There is just something about the desert!

I cannot begin to describe it... but I can show you. I know all the best spots... and I am still discovering new ones.

The Big Bend of West Texas is particularly nice. The coolest thing about Big Bend is... it isn't on "the way" to anywhere... and it's well over a hundred miles off the interstate. So in their hurry to hit all the big National Parks listed in the Rand McNally's guide to the western states, it is often skipped over by typical tourists. Yet... over and over again I read "reviews" in outdoor magazines continually singing the prasies of this lonely National Park nestled along the Texas-Mexico border. There is also a very nice Texas State Park right next door nestled in the Chinati Mountains. Then there are the cabins at the Chinati Hot Springs... or the Crow's Nest campground on the scenic loop of the Davis Mountains. Or Ms. Trudy's Cafe in Study Butte. Or the coin-op showers at the Rio Grande Village. Or the golden eagles soaring above the Alto Reflex at the entrance to Telephone Canyon.

It's not as flashy as Colorado or Yosemite. It hasn't been over-run by hot tubbing, crystal gazing, chardonnay sipping, "New Agers" searching for their "personal power points" like Sedona. There "ain't no damned Starbucks" in Big Bend. It isn't as well known as Zion or the Grand Canyon. But West Texas is a un-cut jewel often over looked by the average "tourist."

That suits me just fine...

Their loss is most assuredly my gain. For those of us that like our desert open, rugged and empty... for those of us that know the difference between a monocline and an anticline... or the word "dike" has more to do with a volcano, than spring-break in Key West...

Big Bend is a destination all it's own.