Here's a post just to show a few of the buildings that make up the resort.

The first, and basically only, thing you see when you drive into Lajitas is this sign and behind it the boardwalk with some cute little shops on the right and hotel rooms on the left.

The resort's hotel is called the Badlands hotel and has an entrance on the boardwalk as well as one on the backside at the parking lot.

        

                        

          

           

Amongst the little shops on the boardwalk is also a bakery. It's only open in the mornings and I haven't made it there yet but it looks really cute.                                  

A little down the street is a small (and expensive) grocery store.

And I already showed you the restaurant and patio:

There's even a small theater that shows movies in the weekends and every now and than some small theater productions.

On the opposite site of the street (there's only one street in Lajitas) are more rooms in motel-style.

Which is also where the gorgeous pool of the hotel is situated ( the RV Park has it's own, by the way):

Here's some pictures of the pumpkin carving contest for Halloween:

 

And for all the 'little' guests of the resort, there was a costume contest:

This little Lion won first prize, he was so adorable!

We also have an outdoor amphitheater where we saw a concert of Alejandro Escovedo and the Sensitive Boys.

I totally forgot to take pictures of ourselves or of the theater at daylight which is really very pretty but I'll do that next time.

It was a wonderful evening, sitting on a blanket in the grass. Just listening to some good music on a nice warm evening, under those beautiful desert stars!

View from the 'Big Hill' in the Big Bend Ranch State Park,

450 feet above the Rio Grande.

 

To get to know the 'lay of the land' and more specifically, the Big Band Ranch State Park (not to be confused with the Big Bend National Park) we went to the Barton Warnock Visitor Center which serves as the eastern visitor center for Big Bend Ranch State Park.
It's here in Lajitas, only 2 minutes down the main road from the RV Park.



Permits for backpacking and camping at Big Bend Ranch State Park can be obtained  here and visitors can also purchase river-use permits, licenses, and loads information about the Big Bend region.

The new, renovated Interpretive Center, "Una Tierra - One Land," presents an archeological, historical, and natural history profile of the Big Bend region.
We really liked the displays and also the short and to the point texts which makes you actually wanna read them for a change!

 

              

The Interpretive Center also offers a self-guiding tour through the two-acre desert garden.

 

The next day it was time to see the Park for ourselves so we left early in the morning to enjoy the cooler temperatures.

Within a mile from leaving the campground we were already in the Park, you can't beat that for a location, can you?!

 

FM 170, also known as El Camino del Rio, is listed as one of the top 10 scenic roads in America by National Geographic. (and with the 15% grade going up Big Hill, it is also the steepest highway in Texas!).

A spectacular 50 miles through lush, twisting river valleys, carved red and purple rock rising 1000 feet from the churning river. The road is excellent; it twists and drops to the canyon floors along the  river.
Since we live so close by and can come back anytime in the future we'd selected only a few of the sites to see for today.

One particular part of Big Bend Ranch State Park might look familiar, even if you've never been here before.

Hollywood has come to the northern bank of the Rio Grande several times, using the colorful landscape as the perfect backdrop for a tiny, Wild West town.

 

 

The Contrabando Movie Set is what remains, from the production of movies like Streets of Laredo.  
All of the buildings were built in 1985, for the filming of the comedy Uphill All The Way.  But that was just the first of nine movies made here.

 

 

Just a facade, this church, as are all the other buildings.

Next stop the 'Grassy Banks' where you have access to the Rio Grande:

And where the banks are grassy indeed (this is the Mexican side):

We'd hoped to run into some Javelinas, small pig-like animals (but they aren't) but weren't so lucky.
Their little hoof prints were all over the place though, together with prints of raccoons.

Onwards we went, for about another 5 miles, until we reached that bugger of a hill again, the famous 'Big Hill', as it is known around here.
There it is, you see the road going up in the distance (those tepees are covering the benches of a rest area. Such a neat idea):

 

 

 

 

And here we are on top again. Much less scary without an RV behind you!

 

 

                   

          Still, I'm leaning heavily into this hill! Boy is it steep up there!

 

Just before you go down there's this sign:

 

 

And this is the other side:

 

 

 

We actually went to a few other places that day but I think I'll save that for another post, this one's long enough as it is already.

 

                             It sure is a beautiful park so far!

 

 

View from the 13th tee towards the Rio Grande and Mexico on the other side.

 

One of the first things we did after settling down was checking out the golf course! James had been dreaming about it for weeks now and he was almost to excited to think straight!

 

                          

 

That first day the sky was overcast and the temperatures fairly cool. Perfect for golf around here.

It turns out we can golf anytime we want, as long as there is an open tee-time. There are no set or limited hours for employees and we get a cart on top of that. We usually walk a course but this is one you absolutely cannot do that at! The elevation differences are huge and so are the distances between greens and tees.

The carts have one of those GPS-computer-screen-thingies in them that tell you where you are and how far from the hole at any time. Sweet!

 

The views are just not from this world!

 

 

 Looking down from the #13 tee towards it's green some 100' below!

 

 

That's the cart path going up that hill there! Can you believe it?!

 

Like I said on Facebook; every paradise has it's pitfall:

 

 

 

 

I shook so much taking this picture that out of the 5 I took 2 were from the grass only :-)!

 

A couple of days later we tagged on to a sunset horse ride at the

Equestrian center of the Resort. We can ride for free whenever we want if there's a space available (and tip the guide).

 

 

This building houses the nice and shady stables. 

 

 

 

 

Our guide TT didn't speak much English but was an excellent horseman and took very good care of us.

We crossed the infamous Comanche Creek Trail, which is part of the pony path the Comanches used to stage raids into Mexico along the Rio Grande River for horses and silver, and along various other historic trails with great views of Laijitas and Anguila Mesa and the

Chihuahuan Desert. 

 

 

 

 

Halfway we enjoyed the sunset at a little private Mesa where we tied up the horses and sat down for some cheese and wine. The only other people on this ride were a nice couple from Austin who were really nice and fun to talk to.

 

 

The way back we rode in total darkness. Fortunately, the horses knew where they were going because I didn't see a thing!
What we did see were all the amazing stars! Incredible, you can see the whole Milky way up here, millions of other stars and of course Venus, the brightest of them all!

 

 

I'd hoped for a little more information about the area we drove through or maybe some names of animals or flowers or later of the stars we were looking at but the utter silence during the ride was actually amazing too.

This place is so remote and quiet. No trains, no traffic, no planes,  no city lights, just silence and darkness and those stars.....it's awe-some.

 

  

 

On one of our first evenings here we checked out the restaurant of the Resort, the Candelilla Cafe.
Again we have some 'perks' here, we get 20% off certain (cheaper) menu items (not the pheasant, etc)!
You can dine inside or like we did on a fantastic patio with a fountain and great views of the golf course, Rio Grande, and mountains.

'Back on the ranch' (quite literary since the campground is called the Maverick Ranch RV Resort) there was a full moon rising above 'our' spot.