So on day two of our Marfa trip, we hit the road for a few hours and made our way towards the Mexican border! Big Bend National Park has so many trails to choose from, but after seeing a travel bloggers posts about Santa Elena Canyon, I couldn't go all that way without making that visit. To start our second day, we went to the ONLY place that we kept hearing tons of rave reviews about, not only online, but from locals as well -- MARFA. BURRITO. This place has a burrito the size of my arm and everything is homemade! Its basically someone's house that you walk into. SO YUMMY!!!
Along the way, we stopped in the amazing little town of Terlingua. Terlingua sits just a few miles from the park entrance and has the only gas station in the area. Terlingua is an old mining town and has so much unique character. There's a historic cemetery outside of the old ghost town that has plots dating back into the 1900's. According to signage in the cemetery, many of the people there died from mining accidents, gun fights, or the flu epidemic of 1918. Some of the locals still use that cemetery today.
Just across the street was a small trailer turned shop that was so cute we couldnt help but stop. Campfire Creations had some amazing finds from local artists. The owner Carmen and her gorgeous dog Monkey man the shop. Carmen told us she kept finding herself vacationing in the area and finally decided to pick up and move there 11 years ago.
After filling up on gas, we made our way into the park, but of course no stop to a national park is complete without pics at the entrance sign! There we made some new friends, and as it turns out, Big Bend is a great place to meet new people! Whodathunkit??
Santa Elena Canyon was only 30 miles from the park entrance, but the speed limit is 45 miles per hour. So if you make the trip, a good playlist is KEY! The road curved up and down the mountains causing our ears to pop, and the wind tried throwing my car around. Everything had us in awe. We had no idea such beauty lay in our own backyard! We passed the visitor center which is equipped with anything a camper/hiker may need, as well as gifts and souvenirs. We grabbed ourselves some ice cream sandwiches and pretended calories didn't exist. After coming around a curve, we could see a huge break between the mountains and I instantly recognized it the destination i'd been seeing in all my research. It was only a few miles away at that point! We finally made it, parked, and walked towards the trail. When we finally came through the clearing, our jaws dropped!
When we made our way up the trail, we noticed that first part of the trail was an upward hike. There are lots of stairs and ramps that make their way upwards on a narrow path. Some areas have rails, but most of it did not. It was definitely a good workout and I wouldn't recommend anyone try it that isn't ok with a little exertion! But its a family friendly area and there were plenty of children hiking with their families! We saw a guy standing on a tiny rock that jutted 4 feet from a cliff. He was aiming to get a cool picture, but beyond the rock was nothing. His bravery promted us to copy! Upon standing out on it, we realized the cliff dropped down to the Rio Grande at least forty to fifty feet. (insert Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo effect.) We ended up hiking with him and getting to know him. Turned out he, Todd, was on an incredible journey! Todd is a Canadian travelling the country with nothing more than some gear and his van. He told us he had spent quite a bit of time biking his way around Sedona, Arizona and made his way to Big Bend. He camps out of his van or stays with friends. You can follow him on Instagram at @Vanlifeamerica or on his blog http://www.vanlifeamerica.com. His story is really very interesting and I hope he some day finds his way to the central texas area! (We actually ended up "bumping" into him again on our way out of the park.)
The park views and sights were incredible. Looking down at the Rio Grande and across to Mexico was vastly different than the views if you visit a border town. We sat and talked with some new friends for a bit, climbed some big rocks to prove we still could, and snapped tons of selfies on our phones before we made our way out. (I apologize now for the iPhone quality of the proceeding selfies)
On our way out, we stopped at the top of a mountain to take in one last moment of awe. This would be this point at which we found Todd again. Turns out we were outrunning a storm cell. It was already really windy at that overlook, but the storm lowered the temp by at least ten degrees and rolled in a crazy breeze.
When we finally made it back to Marfa, we grabbed some brisket tacos at Boyz 2 Men taco truck. The owner of this place was hilarious. He's an extremely sarcastic kind of guy and if you don't have a sense of humor, steer clear.We made some more friends and learned a little regional history by a guy named "Mr. Webb with two B's." He said he was going to give us a "webbinar" (once again, two B's) then told us he tried to get a stipend from the internet but was unsuccessful because of spelling issues. He was a funny character, but he was dead serious. On day three, we packed up and headed out but stopped to snap a few more photos. It wasn't until this point that I realized how old and small the town really is. If you need wifi, good cell service, and entertainment, Marfa isn't somewhere you are going to have the time of your life. But if you appreciate art, being unplugged, and conversations with strangers from different walks of life, Marfa is going to be a bucket list place for you. I am holding my breath until my husband agrees to go back with me. I might even make it a place he has to take me once a year!