Big Bend and beyond beautiful

Big Bend National Park, at the 90-degree bend of the Rio Grande along the Tex-Mex border, is remarkable. It has three distinct areas: mountains, desert and river. The park is bigger than the state of Rhode Island and it shares a border with Mexico. There are loads of trails and exhibit areas as well as scenic drives.We entered the park from the north and worked our way south to the famous ghost town of Terlingua. Many of the desert plants and flowers are in bloom now. We were told that due to unusual weather this winter, including above-normal rainfall, the wild flowers, in particular the blue bonnets, are extra tall, extra blue and extra beautiful. They line the main road and are spectacular.We hiked in all three areas; the Hot Springs Trail along the Rio Grande, the Windows trail in the Chisos Mountains and several small hikes in the desert. All provided spectacular views with beautiful blooms and some wildlife sitings, too. We saw roadrunners, many bird of prey and a snake (all too fast for my camera). Here is the link to one of our hikes https://www.relive.cc/view/rt10004175978Clear skies combined with the closest city being 100 miles away made the night sky another breathtaking adventure. The Milky Way, Mars and many constellations were backed by millions of stars, filling the sky. Yes, the stars are bright in Texas and Big Bend has a big heart.