Travel is one of the things I love to do. It gets expensive, though, so in November my husband and I purchased a small trailer (we use as a rolling bed) that weighs around 1,000 pounds. Our Subaru can’t pull a heavy load, and we prefer to keep things on the small size, so the Outbound Extreme we purchased from Outbound Trailers in Hastings, Nebraska, works well.
Of course, we had to immediately go on a trip. Since it was November, Big Bend National Park in Texas was a good choice. Also, I lived two years of my life (between 2 ½ and 4 ½ years old) in a small community in West Texas called Graham (Chapel), in Garza County south of Post. There were only a few houses and a school when we lived there. My dad was hired to be the superintendent, principal, fifth and sixth grade teacher, janitor, coach, and bus driver. I had not been back to that area since we lived there, so I was eager to do that. I already knew the houses and the school no longer existed, but still, I wanted to stand in that place where some very formative years in my life occurred.
The Outbound trailer served us well. We were glad to have it since it rained the few days we were at Big Bend. Fortunately, most days the showers were sporadic, so we had a great time driving through the park, with a chance to do some short hikes. For some reason I thought the park would be more consistent with my memories of West Texas, miles of sand and basically flat. I was pleasantly surprised at the diversity in the park: looming mountains and treed areas as well as the more barren rock formations that jutted from the desert floor.
We stayed at a campground in the small town of Terlingua that has a vibe of the southwest and the hippie sixties, so that was interesting. We also traveled to areas within the park along the Rio Grande with startling beauty and minimal signs of the villages and people who live just across the river in Mexico. It was thought provoking to ponder how little separates us, those lines on the map that create such barriers. (See photos below of Big Bend.)
In addition to Big Bend National Park, we visited four other national parks: outside of Tucson, Saguaro National Park, as well as the White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, and Guadelupe Mountains national parks. All were amazing in their unique ways.
It took some work to track it down, but we did find the Graham community. The school site is occupied by a modest building that houses the Graham Community Center. There are no other buildings except for a few structures that appear to be related to farming. As was true when we were there, cotton fields surround the area. It is flat and sandy, just as I remembered. My memories of the sandstorms we experienced are still quite vivid.
During these winter months, my husband has been planning trips for 2024. It won’t be long before we can get our little trailer out of storage and head for other destinations. We look forward to that. If you are able, I wish you well with your own travels. We do live in a beautiful country and a beautiful world.
Here is a photo of our little trailer.
Karen T Miller 