Springtime in Texas, an explosion of flowers and this spring showed Spring in all it’s bright and bold colors.
The van is liveable and we left Aransas Pass, TX on April 9. It’s time to check out the comfort of our new home after all it’s our new living space for the next while until we can officially find a piece of dirt to call our own. In the meantime our home is on wheels.
After living in a tent for the past 2 – 1/2 years, this van is a huge upgrade. We’ve learned to live without running water and in a small space. With a full solar system we are now able to live without plugging in. There is no worry of leaks in the mattress and we have a two burner stove. We can now get from one point to another faster now. Cycling is still our Number 1 mode of transportation but the van will get us great distances quickly when we need to.
We set off for West Texas. Texas is a huge state and the drive will take about 10 hours. Wow, 10 hours in a van; that’s like 10 days worth of cycling. The van makes quick work of a longer distance.
Big Bend National Park is a spring destination that I have wanted to witness. I do love the desert, especially the high deserts. No surprises to anyone who knows me, I love the flowers and the bloom did not disappoint. The cactus were incredible and the other pops of color competing for show were everywhere.
The animals and birds are waking up and we had quite a show with the variety we saw.
I was surprised as to how hot it got during the day and the wind! This was Patagonia style winds, strong and they whipped up the sand and the dust, blowing all night. I really hate wind.
Now that we have been to Big Bend, we probably won’t go back. It’s a huge investment in time and effort to get to it. But it’s not really cycle friendly. There are no bike trails other than the roadways. There are some incredibly 4×4 roads within the park and we did cycle a few times on them but the lack of services, no water other than a few locations makes it very difficult without carrying days worth. We did however get in some riding on the new Salsas and had a blast. These bikes are an absolute dream and the upcoming adventures we are starting to pencil in and plan are going to be incredible.
We did get a chance to do a little bit of hiking and checked out Balanced Rock. This was a 2.2 mile round trip trail that we took in at sunset. Beautiful. We cycled to the trail head, locked the bikes to the sign post and headed up. We were the only people there and the views were breath taking.
We have committed to each other the explore North America, the lower 48, Alaska and Canada for a minimum of 2 years and this was our first major stop on our new journey.
If this is what our next couple of years has in store for us, BRING IT ON!! I cannot wait to see what is around the next corner, the next hill and we both really look forward to getting back on the bikes and exploring this incredible planet.
CJBikeTours 
What an incredible experience!! I love following your adventures keep the pictures and stories coming!!!
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