Crinkly's Good Ole American Family Road Trip Day 32: Last day? Go Big then go home! (9/28/15)

We had breakfast and headed into the park via the west entrance today. Much more windier and longer road than the eastern entrance. Get to the park, and take the dirt (old maverick) road down to the Santa Elena Canyon trail; this road is all kinds of bumpy, with ripples throughout and some places where you are clearing some areas that don't look too friendly to non-4wheelers but we made it in the tahoe.

Crinkly is so close to going to Mexico. Yet so far cause he cant swim.

Crinkly wondering why US wants to build a wall with a natural wall already in place.

Crinkly taking a dip in the good ole Rio Grande.

Beautiful desert serenity.

Life goals met - found a road runner. Now just need to find the coyote chasing him.

About to take off - just like the cartoons.

Crinkly checking out the bat ears rock in the background.

Gerry O playing jokes.

Crinkly posing with me trying to have bat ears. Bad execution on my part.

Found a viewpoint so Crinkly wanted to be in a panoramic picture.

Big Bend National park in all its beauty.

We were there earlier today. Layers of mountains.

Crinkly growing ears.

Cool top formation in the middle of the park.

One of the views from the Chisos basin.

Get to the trail and walk to see the cliffs and it looks like the trail is washed out by the water. Turns out my dad found the cross over (which is to the right a little ways from where the trail spits you out by the water. So he goes and checks it out, we hang out in this area and get to see a roadrunner (we saw many of these guys throughout the day) run around the parking lot. We then head over to the scenic road and observe the park (lots of different rock types and formations – very pretty in a barren, desolate kind of way). Then head to Chisos basin which is very awesome being surrounded by giant cliffs all around. We have lunch there and decide to just drive home tonight instead of getting a hotel and then returning home tomorrow. We make our way to I10 and begin the long, straight, drive home to conclude this month long exploration of a small part of the wonder and amazement this awesome country/world have to offer.

Crinkly's Good Ole American Family Road Trip Day 31: On top of the world (Texas) and the Super lunar eclipse moon (9/27/15)

Woke up before the sun came out, had breakfast (hotel had decent breakfast), and packed up the car to head to the Guadalupe mountain national park near the New Mexican border. We get to the trail head for the Guadalupe Peak trail (4.2 miles one way with ~3k ft climb in elevation) and me and my daddy head out as my mommy and aunt head up to the caverns in Carlsbad.

View as we look back on where we came from after a good first push up the mountain.

Those rocks are bleeding

Ohhhh those are just a crap ton of ladybugs. Cool!

Crinkly reached the top. Good day for a beautiful hike.

Crinkly and I at the top of the rock.

The O'Brien boys and Crinkly (honorary O'Brien boy) at the top. We did good.

Crinkly with a nice panoramic view on top of the mountain.

Not a bad view.

Alright Crinkly, time to work our way back down.

This trail is immediately challenging with steep climbs via steps for the first 1-2 miles and with minimal shade (so glad we started first thing in the morning). With the quick gain in elevation, you get to start seeing some great vistas early and often. We get near the top of the first mountain and go behind it for some shade; a nice respite from constant sunshine. We keep climbing and eventually get to this spot near the top (about ½ mile from it) where there are ladybugs EVERYWHERE!!!! I first thought they were berries or something, but then looked closer and it is just hordes of these things. Kinda cool. Get to the top and there is a nice little statue on top with a box to sign your name and write notes and also a pad to write what you are grateful for. We enjoy the view for a bit before heading down. The way down is quicker/easier as now we get to climb down that 3k ft of elevation. We get to the trail-head and meet our peeps at the visitor center before heading down to Alpine, where we will stay the night. On the way, we go by Marfa and we expect to stop at the Prada store that is famous for being the smallest Prada store (or something like that). As we drive, we fly by it as it is west of Valentine, which is west of Marfa; the store is inaccurately labeled So we keep going and check into our hotel (Quality inn) and decide to go into Big Bend to see the night sky and to watch the Super-moon lunar eclipse taking place tonight. We go get dinner at Guzzi up, a local Italian joint where we have a decent pizza and some cheap drinks (cans of local beer are 3$). We then drive into the park (it is quite the drive – about 1-1.5h) Get into the park and its getting dark and we get to watch the moon eclipse, turn red, and subsequently brighten the stars (less light pollution from the moon to interfere with star light). Star gazing here is amazing; the milky way spans through the entire swath of the sky with other stars everywhere, it truly is beautiful to see a night sky like that. We then head back to the hotel (tried taking pictures of the full red moon, but our cameras were not of the quality to be able to document that), and upon our return, my dad and I jump into the hot tub for a little bit and plan the next days route of places to see in Big Bend National Park.

Driving into Big Bend National park and this is the moon we see. Going to be a good night.

Beautiful moon starting an eclipse. Lets get it on!

Look at the sky. One of the perks of the park.

Lamps on the hill underneath the night sky.

Crinkly's Good Ole American Family Road Trip Day 30: Next stop – Texas (9/26/15)

We got our stuff together and started on our last segment of the trip; some parks in Texas before returning home. Get through a border inspection area close to town before getting up to I10 which will take us the rest of the way. Stop at a rest stop on the way over, which turns out to have the border line between AZ and NM. Continue on and eventually get to El Paso where we stop for lunch and get gas at Costco; the place is a cluster inside and out.

Heading back to the great state of TX.

We then head out to our hotel in Van Horn (Hampton Inn). The hotel is nice but the internet is shoddy; you can connect but most of the time, you're unable to do anything with it. We then head over to the Cattle Company for dinner. Steaks are decent, and the prices are not too bad. After we eat, we head back to the hotel to get some sleep as the next day will be a long one.

Moon hanging out as the sun sets.

Crinkly's Good Ole American Family Road Trip Day 29: Exploring some waterfalls and creeks near town (9/25/15)

After breakfast, the gang meets up and our first stop is to go check out a nearby waterfall that was flowing really well earlier in the week after a good rain. We get up on the rough road and we stop to look at the waterfall, but by now it is barely spritzing. We then go farther up the hill and a few of us go bouldering up to see another cascade that cannot be seen from the road; it too is pretty but it would be nice to see this flowing right after a good rain.

Creek to enjoy some water flow.

We decided to do some bouldering as the kids play.

Back at the stream where it all started.

Climbing up to the church and there are definitely plenty of crosses if you were unsure what you were approaching.

Crinkly wanted to point out the statue chilling in the shrubberies.

Made it to the church.

Thought this pic of the sun shining on the angel was pretty cool.

Found the statue from earlier. Tis huge!

Beautiful church.

One of the stations had a little hut with figurines in it.

Tree is swallowing the cross. Need some landscaping done here.

My cousin has pet goats which do his yard so he doesnt have to. Smart and cute.

We then head over to Carr canyon to have lunch by a creek, which was really nice to hang in the shade and watch the kids play in the creek. We hung out and then head down to the Our lady of the Sierras church, which had burned down 4 years ago in a raging fire and was rebuilt. We walk up the 14 stages of the cross and see the small, yet quaint, church there before heading back to the house for some downtime before the evening's festivities. First we go to watch my cousin's kids do some karate, then we head to Ricardo's for dinner. Ricardo's, which also burned down in the same fire years ago, was a nice Mexican restaurant with some sketchy service this night, but usually is known for having great food and service. It was here that I realized that most of the places we have been (maybe all) in Arizona have the no flush urinals installed which I think should be installed everywhere; so props to AZ. Food was good, and after eating we head back to the houses and I move houses from uncle to cousin so me, him and my dad can sleep under the stars. It was really nice sleeping, other than the constant dog barking, with cool temperatures, nice constant breeze, and clear skies all above.

Crinkly's Good Ole American Family Road Trip Day 28: Chilling in the desert in old tombstone(9/24/15)

After breakfast, we gather the group and head over to Tombstone, a city I have wanted to visit since I first viewed the awesome movie by the same name. We check out the courthouse first, which is like a small history museum with some tidbits about the Earps and the local Indian tribes.

Crinkly found religion yesterday. Now a piece of his history.

Some of our heroes. 

Crinkly's fave.

Crinkly thinking its a fine day for a hanging. Had to break it to him this is just for show.

Example of the cells back then.

Crinkly thinks he is more valuable then he is.

Home sweet home for Crinkly.

Dont know if they had fans like that back then.

Crinkly trying how this saddle compares to his back home.

Crinkly found some great cousins.

Dont worry Crinkly, this isnt where we part ways.

My heroes in the flesh. Lets go challenge them to a draw.

Tombstone streets with plenty of walking area just need to watch out for those shiny horseless carriages.

He found his hero at lunch.

Toasting a badass (gotta be with a stache like that)

Down in the gift shop at the restaurant. Crinkly just about to kick these swinging doors open as he cant contain it any more.

We finally found the welcome sign. 

After walking around the museum, we walk around town (they have some decent sayings on t shirts) before going into Big nose Kate's tavern for lunch. Its an old-timey saloon with Tombstone playing on repeat (heaven!), an old man on guitar serenading the saloon (pretty good musician), and a prop guy who will dress you up and allow you to get photos (we, crinkly and I, were hung). We get a pizza for everyone to share (I made a joke that it was tombstone pizza, but after thinking about it, it actually kinda did taste like a tombstone pizza) and head out once everyone is done eating. We walk around a bit through town before heading back to the house to clean up for dinner. We meet back up for dinner at my uncles house where we have another family gathering with Warsteiner and I broke out a New Glarus Kriek for people to try; it was good with a nice cherry flavor (to me tasted like a cherry jolly rancher) but not as sour as I was hoping/expecting. After dinner and a nice little family party, we go back to our respective houses and talk a bit more before heading to bed.

Sharing one of my acquisitions from earlier in the trip with the family.