This morning I awoke to my alarm and was bound and determined not to miss the sunrise this time! Plus it was my last morning in this beautiful land and therefore my last opportunity to see it. Seeing the sun rise over the mountains unto this arid landscape is a sight I wish I could see every day. Before long the sunrise was over with and I went back to bed for another hour or so. Upon awaking for the final time, there was a sadness within the air for today I would leave this place and the people I have come to call my friends. Brian's father was down at the office and wished me luck and then it was time for Brian and I to say goodbye. It was a quick goodbye, for customers were already showing up and it felt surreal in a way. Pulling out of the driveway and driving away from Terlingua I felt a pain in my chest. I was having such an amazing time and had come to thoroughly enjoy the area that I didn't want to leave just yet. Part of me wanted to turn the vehicle around; yet, I knew I had to continue on with my journey and that one day I will return to Terlingua and its' people.
With Terlingua behind me I headed North towards the Guadalupe Mountains National Park where I planned to camp and hike Guadalupe Peak in the morning. Once again the drive was boring for the land was barren and dry and all I could think about was how it just didn't hold the beauty of the place I just left. All the "creeks" I drove over were completely dried up and sent an eerie feeling down my spine. That feeling only grew when I lost all cell phone service, radio stations, and the distance between gas stations grew.
Eventually, I entered Guadalupe Mountains National Park and although it was beautiful I just couldn't help thinking it wasn't as beautiful as Big Bend National Park. After speaking to the guy at the visitor center I found a campsite for the night that would cost $8.00. When I was hooking my camper back up (I had unhooked it to go pay) a couple stopped by to talk to me about my camper. We talked for awhile and then the guy had asked if I minded if he took a picture which I responded by saying of course not. With a few pictures taken we said our goodbyes and I went about organizing my camper and vehicle and figuring out why my drawer for my stove kept falling down. I soon realized the wood had warped and therefore was not fitting properly in the slides.
During all of this another gentleman stopped by to look at my camper and I found out that him and his wife are from Scotland and have been traveling around and are in the camper right across from mine. We spoke for awhile about our trips and he invited me over later to swap stories. When he went back to his camper I debated whether or not to eat supper or not. Thinking that I should have something substantial in my stomach for my hike tomorrow I decided to cook up some pasta. Sitting in my chair eating my pasta I wrote in my journal to catch up on the days I missed. I am finding it harder and harder to write in it each day for I just keep meeting people and having so much fun that by the time I get to my camper at night I am just too exhausted.
While I was moving around doing something that I can not recall this very fine and handsome Park Ranger pulled up and came over to me. He was tall, dark and lean and part of me wished he would just stay and talk to me all night so I could have some eye candy to entertain me! HaHa. In any case, I showed him my camper and he told me about some places I should visit on my trip. After he had unfortunately left I went and washed my dishes.
I forgot that while I was talking to that fine Park Ranger a woman pulled up on a motorcycle and proceeded to set up a hammock right off of her bike! It was such an interesting setup which I had never seen before. While she went about getting situated the wife of the gentleman I spoke to early from Scotland came over to ask her about the hammock setup. Soon all three of us were talking about life on the road and our individual trips. It just amazes me how like minded individuals tend to find each other and how we all have decided that what we were doing before wasn't actually living but just going through the motions of every day. So we decided enough was enough that it was time to start living life and enjoying all it as to offer for we only have one life to live.
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