Terlinqua TX....Gateway to Big Bend

Heading down the hi-way from Alpine to Terlingua. Steve followed me in his car to keep an eye on the tires as well as to let me set the travel pace.

Mountains and more mountains and some people will try to tell you that Texas doesn't have any mountains.

We arrived in Terlingua and quickly found Big Bend RV Resort. There were only two RV parks listed in Terlingua once we found we couldn't get a reservation in Big Bend itself. It seemed like B.J.'s RV Park had better ratings than Big Bend RV Resort mainly due to comments about the staff. I have to say that we had no problems with three different staff people we dealt with at Big Bend RV Resort. The first thing that people have to remember is that these are desert campgrounds so "parking lot" comes to mind. Most of the trees in the park were smaller than this and it can be a little dusty. The first spot we were assigned was not satisfactory since it was on a dusty road with another dusty road right beside it and somewhat unlevel and back-in. It was assigned by the telephone reservation person at Forever Resorts with no knowledge of the park.  The desk staff onsite had no problem with giving me another site. There were full-hookups with 30 or 50 AMPS. Space between sites wasn't bad. There was a grill but no table at our site. It was a perfectly adequate place to stay which could be improved with a little more attention to the place. We have our own showers but they do charge extra to use their showers...hey, this is a desert. They have a game room with coffee, gift shop, restaurant, laundry, and motel. It was quiet, no dogs were running loose, and our dogs were welcome.

The grandkids lost no time in setting out to explore the area next to the park.

Great view of the park but they didn't have a camera with them.

After we got set-up, we headed out to take a look at Terlingua itself.

We started with the cemetery.

It is definitely not your usual cemetery. Remember that it is out in the desert, a rocky desert at that so rocks are distributed over the graves.

Grave sites are very personal and unique to say the least.

There was another campground in "downtown" Terlingua.

There are some modern buildings in Terlingua but much of it is a ghost town that is in use daily. It is probably most famous for the annual chili cookoff when there isn't a spare bed left in town.

You never knew when you were going to see a vehicle here and there.

This is an old building converted for current use.

 

Terlingua was a mining community and there are a lot of mine shafts around.

The grate Steve and Cameron are standing on looks down into a deep mine shaft.

This is an elevator lift which was used to take miners in and out of the mine.

Great views everywhere you look.

The Starlight Theatre is one of the more well-known places in Terlingua. It currently serves as a restaurant that sometimes has entertainment.

They have some really unique chairs out front. Steve couldn't resist posting.

Cameron's seat was a little less racy than Steve's chair.

What used to be a jail is now a restroom.

The next morning, we are all off to Big Bend for the day. Angus, Willy, and Harley couldn't believe they were relegated to the back end of the car. We knew we would be gone all day so it seemed best to take them along for the ride.