2016 - 2017 Trip to the Southwest

Day 39

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Thursday, December 8, 2016, Cottonwood Campground, Big Bend National Park, TX, 55 Miles, 2,823.7 Miles For the Trip

I have to start this exactly like I did yesterday - another cool night. It was 40°F outside at 7:00AM. The only problem is unlike yesterday when it warmed up to 72°F by 1:00PM, the warmest it got today was 45°F. I'm actually running the furnace during the day to make my fingers warm enough to type!

I'm in site 14 at the Cottonwood Campground (still in Big Bend National Park). A very pretty drive along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive between TX 118 & the campground. I'm here for 3 nights at $7.00 per night with the senior pass. More primitive than Rio Grande Village Campground - Vault toilets, and only one drinking water tap - the rest are unfiltered water. It looks like I'm not getting away from the tree trimming crew. The plan is for them to arrive tomorrow and trim the trees on well over half the sites. It may be a noisy morning since there is a completely dead tree on the site across from me. They are suppose to be done Sunday, the day I'm heading out.

After setting up the trailer I drove to the Santa Elena Canyon Overlook, checked out the Rio Grande boat launch, and the Dorgan-Sublett Trail. On the way back I stopped at the Visitor Center & the store. While the store is larger than the one at the Rio Grande Village, it has less "stuff". I did pick up another gallon of drinking water.

Site 14 Santa Elena Canyon Santa Elena Canyon The Boat Launch
 
Dorgan-Sublett Trail Dorgan-Sublett Trail Dorgan-Sublett Trail  

I'm now trying to decide whether to fire up another blast of the furnace to keep warm, or conserve the batteries so I'll have heat in the morning. There was no sun today, so the batteries are not back to full - they are down about 8 amp hours. Here is hoping the sun will come out tomorrow! (My apologies to the musical "Annie".)

Dinner will be a bowl of soup since I had a large lunch, and cooking on the inside stove warms up the trailer.

Until Tomorrow -

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Last Update: December 11, 2016