Southwest Texas desert

From Ft. Stockton, we drove south on US 385 to Big Ben National Park. Along the way, the landscape changed to desert. Some of the cacti were flowering. There was one particular type that reminded Peggy of a bouquet of flowers standing next to other cacti. They stood between 1- 2 feet with flowers if varying colors. Unfortunately, we drove by too fast to get a picture, and we didn’t see that variety when we stopped.

Almost in bloom

At Big Bend Nat’l Park

Unless you hike into the back country, much of the park terrain is desert. Since it was a bright sunny day, it was hot so we didn’t linger too long at the park. The visitor center had interesting displays about the region and the changes that have taken place over thousands of years.

We left the park on TX 118 (Panther Junction Road) and then headed west on TX 170. We had hoped to visit Terlinqua Ghost Town along TX 170, but it was so commercialized that we just kept driving. TX 170 turned out to be a real roller coaster road with lots of ups and downs and sharp turns. At times we would reach the top and not know which way the road was going on the other side. From Lajitas to Presidio, the road runs very close to the Rio Grand and we could often see Mexico off to our left. At one point, Verizon sent Peggy a text welcoming her to Mexico!

Heading north on US 67

Initially, we thought we would stay in Presidio a border town, but we didn’t find anything suitable, so we headed north on US 67 to Marfa. TX. Again, we didn’t find anything suitable there, so we headed west on US 90 to Van Horn, TX at the intersection of I 10 where we spent the night.

Tomorrow we will be heading due north to Carlsbad Caverns.