4/11 We started our day north of Big Bend in Marathon with a chilly 34 degrees, but as the sun rose higher in the sky, it warmed quickly. Our trip was 89 miles (almost 50 in the park) to the Rio Grande Village RV Park. There were no pull overs big enough to accommodate the RV with the truck towed behind, so we headed right to the RV site. After parking and having some lunch we headed over to an overlook of Boquillas Del Carmen a Mexican village a couple of miles from the campground. This is where the Mexicans sold there wares across the Rio Grande to tourists coming over in boats (of course that was pre 9/11) they have since built a crossing nearby that allows you to cross over to make your purchases. I had always pictured the Rio Grande River as this wide, fast running river, I guess you can see from the picture, it's a little more than a stream.
Our next stop was the famous Big Bend Hot Spring. Here back at the turn of the century and into the 1930's people would come to these healthful springs for their curative powers. After parking the car, we walked past a number of old adobe brick buildings that housed various facilities of old including hotel rooms. After a quarter mile hike down a wide path you came to the remaining foundation of the hot springs. Here you could luxuriate in the healing waters and if you got too hot, roll over into the river to cool off. Of course now the river is a bit low, so you have to walk over to it for your cooling. The water was advertised as coming out at 105 degrees, but Pat tested it and said it might be a bit cooler than that.
Well it has been a long day, so we headed back to the RV for an evening of Relaxation.
