Spring Break 2012-Big Bend National Park

This year for Spring Break we went to Big Bend National Park which is right along the Rio Grande River in South Texas. It was very pretty and we saw lots of cactus, deer, rabbits, javelinas, turtles, roadrunners and luckily no mountain lions. We went hiking, did a half-day river trip, hiked some more, drove around a lot, hiked to a canyon with a river and sand dune you could slide down, went to a hot springs, and hiked some more. The kids were not that excited about all the hiking but they survived. : ) We had planned to rent a RV but ended up staying in a hotel since Rulon got a new car a few weeks ago. The hotel was right next to an intersection of train tracks and apparently it's the law that the train has to blow its whistle multiple times at every intersection. I counted seven trains the first night and soon discovered the benefit of the ear plugs the hotel "thoughtfully" provided. : ) All in all, it was a fun time and we're glad we got to see Big Bend before we leave Texas.
Sage (aka Miss Tacky Tourist) all decked out and ready for the river trip.
On the river
family pic on one of our hikes
Exhausted after a hike
Playing in the Rio Grande. Across the river is Mexico.
Asher playing on the sand dune
Rulon and Sage climbed to the top of the sand dune and slid down.
Sliding down.
Along the trail, there would be piles of trinkets and walking sticks and a Mexican National across the river trying to sell you stuff. You were supposed to bargain with the guy across the river, put your money in a little can and then take your item. Hmmm...I wonder how he gets his money? : )

The guy across the river trying to sell stuff. The park service had signs posted everywhere explaining that buying things from Mexican Nationals is prohibited but it didn't seem to make much of a difference.