My Etsy Store Travels to Big Bend National Park

Mountains in the clouds at Big Bend National Park, Texas

Big Bend covers 801,163 acres which is larger than the state of Rhode Island.  There the Rio Grande River forms the international boundary between Mexico and the United States, and Big Bend National Park administers approximately 118 miles (190 km) along that boundary.

Rio Grande River

The park was named after the area, which is bounded by a large bend in the river and Texas-Mexico border.

Big Bend National Park, Texas

This area has a long history involving dinosaurs, Indians, Spanish explorers, silver mines, farmers.  Big Bend is the largest, most remote, and least visited of the National Parks.  I was amazed by how long it took to drive her from San Antonio, Texas to the park.  The fact that it seemed to be at the end of the earth surrounded by miles and miles of desert made it seem even longer.

Trinkets for sale

We came across some trinkets for sale while hiking down to the river.  This store was run on an honor system.  Prices were listed on a cardboard sign and there was a jar there for money.  No one seemed to be there, but it made me wonder.

Rio Grande River from U.S. side

It was exciting to see the Rio Grande River up close.   The Rio Grande River was muddy due to recent rains. It didn't look to inviting to get into and the park service discourages swimming in it.
I found it hard to wrap my head around the fact that this river is the only thing that separates the U.S. from Texas.

Mountains and desert at Big Bend

The mountains are spectacular. It is hard to image the size of this park.  We saw very few people in the park.  It was a very different experience from last year's trip to Yellowstone.  It was hard to comprehend the tour buses and crowds in Yellowstone in the off season of Fall.

Big Bend

I was thankful that there was lots of cloud cover and it was in the 70's when we were hiking.  It seemed like 100 degrees to me.  It was amazing to imagine the harsh conditions can be experienced here.

Post office in Teralingua, Texas

At the end of the day at Big Bend, I had a little Etsy business to attend to.  I had to mail my order to San Angelo, Texas.  I located the post office in Teralingua on the Internet.  I was surprised at its size.  I was larger than I expected.  I dropped off the order from my Etsy store and went on sight seeing.  Actually, when driving through Big Bend I discovered that there was a post office in the park too.

I have plenty more adventure left on the trip so you may want to sign up to follow by blog .  My next stop is a ghost town.