Chris McCabe's 2023 Solo Road Trip Through The Desert Southwest To Big Bend National Park

For each of my road trips, I usually do a final "recap" post that lists the "numbers" for the trip - total miles traveled, number of parks visited, number of states driven through, etc. This is that post. The Big Bend National Park road trip via the Desert Southwest is now finished. I'm back home, safe and sound, and unpacking my thoughts of the trip and the highlights and low points of the road trip (and, yes, where I might go on next year's road trip).  Needless to say, this road trip was a great adventure across the deserts of the Southwest starting in Phoenix and Tucson, detouring to Chiricahua, continuing into New Mexico and White Sands, and on to the desert landscapes and mountain vistas of Big Bend National Park, the ultimate and greatest part of the road trip. In the end, here are some "by the numbers" stats on the road trip: 16 days of road tripping - from Saturday, September 9, through Sunday September 24 2,825 miles traveled - an average...

I would be remiss in my blogging about this road trip if I did not give a shout out to the Civilian Conservation Corps , a work relief program that gave millions of young men employment on environmental projects during the Great Depression. Considered by many to be one of the most successful of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, the CCC constructed trails and shelters in more than 800 parks nationwide during its nine years of existence. The CCC was discontinued in 1942. Thanks to the CCC, I was able to enjoy and use following park features, all of which were constructed by the CCC: Cactus Forest Drive in Saguaro National Park, Rincon Mountains Unit roads and trails in Chiricahua National Monument park buildings in White Sands National Monument roads and park buildings in Carlsbad Caverns National Park Chisos Basin Road in Big Bend National Park Lost Mine Trail in Big Bend National Park Mid-1940's aerial view of the Chisos Basin of Big Bend National Park, showing t...

This is my third and last Odds & Ends post which includes some interesting and old hotel signs I saw on the trip, all of them neon signs, harking back to a bygone era. Deming, New Mexico Ozona, Texas San Antonio, Texas

On my last day of the road trip, on the drive from Austin to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, I took one last side trip, this time to the small, but important  Waco Mammoth National Monument .  The National Monument has its origins in the 1978 discovery by two exploring teenagers of a Columbian mammoth bone near a river bank in Waco, Texas. Standing as tall as 14 feet and weighing 20,000 pounds, Columbian mammoths (not to be confused with the smaller Wooly mammoth) roamed across what is present-day Texas thousands of years ago. Today, the fossil specimens at Waco Mammoth National Monument represent the nation's first and only recorded evidence of a nursery herd of ice age Columbian mammoths. I got to the National Monument when it opened at 9 am, took the informative guided tour of the dig shelter (which protects the bones and dig site), and spent about 45 minutes at the National Monument. I then drove to downtown Waco, Texas (the home of Baylor University) to check ou...

Every guidebook I read and every website I consulted listed Blanton Museum of Art as a must-see attraction in Austin and as one of the best museums in Austin. The art museum is located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, and its art collections are housed in the Mari and James A. Michener Gallery Building (I didn't know that Michener, a Doylestown native son, had a connection to Texas).  I spent about an hour and a half at the museum and then called it quits. It was an early and busy day, so I headed back to the hotel to call it a night (but not until after I drove to Mount Bonnell and stopped in at  BookPeople , Texas’ largest independent bookstore and a staple in Austin’s book community since 1970). Here's some of the art I saw and liked at the Blanton Museum of Art. Plexus No. 44 , in the plaza between the museum's two main buildings An Albert Bierstadt painting (also saw one at San Antonio Museum of Art) A Fredric Remington painting

After the Texas State Capitol, it was time for lunch. Based on everything I had read about Texas barbecue, the place to go was  Franklin Barbecue , which apparently has the best barbecue in the known universe, at least according to Texas Monthly magazine. However, the line for ordering at Franklin snaked around the corner and it was close to 100 degrees, and I just wasn't inclined to wait in line in such heat even it was the best barbecue ever. So, at the recommendation of the greeter at the LBJ Presidential Library, I headed over to Terry Black's Barbecue for a genuine Texas barbecue lunch. Believe me, I was not disappointed. First I ordered the sides (creamed corn, coleslaw, cornbread, peach cobbler) and then I ordered the meat (1/2 lb. of brisket and a pork rib) to go with them. Then I headed outside to find a table and chow down. It was better than the barbecue I had at Backwoods BBQ (and Lakenvelder) in Fredericksburg, and who cares if Franklin Barbecue has the best in t...

Whatever you may think of Texas politics (and to me they stink to high heaven), the Texas State Capitol, located in the center of Austin, is a monumental edifice worthy of immense respect and admiration.  After the LBJ Presidential Library, I headed over to the Texas State Capitol . Designed in 1881 by architect Elijah E. Myers, it was constructed from 1882 to 1888 under the direction of civil engineer Reuben Lindsay Walker. The Capitol was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. After getting checked for weapons (I thought Texas politicians were all for gun rights except in their house?), I walked around a bit and waited for an official guided tour to start at 12:15. However, when the tour started, I couldn't understand a single word the tour guide was saying, so I quietly slipped away and did the self-guided tour (as did another couple who said the same thing - she told her husband she couldn't underst...

The last part of this road trip has become a sort of "homage" to our 36th President, Lyndon Baines Johnson. First, the LBJ Ranch. Then, the LBJ Boyhood Home. And now, the LBJ Presidential Library .  The LBJ Presidential Library is located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin and was very easy to get to and had free parking to boot. There are three floors of LBJ Presidential Library (floors 3, 4, and 10) that are open to visitors. These floors allow visitors to experience the life and times of LBJ, one of the nation's most fascinating presidents, and the era of his administration. The 10th floor includes a replica of the Oval Office from LBJ's White House (which reminded me of the time that Conor and I but not Clare visited the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock during the Grand Canyon road trip) as well as a replica of Lady Bird Johnson's White House office. I arrived about 9 am, when it opened, and left about 11:30 am. It was well worth th...

My next stop, before the first "official" stop of the day - the LBJ Presidential Library - was The Driskill , an iconic hotel which opened in 1886 and is located on the corner of 6th & Brazos Streets in downtown Austin.  Colonel Jesse L. Driskill came to Texas in 1849 and became a prosperous rancher and cattle baron. He spent $400,000 to build The Driskill Hotel as "the finest hotel south of St. Louis." I parked the car and walked to the hotel and impressed to no end. It was the ultimate in luxury when it was built and it remains the ultimate in luxury today. I was tempted to stay for breakfast since my own hotel’s breakfast was crap, but I had a schedule to keep so I moved on after 10 minutes. Portrait of Colonel Driskill which presides over the opulent lobby The opulent lobby

Before I did anything today, I headed straight to the Moody Theater, the headquarters of Austin City Limits , to check out the statue of Willie Nelson. Austin City Limits recorded its first program with Willie Nelson at KLRU-TV at the University of Texas in October 1974. Since then, Austin City Limits has become the longest-running music series in American television history, showcasing roots music legends and innovative popular music from every genre.

Throughout the Southwest, ranch gates are an ubiquitous presence on the landscape. These gates are sometime simple, and sometimes elaborate. In any event, they are meant to mark the owner of the ranch while sometimes making a statement. I include here some of the different ranch gates I passed and photographed during the road trip in New Mexico and Texas. In New Mexico In Texas In Texas In Texas

In almost every city or town or village I traveled through, I invariably came across a Catholic Church. On our family road trips when I was a kid, we always stopped in churches and attended mass or just stopped to say a prayer.  I didn't attend mass on this trip, but I did stop at lots of churches and I took photos of the ones I liked. Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Alpine, Texas St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fort Stockton, Texas St. Mary's Catholic Church in Fredericksburg, Texas

My Fodor's guidebook for the Texas Hill Country mentioned a little town called Gruene (pronounced "Green") and called it a "pristine portrait of Texas history" and said it was "revered as a place of Texas legends." In the center of town is Gruene Hall , a dance hall and saloon that served as the social venue before becoming a live music venue in the 1970s. The entire town has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  I decided to stop in the town on my way to Austin as it was only a short detour off I-35. I parked the car in a large open parking lot, and did my own walking tour of the little town, which has a boutique hotel, antique stores, lots of restaurants, a river outfitter, and tons of specialty shops. For an early dinner, I decided on a burger at the Gristmill River Restaurant which is housed in the old river-powered cotton gin. For dessert, I got a scoop of sea salt caramel ice cream in a waffle cone from Rhea's Ice Cream s...