We had light rain off and on during the night. The morning was cloudy and by 9 or so the sun came out and the clouds broke up and the sun warmed things up and it turned out to be a beautiful day. We went to north Phoenix to visit some friends and then out to lunch. It was a fairly long trip, probably 30 miles, but only 1 turn, across Baseline Road to 19th ave and then north to out destination. We could have taken the freeway but this was a much prettier drive, from Mesa, through Tempe and then Phoenix. Baseline road runs only a couple blocks north of the mountains that form the south edge of the "Valley".

Our photos take us back to Terlingua, TX just outside Big Bend National Park. This is one of the less desirable places to park your RV. This area is pretty rough and not very many level spots to put a campground. The lower photo shows the entrance to the park and apparently the managers rv under the shelter. It appeared that most of the parking spaces were on the side of the hill, so you would have to level up quite a bit to keep from rolling out of bed at night.
We understand that there is a huge chili cook off the first week end of October. They say it is really a wild bunch of campers in all sorts of rigs and many without, just tents, etc. There are thousands that come, from what they say, so maybe Jo Mama's is one of the better places to stay. There was evidence in many of the low washes where they had camped and had campfires.
Not sure I would have wanted to have been a part of that outing. I guess they party and drink all night and make chili all day. What a way to spend the week. Apparently they come from hundreds of miles away just to cook chili.
We stayed at the Big Bend Motel and RV Resort and it was none too spacious. The lot was gravel and the spaces were narrow, not really handicapped accessible, but we managed by putting the motor home very close on the left side and just enough room to get off the lift and turn before you went down the hill to the next space. Always a challenge, but manageable. From what we saw, it was the best in the area, unless you went into the park and that was a long trip and a bit rough as far as driving was concerned. When you realize that this area has not really changed much over the years, especially since they quit mining in the area, time has virtually stood still. The Ghost town of Terlingua is much the same as it was. There are some businesses that have moved into some of the old buildings, artists and others are there making and selling their wares, but the buildings have not changed and do not appear to have been restored. It appeared just to be an old "hippie" hang out out in the desert. But, it is where they want to be and doing what they want, so be it. I must say, it is certainly a beautiful area as far as mountains, etc. are concerned, just outside one of the most outstanding National Parks that I have seen in some time.