Points South

After a bitterly cold Thanksgiving in Omaha, I was eager to get back to warmer temperatures by heading south. Along the route, I stop by Branson Missouri, Fayetteville Arkansas, and Memphis Tennessee, taking in sights and visiting friends along the way.

One Thing I Do Well

I’m an introvert. That helps explain how I can travel by myself and never ( well, hardly ever ) feel lonely. I’ve never considered myself as someone with a lot of friends. But this journey is reminding me how lucky I am to have the friends I do. And they’ve very considerately spread themselves out across the country, so I seldom go more than a week without catching up with one of them. This post is dedicated to a string of visits I paid to friends (and family), some of whom I haven’t seen in forty years. Without exception, the affinity is still there, and we pick right up from where we left off. If there’s one thing I’ve done very well in my life, it’s pick my friends. A word of warning: This post is quite long, has few photos, and very little to do with travel per se. But it’s a great pleasure for me to put these memories into writing, so if you’re interested in old friendships renewed, read on.

East End

I woke the morning of my third day in Big Bend National Park with a mixture of excitement and sadness. Excitement for sights I was going to see, but sadness that it would be my last day in the park. Many of the sights I’d seen before, but so long ago I’d nearly forgotten them. By the time I headed for the exit from the park, it had been such a full and rewarding day that I felt satisfied - at least, until my next visit.

New Territory

Though I’d been to Big Bend National Park three times before, I’d never made it to the west end of the park. So I was particularly excited that the second day of my visit would take me to Santa Elena Canyon and the other sights in that area.

Top Spot

I first camped in Big Bend National Park forty years ago, and it’s been my favorite place in the world ever since. This was my fourth time to visit the park and there were still corners that I hadn’t explored. I intend to return much more often in the future. In this one park you can find deserts, mountains, pine forests, deciduous forests, marshes, and river gorges. In this post, I’ll cover my first day in the park, a visit to the mountainous Chisos Basin.

Underworld

I’ve been to Carlsbad Caverns before, but it’s been decades and I was definitely ready for another visit.