Preparing to Leave Big Bend



 

Well. This is it. It's almost time to go.

I apologize that we haven't posted in more than a week. It's been a busy time starting to think about turning the page on Big Bend and looking toward our next adventures. This past week on our days off we concentrated our efforts on getting ready to leave West Texas. Our last scheduled work day was to be on Monday the 12^th and our plan was to do a final cleaning of the apartment, pack the last few items in the van, turn in our keys & uniforms and head out of the park some time on Tuesday the 13th.

Toward that end, we spent much of the past week paring down our belongings once again to “van size”, making needed van repairs and adjustments, giving the van a thorough cleaning inside and out, and transferring some of the items we can do without for the next few days back out to the van. 

Andre took care of washing the exterior after we finished cleaning the inside

Cleaning out more pack-rat nesting materials from the air conditioning unit!

In addition, we’ve consciously spent the last two weeks “eating down” the contents of our refrigerator and freezer. Andre has been cooking like crazy to ensure that nothing in the freezer goes to waste and we’ve been strategically planning our meals- which has been kind of fun. We've also shared some great meals with friends over the last few weeks, and sampled some great home brews from another friend in the park. To say the least, we have eaten well!. 

Angie Dean's fabulous Spanakopita and stuffed peppers

 



Gifts of home brew from a friend in the park (with his own labels)

On Friday, which is usually our project day, we were asked to spend time in the visitor center transitioning the new volunteer couple who will be replacing us. They had been training the past few days with Ranger Rob and were ready to go it alone for the first time. We were asked to be there during the opening and closing of the visitor center to assist if they ran into any problems. In the in-between hours,  we drove around the park doing an abbreviated goodbye tour, seeing some favorite spots for the last time. We spent a few hours hiking up the Lost Mine Trail and taking in the beautiful views from the top, then drove out to the Rio Grande and Santa Elena Canyon to see it one last time.

 

When we got back to the visitor center, the schedule for the next two weeks had been posted and we learned that we would not be needed to work on Sunday and Monday. So we are taking off tomorrow!

We will spend this evening having a last dinner out at the Starlight Theatre with Rob and Angie Dean who have become very good friends of ours over the last few months and then we will wrap everything up and head out of the park tomorrow. We will be both sad and happy to go. We’ve had a wonderful time here – but we miss our friends and family – and the East Coast – very much and are looking forward to van travel again and circling back with the many people and places that are meaningful to us.

We’ll see you on the other side….