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K: We drove from Austin to Big Bend National Park on Saturday, Dec. 29th, 2006.
We were pulled over around halfway through our trip. I drove the entire way under or at the speed limit. Apparently, there is a relatively new law (2-3 years) that states you must slow down to 20 mph under the speed limit if you pass an emergency vehicle (like a police car) if it has its emergency lights on. Or, you can change lanes. This state trooper hunted me down to inform me of the law and to question my driving attentiveness. I received a warning about it and on an out of date inspection sticker...

K: We had to drive through Big Bend to get to our hotel which was located on the other side. There was a long way to get around this (though it may have turned out faster), but I quite enjoyed driving through it.

L: For me, it was bit of taste of home. I hadn't been in the desert in a long while, and it was nice to see deep blue skies and creosote bushes.

K: I really wanted to get to our hotel before sunset. Unfortunately, the speed limit in the park is max. 45 mph. We didn't make it...

K: Our hotel/duplex was pretty good. Here it is in all its colorful glory on Sunday morning. And yes, the sky really was THAT blue.

L: ...and yes, the duplex was also really that blue.

K: The duplex was located a bit down a dirt road. Some parts of it were pretty bad. If it had rained, my car wouldn't have made it through the mud... The view, however, was quite nice.

K: Sunday morning around 9am, we headed towards Santa Elena Canyon. The night before, I reviewed the map and noted a winding road to get to the canyon. When Lani directed me onto Old Maverick Road, a dirt road that I could only travel at 25-30mph, I was very surprised that the road to get to the Canyon, a major attraction of the park, was a dirt road. A dirt road with very little room for two cars to pass... Lani confirmed that it was the only road to the canyon, though, so I kept right on trucking away wishing I had a jeep... Turns out, she took me on a short cut and not on the road I had been expecting to take...

L: Heh, oops!

K: This is Santa Elena Canyon and was our first hike. I highly recommend.

K: I had a suit and a dress in a clear, zip up clothing bag attached to the back of my backpack. We got many a strange look. One guy joked if I brought my tux with me.

L: Santa Elena Canyon was the most recommended sight in Big Bend, and I could see why.

L: At one point as we were scouting out locations for pictures, an unseen bell struck several times, and a woman sang wordlessly. It was eerie, but beautiful, and quite fitting.