Trip of a lifetime - Spring Break 2007

The Flying Eagle den arranged a Spring Break camping trip in early August to go to the Big Bend area of Texas. Campsites were reserved for Balmorhea State Park, Davis Mountain State Park and Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park. On March 11th at 7:30 AM five entire families (Manceaux, Reyes, McDonald, Berdorfe and Mohondro) with a couple guests left Austin for the Spring Break trip. First Stop - Balmorhea State Park, arriving around 3 PM and setting up camp. The weather was windy and damp. The families all had dinner the first night at a very quaint restaurant, which will not get most of our recommendations due to the extreme slowness of service. It rained throughout the night and was a little windy. Waking up in the morning, one of our guests - Kevin Mohondro (Bill's oldest son) awoke to decorations for his birthday. Breakfast was made and the boys followed Mr. McDonald on a short exploration of the park including the Solomon Springs pool. This is a natural spring fed pool having a year round temperature of 72 degrees and depth ranges from 5 to 25 feet deep with fish swimming around in the pool. Great looking pool.

The group packed up and drove 39 miles to Fort Davis Historical area. This is the fort that the Buffalo Soldiers were stationed at and conducted business. We explored this site for little over an hour and then it was off to Davis Mountain State Park. Although we had arranged four campsites, we got one site that would accommodate all our tents and the kitchen. After setting up camp, dinner was the order of items to be started. Burgers and dogs were on the menu and all had their fill. Because the weather as still cloudy and damp, it was decided to pass on the McDonald Observatory this night and head to Marfa to see the mystery lights instead. We packed into cars and head to Marfa which was approximately 40 miles away. Within minutes of arriving, we were blessed to see the lights themselves. Eerie is the best way to explain it. We got back to camp later that night and retired for the evening. Next morning we could not start any campfires because of the extreme fire danger so only charcoal fires could be used. Charcoal fires are just not the same. After breakfast, the group got together for a hike around the rim of the Davis Mountains. It was about a 4 - 5 mile hike. Very little complaining from anyone and a good time. After the hike we cooked up some Beef and Chicken fajitas and after our fill packed up to drive up to McDonald Observatory for the Star Party. We got there in time to sign up for the Pre-Star Party events, which include a film, tour and explanations of the planets. The Star Party started at 9 PM and there were numerous people attending. Several telescopes were positioned around the site and pointed at many stellar objects such as Saturn, Crab Nebula, M5 Nebula, New Star Cluster and several other objects. Half of us went first to the telescopes while the others attended a class on constellations and stars. Boy for me that was the highlight of this tour. After an hour both groups switched. The lines for Saturn we long. I would say everyone saw at least Saturn which was spectacular with the rings showing well. We all decided to leave the Star Party around 11:30 PM to go back to camp. It will be a long drive the next day.

We broke camp by about 10 AM and headed to Alpine Texas for lunch and any resupply of groceries. We all ate at Penny's Diner, really good food and fast service. Great time also. We arrived at Turlingua about 3 PM looking for the place to drop off the RV, which would not be able to get into Chisos Basin. After unhitching the RV, it was off to the National Park. We finally arrived at Chisos Basin. Before going on - a short note to state that this place was more truly spectacular, it was awe inspiring. Each site starting from the beginning got better and better. This was just mouth dropping. After several drivebys we finally found our four sites. We set up camp and sent the boys down to the Window View Loop area to watch the sunset. Like the Davis Mountain campsites, this site also did not allow campfires. Most of us just got our chairs and sat in the open areas and studied the stars. The next morning after breakfast, we all got our walking sticks, water and cameras and off we headed down the Window Trail, a 2.5 mile hike (5 miles round trip). Heading to the window was all downhill, initially steep then a gradual slope there after. Just remember that it will be uphill all the way back. What a wonderful hike and simply beautiful. Info: water needs to be taken on this hike, we took two bottles per person and at times it could have been more.


After arriving at the window, we all posed for photos as individuals and as families. This is a must see site. The hike back, as suspected, was more challenging for a few of us. After getting back to camp and resting a tad, we got into our cars and headed to the Santa Elena Overlook in the southern part of Big Bend National Park. It is a canyon around the Rio Grande River. Nice place. I did forget to mention the weather here - we are having temperatures in the mid 90s with lows in the in 40s. It was close to dark after we got back to camp. A quick dinner and the boys retired around 10 PM. The adults moved their chairs out into an open area to again watch the stars.

An visitor was spotted in our campsite; so Kevin, camera in hand, headed off to see what it was and possibly capture it on digital film. It was believed to be the Gray Fox we had seen the night before. It turned out to be a little more surprising. It was a rather large skunk. After pictures and running it off, the gray fox appeared. Pictures taken again. We were all stating that it was disappointing that we had not seen Javalinas this trip. Next moments - there they were loads of Javalinas. Pictures were the order of the night.

The next morning around 2:30 AM, a wind storm hit. Estimation that we had wind gusts in the 60 mph range, maybe more. Tents were bending and near the end (around 7 AM) even breaking. Camp was broke. We even had very dense fog. The Reyes family headed to Turlingua to pick up the RV and the rest of us continued to pack and headed to Panther Junction to meet the Reyes family.

Around 10 AM we were heading out of Big Bend National Park enroute to Del Rio Texas. We all arrived at Del Rio around 5 PM at the Hampton Inn. The boys, as well as the adults, were looking forward to a nice hot shower. Before the shower though the boys decided swimming was the order of business. This was a wonderful hotel and just seemed to go out of their way to accommodate us. Families gathered after dinner for a small social and to look at the numerous pictures that were taken during the trip. So far to Del Rio there were close to 1100 pictures taken. Mr. Reyes had brought along his laptop, so we were downloading all picture that could be loaded. After a nice breakfast and good nights rest, we headed to Bracketville to a place called "Alamo Village".

We were met by Richard Currila at the front of the original Alamo movie set and would be our host and guide throughout out visit. The boys were given a complete history lesson on the events of the Alamo based on the history and reports. They were captivated. After the tour of the grounds, we were treated to a staged gun fight. We had lunch in the Cantina and then it was off to the sound stage to movie explanations. Bill Mohondro asked about their jail and was immediately thrown into that jail. Thanks to his son, Matthew, the bail was posted and he was released, but the boys chose to be locked up also. Great time. We all visited the John Wayne museum and of course the gift shops. This was a great end to our trip and something all will remember. It was now time for the 238 mile trip to Austin. We all arrived back in Dripping Springs for dinner and home shortly thereafter around 10 PM. What a great trip.

The end total of pictures taken by all families was close to 2300, which were put on DVDs and given to all families and guests.

A small selection of photos can be found under Spring Break