The Rio Grande, looking into Boquillas Canyon and towards the Sierra del Carmen mountain range in the distance

During our last trip into Big Bend National Park we also visited the Boquillas Hot Springs,  some four miles upriver from Boquillas Canyon. 

A series of thermal springs exist adjacent to the Rio Grande along a stretch beginning upstream of Rio Grande Village but this is the most famous one.

There used to be a bathhouse here that was build over the spring but today only some ruins of the foundation are left and in one corner you can see the 105F hot water bubbling up to the surface.
You're allowed to soak in it if you want to, it is supposedly beneficial for your health , especially if you suffer from arthritis or skin conditions.

We had worked up a sweat during the mile long hike to get there, it was very hot that day, so we really didn't feel like soaking in hot water. (That, and we also forgot to bring our bathing suits. (Of course!)

A short, and flat, hike along side the river brings you to the springs and a slightly longer one through the hills loops you back to the parking lot.

From up above you have a great view of the river, the canyon and the mountain ranges.

This beautiful Great Blue Heron was overlooking his empire from up above....

... as was this noisy little Brown-crested Flycatcher from the prickly Ocotillos.

Talking about prickly! You don't want to go near these Hedgehog Cacti!

When they bloom they almost look approachable ....

                          

... if you're a bee ..
                                                        

As you can see this blog is hugely 'after the fact' again, since the next pictures show our dinner at 'Long Draw Pizza', 10 minutes away from us on the road to Terlingua.
It was my Birthday dinner on the 26th of April!





We ate at the bar (see the picture I made using the mirror opposite of us) and choose a pizza with blue cheese and ham. Although the crust is a standard thin crust that comes from the freezer it is surprisingly good, nice and crispy, and the pizza is LOADED with cheese and stuff and piping hot straight from the oven.
Combined with a nice cold beer and a very friendly and laid back atmosphere it was a great dinner!

Finally, I know it's hard to understand for some but discovering a bird I've never seen before can just make my day (or week, or month!)

I love his little crest and you should've heard him sing!

I'm always partial to birds that show some color (sorry my LBB's (Little Brown Birds), so I was thrilled to see this  'Silver Cardinal' or Pyrrhuloxia. 
That is to say I only discovered it really was one when I enlarged the shot on my computer. He was very far away, I had to use full zoom and still had to enlarge it in Picasa without blurring the image (which wasn't as much as I'd liked). 
I actually thought in the field it was a true Cardinal but since I'd never seen either one before I was very happy to 'score' this one!

I know. Silly me...

                

The truth is in the eyes they say. 

Ha! If only I had not listened to that, it would have saved me a couple of frustrating hours trying to find the name of this bird!

Here's the 'mocking' irony: it's (just) a northern mockingbird! 

Well, in MY book(s), they have 'mostly' yellow eyes. Or at least, yellow-ish to orange. So, here I am. Looking for a bird with yellow eyes. You see any yellow in these ones?

Turns out, 'some' (and 'most' juveniles) have 'mostly' black eyes. 

To top it off, it turns out to be the Texas state bird! Duh.

Texas designated the mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) as official state bird in 1927. Northern Mockingbirds have extraordinary vocal abilities - they can sing up to 200 songs, including the songs of other birds, insect and amphibian sounds, even an occasional mechanical noise. The northern mockingbird is also the state bird of Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi.

The Texas legislature noted that the mockingbird:

"...is found in all parts of the State, in winter and
in summer, in the city and in the country, on the prairie and in the woods and hills...is a singer of distinctive type, a fighter for the protection of his home, falling, if need be, in its defense, like any true Texan..."

Other than that I've been trying for several frustrating WEEKS now, to upload pictures to blogger. Or even text for that matter. Heck, I couldn't even open my post/draft list!
James finally took 'everything' off my computer and did a complete re-install. It's still giving me some fits but I've managed to put this blog together. For now. Phew!
Well see what happens when I try again.

 

This is Boquillas del Carmen. In Mexico. Where we went. Already 2 weeks ago....  (stupid computer)

Anyways. The Boquillas border crossing is in the far south east of Big Bend National Park and was one of the few destinations we had not 'done' yet. So, off we went, on a nice, sunny day.  

               

        

 

Interesting enough, this crossing is un-manned. That is to say, un-manned by customs officials. Since the building doubles as a visitor center for the State Park, the rangers inside will point you out through the back of the building where you than take a short walk to the river.

Here a Mexican in a little row boat will be waiting to row you to the Mexican side! 

All the while you're being serenaded by Victor Valdez, the singing boatman, who for 30 years has ferried people across the river. Retired now he's kept on singing, sitting in the shade of a tree on the other side and asking for a donation when you clamber up the river bank.

As if that's not 'authentic' enough you're than being hauled on a horse or burro to make your way to the village about a mile away! (no palm leaves though)

(OK, you CAN walk there yourselves, or take a ride with a truck, but James had never been on a burro so that's what we did. Only cost us $5 pp/return trip).

 

A 'guide' will walk behind you to make sure the stubborn beasts will get you there. He'll actually stay with you the whole time and will also point you to the Mexican customs in town, where you have to be screened and documented before you can venture into the village.

 

Although lots of people came up to show us their handmade souvenirs they weren't pushy and left us alone to explore.
That being said, there's really nothing much to explore I'm afraid. The village is poor, there's not much going on, it lacks any 'quaint-ness' and the people are polite but quite bored with tourists.
We ate some tacos and burritos that were OK but nothing to write home about and after 2 hours we made the whole trip again in reverse this time.

The day had gotten very, very hot and it was strangely overcast which had upped the humidity to quite uncomfortable levels.
I don't know who was sweating more, us or those poor donkeys!

Tourists. Oh, the shame of it all!

When you come back to the visitor center on the American side you than have to scan your passport through a machine and talk to a custom official in El Paso by phone and in front of a web camera, before you're being let out the front door by the park ranger again.

All in all it really wasn't more than what you'd call a 'tourist trap'. 
Not that they're really too aggressive in trying to make money off you but they at least succeeded in making me feel like a pretty stupid gringo ... or maybe a dumb-ass?

The Park at least didn't disappoint and was in full bloom right now and very pretty!

        

These blazing Desert Paint brushes along the side of the road were hard to miss!

And Opuntia Grahamii or Graham Club Cholla:

          

So pretty!

In the gardens around the Resort there's these:

                   

Tree Tobacco and Desert Willow

For Easter we enjoyed a (complementary) dinner on the patio of the restaurant. James wasn't supposed to work this weekend but had to unexpectedly so we were offered this fabulous meal to make up for it!

 

The days have been very sunny and very warm lately. The temperatures have been up into the high 90's, even 2 days in the 100's already!

                                            

No wonder everything is flowering!

Not the ideal time to be upon a (hot) roof but James has been working on better cellphone/Internet reception for the resort:

       

And I re-upholstered our foot stool that had been professionally shredded by Merlin. Much better, but for how long?

 

            James is always very popular when he comes home from work!

(or it's the apple pie next to him they're after ..)

 

We've had very (unusually) hot water lately, (80-90F) and no rain, but despite the drought we're in, the Cacti are blooming profusely! These are Desert and Plains  Prickly-Pears ...

There are hundreds and hundreds of them and each plant has hundreds of buds and flowers ....





They look like those crepe paper roses to me. Just gorgeous!

                                       


This next one's a Rainbow Cactus. A huge flower on a really small cactus. You'd expect more colors (of the rainbow?) but they're just yellow. Pretty though!

                        

And the bees are (loudly) swarming around the Honey Mesquite trees:
                                                                                    
                       
All this 'going on' has been inspiring and we've tackled some projects too!

James has been busy making me some tools to use with the (used) loom I picked up a couple of weeks ago:

  

  

Never one to keep it simple, (and he just loves to be able to use some of his tools/toys) he went all overboard as usual!

The result: a warping frame, a reddle, warping-, cross- and end-sticks and several shuttles!
(The warping frame comes apart for easy storage.)
All made from cheap lumber for a fraction of the price you pay in the crafts stores and I think they look  better too!

An unexpected project came in the shape of a burst (main) water pipe which happened to be right underneath our fire pit!
Fortunately nothing of our doing so it was up to the the park's maintenance crew to repair it but it was quite a mess for a while:

  

As usual it took a lot of men standing around and leaning on shovels (and big toys) to get it done ;-)

So, not to be outdone, James borrowed some big equipment to drive around upon himself.....!

Reason being, we want to sow some new grass around the RV. In recent years the landscaping of the Park has been somewhat below par and a lot of sites, like ours, have lost most of the grass that was planted originally.
When it rains, the bare soil that's left turns into some horrible slick and sticky clay, and with the rainy season coming up in July and August we'd like to have some grass growing around us!

 

                      So we brought in some sand. See it flying in the wind?

Oh, yeah, that brings me to an announcement ... it looks like we're going to stick around here for a while!
James likes this (paid) job so we can put some money in the bank for you never know when. We also happen to like the desert and this park and off course we love the golf course, so we're going to brave the summer temperatures and stay at least until October.
After that, we might move south a little to the Valley or the coast or stay for another winter, we don't know yet. At least, that's the plan ...... we'll see.

Fortunately, we have 3 pools at our fingertips for when the temperature will rise into the low 100's in June and July !
They're heated by solar panels and are slowly coming up to temperature right now. This week we had a couple of days in the low 90's already so we had to test the one at the campground.

Well, ...my big toe still thinks it's too cold but James actually swam! Show-off!

Not bad eh?!

Ha! You really didn't think I wouldn't include some bird shots did you?

I think this is a Hutton's Vireo

                                     

    

                Mr. House Finch.                                                                   Who, me?


                                       


And ... whaaaa ...! It's a Cysteodemus Wislizeni. For what it's worth. 
It has a whole lot of common names, like Desert Spider Beetle, Desert "blue-ball" Blister Beetle, Black Bladder Beetle or Inflated Beetle to name a few.
The inflated look is actually due to air they store under their shield which keeps them cooler in the sun. It looks like they can fly, but the partition on their body that you see are not wings, it's a trick so you think it's no use to chase him because he'll fly away.
They can exude a toxic fluid when handled that blisters your skin. Interesting bug. No?


                            OK. Than I leave you with this.

  

                                                Really? (Eye roll ....sigh .....)