locked in.

Okay, so by the parking lot area, that’s where they locked the car then got.

It So if you think you might end up staying a little later and you want to legally cross back, don’t park in the parking lot.

So you will need U.S. dollars cash if you’re going to go through these next steps of the process here as you go through the border crossing office.

33:08

That’s very easy doesn’t take any time at all.

Then you’ll go down a little dirt path till you get to the Rio Grande River.

The Rio Grande is not very Grande anymore.

Like you said Jamal, there is a little fishing type boat that you get into to cross.

33:24

You pay $5 per person to get in the boat and cross the river.

But the boat doesn’t have to go very far.

There’s literally a man standing holding the boat who just moves it across from one bank to the other.

The the river crossing takes about 20 seconds.

I.

Love it.

33:41

Yeah, it was really funny.

And then you get off the boat, there’s some Mexican gentleman on the other side waiting for you, kind of.

They ask you what you would like to do because it’s still a walk till you get into Bokeus.

And so you can either get on a donkey, you can get on a horse, you can get on the back of a truck, or you could walk.

34:00

The walk would probably take 30 ish minutes or so, but it’s all fun, right?

So we wanted the donkey and after riding a donkey, I do say I like riding donkeys more than horses.

Tell us why.

I mean, I hate riding horses.

I feel like we’ve discussed this many times when the subject has come about.

34:19

But like, I’m curious to see why a donkey is better.

Well donkeys are smaller horses, I feel like they’re so tall it’s like scary being on top of them and it’s hard to get on them.

Donkey was perfect size, didn’t go too fast.

In fact the guide kept having to smack his ass to keep him walking.

34:37

Donkeys are the way to go.

OK, all right.

I’m going to have to try to ride a donkey.

I don’t think Jamal would like riding a donkey.

I don’t think so.

Either you’re too tall.

You’re too tall.

Jamal Well, that’s probably why because all the horses I’ve ridden have been like smaller ones and so that’s always created an issue for me and it’s just uncomfortable with my ass on the saddle.

34:55

So lots of things going on for me, not like.

We’re going to give you a proper sized horse one day to ride.

So it’s $5 to pay to cross with the boat, and then it’s about $10 each for the donkey ride.

And that is round trip and it includes a local guide that stays with you the whole time.

35:13

So you’re not just on a donkey and riding off into the sunset.

Someone’s with you.

So we ride on in, We’re having so much fun and even this little baby donkey is coming with us because I’m riding his Mama.

So there’s like a baby with us.

It’s so and there’s two main restaurants when you get into Boquias. 1 is Jose Falcons restaurant and bar.

35:36

The other is Boquias restaurant bar.

They’re right across from each other.

We went to both first we went to Jose Falcons.

It’s a pretty big restaurant and they had this gorgeous outdoor seating, this amazing beautiful terrace where you can go out and overlook the Rio Grande, the mountains.

35:52

We saw wild donkeys down there.

Oh, they also had this big heart-shaped floral tructure that was meant for taking pictures.

So it was the heart.

And then the beautiful landscae behind you.

O me and Big Frankie took some pics there, ordered some giant margaritas, tequila shots, tacos, you know the whole thing.

36:13

Like you were literally transported into Mexico.

It felt so good to be in Mexico.

And how are the prices?

Prices were, you know, reasonable Mexico prices kind of what exactly what you’d expect.

But I honestly didn’t think that Terlingua was expensive either.

36:29

I thought maybe they were similar, maybe Mexico’s a little bit less.

And did you have to pay in cash or could you pay card here?

Definitely recommend bringing Cash Cash Cash Cash.

It helps the locals with cash too, too.

So definitely pay with cash.

But they do accept cards or Venmo.

36:45

I saw some signs for that.

If necessary.

They do have that available, but you want to be able to tip people and tip the guides and pay for all that other stuff like the donkey and the boat.

They only take cash.

So we were there for a while and then it’s getting sort of close to four.

37:02

I want to say it’s probably like 3 now.

So at this point we’re like, let’s go check out the other one, Let’s go to Bokeus Restaurant Bar.

We had some more Mexican food, some more Marks and just hung out with the locals here.

And it was a really good time.

We sat kind of on the patio that faces the street this time.

37:20

So we saw people walking by, Americans heading back to the border, the locals living their life.

These little kids were racing each other and the dad was sitting at the restaurant like 123.

And it was it was a cute moment to be a part of.

There’s also a lot of things that you could shop for here, like little trinkets, little art pieces, his little blankets and things like that.

37:41

So you could definitely support the locals and purchase some souvenirs as well.

Our local guide was a 16 year old boy.

He looked way older than 16 though, but he was with us the whole time and we’re like, all right, we got to get back.

So he takes us back to where we parked the donkeys.

37:58

We get back on them, we ride back to the area of the boat, get on the boat, get across, and we head back in.

I forgot to mention one thing, though, that made this trek back so funny.

We’re realizing it’s time to get back as we’re sitting at Boquias Restaurant Bar and we’re like, all right, let’s pay so we can get out of here and head back.

38:19

Let’s finish these margaritas and go.

But as we’re checking out, trying to finish our margs, it’s very nice.

Lady was our server.

She brought us to go cups.

We’re like, oh, OK, so we get a mark to go and we’re literally drinking margs out of a Styrofoam cup on the donkey riding back in Mexico.

38:39

It was so funny and great way.

How long does a donkey ride?

Probably like 10 minutes.

OK, not long, but you got to enjoy your marks at leisure rather than rush in the restaurant and have to get back.

Yes, yeah.

So that was really fun.

38:54

We got across.

We had seen this other group of Americans who are heading back.

They were moving faster than us.

And they, I guess, told the border guy that we were coming, We were right behind him.

We got back at like 358, like right on time.

And he’s like, yeah, they told us you were coming.

39:13

So they, they knew we were coming.

They waited for us.

Oh.

That was nice of them.

Yes.

So then we are realizing like, all right, we got to get back to Austin.

It’s now 4:00, so it’s going to start getting dark soon.

We wanted to go to Marfa, but by the time we looked at everything, we’re like it’s an hour out of the way.

39:30

It’s going to be dark when we get there.

Let’s just skip it this time.

I definitely want to go to Big Ben’s again, so we’ll maybe try to hit it next time.

This is where I would recommend again, do not speed because Big Frankie just saw open wide roads of desert and was going a little bit fast.

39:50

I want to say I think it’s like a 45 mile per hour speed limit in the park and he was going something like 75.

Oh, in the park?

Yeah, The Rangers are real hard about speeding in the park.

Yeah, there’s nobody around, but he got pulled over and this one was not a warning.

40:05

So $280 fee for speeding in the park.

Squatty’s.

Well, he contributed to funds for the National Park because I’m sure that’s where that fine is.

Going.

That’s a great way to think about it.

But so on this road back, we didn’t stop a whole lot.

We did stop a few times because the stars started coming out.

40:23

So we pulled over to the side of the road, went out the sunroof of the SUV, enjoyed stargazing for a little bit.

There was wildlife.

We saw a pack of javelinas run into the desert.

They were on the side of the roads.

That was cool.

Some wild pigs for all you squatties.

We saw foxes.

40:40

We did not see any roadrunners, unfortunately.

I would have loved to see one of those.

And then we saw a lot of deer.

A lot, a lot, lot.

It is fawning season.

Like we said, during the day you don’t see them.

During the night time, you see little eyes beating at you.

The entire drive from Big Bend to Austin.

40:59

There were deer on both sides of the road.

So we were not speeding going home because there were deer all over the roads.

And in fact, when we got, I think it was we were passing through Fredericksburg, there were deer in the middle of the road that we would have hit if we were going fast.

Obviously we were going slow.

41:15

They were, they were in the road.

Be careful.

It reminds me of when we went to Idaho and there was just deer, but it was daylight everywhere, just alongside the road.

Sounds a lot like that, but at night.

Well, even when we were just in New York and Finger Lake region, Brittany, the deer were out and about and it was night.

41:31

And I know exactly what you’re talking about.

You can see their eyes.

That’s what actually glows and reflects.

So that’s how you know they’re there.

Otherwise, it’s just so pitch black out there.

So, yeah, be careful on those roads, especially when you’re in vast open spaces like that.

There’s lots of wildlife, but it sounds like you had a fun trip nevertheless.

41:48

Short time in the park Kim, but fun experience all around.

So Kim, I have a question for you.

Hearing about our experience and then having this experience of yourself, you said you’d go back to Big Bend National Park.

What would you do differently next time you go back?

I would try to spend more time there.

42:06

One night obviously wasn’t enough.

Two nights I I don’t even think 2 nights would be enough.

I would like to spend more time.

I would definitely want to do the Santa Elena Canyon.

I guess just more of the hike.

Spending a little bit more time actually in the National Park would be nice, and then eating in more places.

In Terlingua.

42:22

Every place was so good and they were all very like artsy and unique and weird and different.

I would like to explore more of just that little town.

Yeah, all of the food places at Jamal and I ate at were amazing too.

And one of them was actually in a cave, which I’m surprised you didn’t go to because they have like cocktails and.

42:39

Was it the Starlight?

No, it wasn’t the Starlight.

What was it?

Starlight was the steakhouse.

I’m trying to remember the name of where we went.

That was The Cave.

Oh, and you bring up a great point.

There are some really unique stays that are built into The Cave.

42:55

If I go back to Big Ben, I would definitely want to stay in one of those.

They’re like luxury cave hotels.

Well, again, great food, great places to stay.

And as you were just talking about a cave stay, the name of the restaurant came to me, Kim, it’s called La Kiva.

So that was The Cave restaurant that we had gone to.

43:13

Really good food, really good ambiance.

Yeah, a lot more to do out there, so I can’t wait until we all go back one day.

I was going to say squad trip because I love national parks.

I mean, we all love national parks here, right?

But there are some that are like 1 and done.

And I thought when we had gone to Big Bend that that was going to be the case for this one, but it’s not.

43:32

I really see myself going back to Big Bend and I do want to go.

So let’s make a squad trip and really have it happen because it’ll be easy.

You’re out in Texas, just drive, leave early on time.

I know there was unforeseen circumstances such as a flight delay that delayed you.

But if we fly into El Paso, you leave from Austin, we could meet up there and then bam, have a great time at Big Bend.

43:52

I have been hearing about a music festival, I think it’s called Big Bond, that’s happens out in Big Bend, so that could be something we’re checking out too.

Absolutely.

And Kim, I don’t know if the process was different for when we you went, but when we went, we actually went into the visitor center to pick up our National Park pass to display.

44:11

Did you guys pay for it like upon entrance or did you have to go into the visitor center to?

We paid a fee of $30 just to enter the park and they had that checkpoint when you drive in.

OK, cool.

Thank you so much for tuning in to our Big Bend Road Trip episode this week.