justjames
Adventurist
Okay Ladies and Gents, here’s my first crack at a trip report. Or should I say, three trip reports. We’re both recently retired and wanted to see the sights. I’ve been very fortunate over the years and have traveled and camped extensively on 2 wheels. I took photos and told great tales upon my return but as you all know, it ain’t like seeing it yourself. So, with that in mind, it was time to show Mrs. justjames what she had been missing.
Early in 2019, the Mrs. and I decided to take a couple of days of off-road driving classes. This was in preparation for what we hoped would be a year of vehicle based adventure travel. Fortunately, Overland Experts NC division is local to us. Here is a shot of the truck on the way home after day one. It was cold and muddy in Uwharrie NF in early February but you would be amazed where The Mrs successfully drove my truck, impressed!
Late in the month we headed south towards Big Bend NP. We stopped to see friends in the “Big D” and went to a Texas sized BBQ joint, or at least the grill was. The food was great and as you can see from my profile, I like good food.
Next was Big Bend. After checking into the park and getting our campsites assigned, we drove Old Ore Road from south to north camping about half way through. It was pretty rough in places and we took turns driving. The Mrs. did great.
If you’re wondering, it was a little cool, probably got down to 40 that night but it was a “dry” cool. We had heard that sunsets and sunrises last longer in Big Bend than anywhere. I can’t understand why but they were pretty spectacular. It was also a full moon, which I captured the next morning at sunrise.
We spent 4 days and nights in Big Bend camping at a new location each night. All the campsites were on 4WD back roads in some pretty remote areas. I think we drove every dirt road with the exception of Old Maverick which was all washboard in 2007 when I did it on my motorcycle and from the reports we received, it hadn’t improved.
The next shots are some of the flora and fauna, the first is flowers on the cliff banks of the Rio Grande and the others are just various flowers, which were in bloom.
For some reason my truck developed a few rattles. I couldn’t figure it out, do you see anything wrong?
From BBNP we continued on west to Big Bend Ranch State Park. It is even more remote and probably more arid than the National Park. If you want solitude and spectacular scenery, you’ve got to check it out! If I recall correctly, we saw one other 4wd vehicle and one bicycle in our 3 days there. Here’s a taste of one of their roads.
Next we headed into Hill Country for a few days and encountered 3 straight days of fog. I can’t tell you much about it since we actually saw very little except fog. Planning our escape, we decided to head north and check out the Ouachitas and Ozarks. The forecast deteriorated while in route so after much dilemma, we turned back east to NC. (more to follow)
Early in 2019, the Mrs. and I decided to take a couple of days of off-road driving classes. This was in preparation for what we hoped would be a year of vehicle based adventure travel. Fortunately, Overland Experts NC division is local to us. Here is a shot of the truck on the way home after day one. It was cold and muddy in Uwharrie NF in early February but you would be amazed where The Mrs successfully drove my truck, impressed!
Late in the month we headed south towards Big Bend NP. We stopped to see friends in the “Big D” and went to a Texas sized BBQ joint, or at least the grill was. The food was great and as you can see from my profile, I like good food.
Next was Big Bend. After checking into the park and getting our campsites assigned, we drove Old Ore Road from south to north camping about half way through. It was pretty rough in places and we took turns driving. The Mrs. did great.
If you’re wondering, it was a little cool, probably got down to 40 that night but it was a “dry” cool. We had heard that sunsets and sunrises last longer in Big Bend than anywhere. I can’t understand why but they were pretty spectacular. It was also a full moon, which I captured the next morning at sunrise.
We spent 4 days and nights in Big Bend camping at a new location each night. All the campsites were on 4WD back roads in some pretty remote areas. I think we drove every dirt road with the exception of Old Maverick which was all washboard in 2007 when I did it on my motorcycle and from the reports we received, it hadn’t improved.
The next shots are some of the flora and fauna, the first is flowers on the cliff banks of the Rio Grande and the others are just various flowers, which were in bloom.
For some reason my truck developed a few rattles. I couldn’t figure it out, do you see anything wrong?
From BBNP we continued on west to Big Bend Ranch State Park. It is even more remote and probably more arid than the National Park. If you want solitude and spectacular scenery, you’ve got to check it out! If I recall correctly, we saw one other 4wd vehicle and one bicycle in our 3 days there. Here’s a taste of one of their roads.
Next we headed into Hill Country for a few days and encountered 3 straight days of fog. I can’t tell you much about it since we actually saw very little except fog. Planning our escape, we decided to head north and check out the Ouachitas and Ozarks. The forecast deteriorated while in route so after much dilemma, we turned back east to NC. (more to follow)
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