Santos Trailhead and Campground State Park, Ocala, Florida

 On our way south we stopped for breakfast at Bubba Jacks in Freeport, Florida for a delicious breakfast with the locals. We were headed to take Cutie back to the Blue Compass RV Center to have the door seal replaced. We stayed the night before at Santos Trailhead and Campground State Park in Ocala. We enjoyed an afternoon hike on the trails and on the bike path. It took us almost two hours to get to Orlando and we left Cutie overnight and spent the night at my sister's house in Indian Harbour Beach. We had an early morning stop at Oh Biscuit for breakfast in Melbourne before heading back to pick up Cutie and be on our way home.

Our campsite at Santos State Park

Well maintained bike path with restrooms and parking next to State Park

The hiking trails crisscrossed the bike path and also had motocross bikers

Interesting coloration on the bark

We were next to a huge airstream trailer

Bayou Teche Brewery, Harvest Host, Arnaudville, Louisiana

 We drove all day in the rain from Choke Canyon  to one of our favorite Harvest Hosts Breweries in Arnaudville, Louisiana. We continued to get google news updates about flooding along our route and the brewery is about 10 miles back in the swamp off the interstate. There was one other camper there as we got there early in the afternoon and had the place to ourselves. We enjoyed a couple of brews and a meatball appetizer before ordering the boudin pizza.  We have worked our way through their list of specialty pizzas and boudin is a Cajun favorite.  We got on the road early the next morning and made it back to Valparaiso early afternoon and unloaded the camper in a light drizzle. We were glad we escaped the snow in Texas and just had to wait for the Florida panhandle to be a winter wonderland with about five inches of snow falling on January 21.

Our campsite in the parking lot at Bayou Teche Brewery

Colorful pizza parlor

At home at 344 Illinois Avenue in Valparaiso

Parked  safely at home

Not exactly boating weather

The birds flocked to the feeders

Not exactly sunny Florida

Choke Canyon State Park, Calliham, Texas

 We left Big Bend at dawn in freezing temperature and headed to Choke Canyon State Park. The rain was forecast for all day tomorrow so we cut our stay short to just one night. The park was huge and was a birding hotspot. We stopped at the bird blind across from our campsite and saw green jays for the first time. We had woodpeckers at our campsite so it a great stay and wished we could have stayed longer. It was another chilly night so we cooked dinner inside the RV.  It was a pleasant stay and we were ready for an early start the next morning.

Sunrise as we left Big Bend National Park

Our campsite at Choke Canyon State Park

Birds at our campsite

Peeking into the bird blind

A colorful cardinal

Green jays every where

Birds at all the campsites

Big Bend National Park, Big Bend, Texas

 We were able to make a quick getaway from Davis Mountain and continued on to Big Bend National Park on Sunday planning on staying until Thursday.  We stopped in Alpine for gas and breakfast at Magoo's Place for another great southwestern breakfast. We got to Big Bend National Park before noon and were able to check into our campsite in the Chisos Mountain Basin. It was a pull through site with a nice shelter and bear proof food storage box. We had looked at the weather forecast and snow was forecast for Thursday so we cancelled our reservation for two nights at the second campground in the park and added another night in Chisos Basin although we had to change sites to the one nextdoor. We had been wearing our long underwear and down jackets and stayed warm hiking but we did not want to get caught in the twenty degree temperatures in the snow in the mountainous park roads. On our first day, I was feeling signs of altitude sickness with light-headedness and nausea so I napped while Glenn took the trail up to the lodge. After drinking a gallon of water, I felt better and started the hike but turned around at the last steep climb when I met up with Glenn. We went back by car later to the lodge for a sunset hike to the Window View Trail.  We enjoyed cooking out and then quickly found warmth in the RV.

On the drive into Big Bend National Park

Our campsite in Chisos Basin

The trail to the Lodge

A crazy camper

The century plants dotted landscape

Trailhead at the lodge

The Window View trail

As the sunset, the sun bounced off the peaks

Waiting for the sunset from our advantage point

My favorite picture

At the Chisos Visitor Center

The sunset finale at Window View

On Monday morning we set out to follow the second day of the three -day suggested itinerary provided in the orientation newsletter provided at the entrance to the park. We started our drive to the Rio Grande Village  which traverses the limestone from a Cretaceous sea and has magnificent vistas of the Sierra del Carmen Mountains. We stopped at Dugout Wells to the walk the half mile Chihuahua Desert Nature Trail. We stopped at the Rio Grande Village store and then took the road to the picnic area near the Daniels Ranch for a hike and picnic lunch near the historic ruins.  We then headed past the RV full-hook up campground where we spotted our first coyote and then found the trailhead to the Nature Trail at the tent campground,  The trail followed a wildlife viewing boardwalk and then gradually climbed the hillside and offered us our first panoramic view of the Rio Grande River. We continued our drive to Boquillas Canyon where a short hike took us on the trail up and over to the sandy banks of the Rio Grande River where it flows into the canyon. We retraced our way back to Chisos Basin and cooked dinner at our campsite. 

White winged dove back at the campsite

Hike out of Boquillas Canyon

Mexican horseback rider we met on trail crossed back to Mexico

Rio Grande River

Not so grand river

Finishing up the trail

At lunch roadrunner walking tail down

Road runner standing tail up

Top of Nature Trail

Donkey crossing the river

Birdwatching at lunch at Daniels ranch

Ranch ruins

Irrigation ditch

Mexicans left souvenirs to purchase along the trail

Coyote in the campgroud

The Rio Grande Visitor Center

Along the Nature Trail at Dugout Wells

The plant that only grows here

At the Panther Junction Visitor Center

Where we could stop for WIFI on our drives

On our third day we set off for the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. We stopped at the Sotol Vista and Mule Ears Overlooks. We hiked to Sam Nail Ranch and visited the Castolon Historic District and store. We drove to the end to the magnificent Santa Elena Canyon where the limestone cliffs rise 1500 feet above the Rio Grande River. We stopped to walk the river trail and then took the short walk to the canyon. We stopped on the return trip and hiked the Lower Burro Mesa Pour off trail to get close up to the geological formations. It was another beautiful sunny day with spectacular scenery. By the time we got back to the campground, the wind was howling. We packed up and cooked dinner inside ready to leave in the morning in the freezing temperatures.