Day Two

I woke up early with the plan that I would go for a run. Unfortunately, Fort Davis is so small that I ran out of town pretty fast, and had to get creative to do even thirty minutes. It was a nice morning to be out and about, though.

Then it was time to pack and check out.

Audrey recalled all the fun she had at the hotel and she said good-bye to her a new friend she made while she was here.











Then we were off toward Big Bend!

Last year, Dan and I had scouted for acceptable campsites and settled on the Cottonwood near the Rio Grande as a good choice, so that was where we went first. We picked a site, and set up camp. Audrey helped pitch the tent.











Then we set off to do some hiking. Since it was midday and hot, we decided to stick to short hikes, of no more than half an hour. Our first was Tuff Canyon. Audrey went along for the ride.











We saw some amazing sights down in the ravine.











Then, as we were heading toward the lookout point, Dan asked, "Where's Audrey?"

"She's not back there?" I asked.

Audrey was gone!

We hurried back the way we had come and finally found her, alone and terrified, on the trail to the ravine.










We reassured her and apologized for losing her, then took her with us to the lookout point. She wasn't much interested, though.










She just wanted to get back to the truck so that's what we did. Then, to make up for all that she had been through, we took Audrey to the Castelon store where we gave her water...









...ice cream...










and a popsicle.











All was forgiven, but when Dan and I did our next hike, down on the Rio Grande, Audrey opted to stay in the truck. We didn't blame her, but she missed some great sights.






























After the hike, we returned to our campsite, where Dan played some Frisbee with the guys in a nearby site, and I read a book about ghost towns of New Mexico. After awhile, a bus and some vans pulled in, with "Los Diablos Fire Crew" painted on the sides of their vehicles. We had seen these guys earlier overseeing a controlled burn, which was interesting to watch. They sure had their camping system down - pull in, clean their equipment, eat, then pitch their little identical tents and start snoring.

By now it was late and Dan and I were exhausted. I tried to stay up and read for awhile, but too many gnats were attracted to my light. I finally gave up and went to bed.