We're Living on Terlingua Time

When we made plans to head to Big Bend National Park, we found out that the rest of the state of Texas was heading this way too. While we were assuming that everyone was going to the beach for spring break, we found that Big Bend is a major spring break destination too. When we found out that all of the campgrounds were full and they charge a premium price for this week, we hurried up our usual slow pace to get here earlier than we had planned. We see now that we should have left resort life earlier and gotten on the road sooner to beat the arrival of the spring breakers. We were glad that we had four good days before spring break, and we reserved four nights at Study Butte RV Campground very close to the national park entrance. The campground owner explained that they are adding more full hook-up sites, but getting someone to work in this tourist town is a problem. She explained that everyone that lives here is on "Terlingua Time." 

In order to stay a couple more days, we had to move to Big Bend Adventure RV Park just 1.5 miles away. We really hate to move in the middle of a stay because it wastes an entire day. We couldn't go anywhere in the morning because we had to vacate the first camp site, and then we couldn't get into the second campground until 2:00. By the time we got all set up again, the day was wasted. Besides, it was too hot to start a hike in the afternoon with temperatures in the 90s. So we ended up with a Terlingua day. You know this is a quirky little town when the top thing to do is to visit the cemetery.

All the graves are unique, and most of them are very old with no name or dates left visible. But the cemetery is still in use, as this is a new grave from 2022. 

The other don't-miss place to visit is the Starlight Theater. It's a restaurant in an old theater, and people start standing in line hours before it opens each evening. Since this is a Saturday of the beginning of spring break, we assume that the crowd will be even worse than usual. So on our Terlingua day we checked out the gift shop and took a picture sitting on the bar stools out front.

You won't find any fast food or chain restaurants in Terlingua. Instead of eating at the Theater, we followed the locals' advice and ate at a quirky little place called The Chili Pepper. We had a very good meal and would recommend it to others. The only thing more quirky than the town of Terlingua is the town of Lajitas just down the road.

Mark's parents remember visiting here many years ago, and having a beer with the town goat. His name was Clay Henry, and this beer-drinking goat was so popular he was elected mayor. They have t-shirts and hats for sale celebrating the honorable goat mayor of Lajitas.

The mayor's office is right on the highway, and we snapped a picture of the fourth generation Clay Henry in his honorable office that looked a lot like a goat pen.

We also did some business in Terlingua. After our flat tire, Mark had to visit the local tire place to get it patched. We paid about double the normal price for that tire patch. Likewise, the food in the only grocery store in town is two to three times what we usually pay. So we're not only living on Terlingua Time, but we're paying Terlingua prices.

Denisa likes to take pictures of local plants as we travel the country. Here in the desert of Big Bend, she thought this sign was interesting as it described three different species of prickly pear cactus around Terlingua.

The first is the Blind Prickly Pear, with its tiny bristles that are hard to see.

The second is our favorite--the Engelmann Prickly Pear. Named after a long lost uncle somewhere in Mark's family tree, it has light spines.

We found this spring's first blooming Engelmann cactus on one of our hikes inside the national park. It will be beautiful when all those blooms open up over the next weeks.

The third is the purple prickly pear. It lends a bit of unusual color to this otherwise drab desert landscape.

In the heat of the summer, the little town of Terlingua will enjoy 120-degree days. Only a few hardy tourists can withstand that kind of heat and still call it a vacation. But spring break weather is usually tolerable, so it is their busiest week of the year. We wouldn't recommend being here in the crowds unless you just have to plan your vacation around the school calendar. For us, we're taking a day off from hiking and the crowds to move the motor home and run errands. We're just living on Terlingua Time today.