Week 3 - Corpus Christi to El Paso; Big Bend National Park
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Next stop was Langtry; a small side road went past some marvellously ramshackle old buildings to the site of Judge Roy Bean's house, now preserved amongst a cactus garden. Opposite was a general store, selling rattlesnake eggs amongst many other things. I was not familiar with the Judge before, but apparently he was a colorful character who held trials in his saloon and named his town after the English actress Lily Langtry, who he was infatuated with, although they never met. The preserved saloon was not especially noteworthy; the most memorable thing we saw was a large red snake in the cactus garden eating its way through a nest of baby mice, to the accompaniment of much squeaking. The visitor center had many good free maps and guides about Texas, which the lady in charge insisted on giving to us.
Continuing along the main road, we stopped at Nowhere for lunch and arrived at Sanderson in need of an oil change and some money, the latter being more urgent as we didn't have enough for the entry fee for Big Bend National Park. Unfortunately, Sanderson had neither so we had to make an unwelcome diversion 65 miles through scenic hills north to Fort Stockton (again), where we achieved both objectives and travelled the 130 miles south as fast as we could to the park. We arrived during very atmospheric conditions - thunderstorms, sunshine and rain, still with the temperature at 100.
It was too late to pay the entry charge at Panther Junction so we went directly to a campsite near the river. Approximately 2 cars passed us along the 20 mile approach road between the Junction and the campsite, at the eastern side of the park. There was a place for RVs, but this was little more than a carpark with hookups. However, just round the corner was a large camp area, with a nominal fee of $5 to stay one night. This had several hundred places, but it was completely empty, possibly due to the deafening sound of cicadas (noisy insects), which continued all evening. Turkey vultures were present in abundance, even walking around our vehicle, also there were many bright red-colored birds. In the fading light, the place had a very strange atmosphere; there were no other lights visible, but many unsettling noises and rustling sounds outside.
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