National Park #7 - Big Bend March 25, 2013

We got up this morning at 4:15, and packed up the Subaru.  Today is my birthday so Nick and the kids gave me a card and a giant box of Nerds :-)
The kids woke up extremely happy and excited about the trip.  We hit the road at 5:30.
Our first stop was the Cracker Barrel in Abilene for breakfast around 8:15. (The kids did not fall back asleep but rather watched Wreck-It Ralph on the way).  We got back on the road at 9:00 and the pod on the roof of our car buzzed like crazy for the next several hours.  Grant "graphed" all of our favorite fruits and vegetables, something the Kindergarteners do frequently at his school and something he is excited to do next year (currently age 5 in Pre-k and Ryan is 7 in First Grade). Ryan watched yet another movie, Hotel Transylvania.  There is no way we'd have all of these movies except that my good friend Rhonda gave us all of the DVD copies of the Blue Ray double packs she buys.
The next stop was around 11:30 in Midland - quick bathroom break at the Whataburger.  Ryan and I did some yoga stretched outside while waiting for the boys. 
We headed south (and the buzzing stopped) to Fort Stockton where we ate lunch at Subway at 1:00.  The next stop was in Alpine for gas and a crazy stop at a strange organic grocery store for creamer, milk, apples and salami.
Around 3:00 and 50 miles north of Terlingua, we pulled over on the side of the road so that Grant could pee.

For much of the trip Doomsday Prepper Nick warned the kids of snakes, rock slides, javelinas, banditos and boarder patrolmen. 
We arrived in Lajitas at 4:15 and checked in.  The kids played in a fountain outside of our room and Ryan fell in twice (it was a very chilly day). 
We headed to the Terlingua Ghost Town for dinner and had decided to eat at the Starlight Theater but at 6:15 on a Monday night there was a 45 minute wait because it was $2.00 Burger Night - who knew.  Instead we ate at the High Sierra Bar outside of the ever-so-classy El Dorado Hotel.  After we ordered, the kids went upstairs to explore the balcony. 

Apparently Ryan got locked out and we didn't know it.  Grant came back down and started taking pictures with my camera of everything in sight.  A rough-looking older man who had been sitting at the bar came over to him and said, "Son, you don't take pictures down here of people you don't know because you don't know who might be in the Witness Protection Program."  He was very serious and Grant got a little scared.  During this time, Ryan made it back downstairs and sat down next to me.  As soon as the man left, she started to cry because she had been locked out upstairs and none of us realized it.  The old man though he had made her cry because of what he said so he walked back over and gave her his business card ("Many Stones" owner) and told her to come by so that he could show her his parakeets. 

After dinner we went home and were all in bed and asleep before 9:00pm  Not a bad first day!