The Allan Family

The week after Christmas we loaded up our trailer and SUV and headed out to Big Bend Ranch State Park, which is about 5 1/2 hours south east from where we live. Once we reached the park it took another 3 hours to get to our campsite because it was all dirt roads and pulling a trailer really slows you down. We stayed for 5 days and had a blast. Big Bend Ranch is the biggest state park in Texas. It is very rugged and there are no paved roads into the park. Every inch of our trailer and SUV, inside and out, were covered with dirt by the time we got home. Everything had to be scrubbed down. We have a shower in our trailer so we were able to keep clean while we were there. I didn't take my big fancy camera with us this time. I'm glad I decided to keep it home with as much dirt as we brought back with us. I did take our smaller camera though. We had a great camp site and we ventured down many of the back roads and saw some great desert scenery (we have come to enjoy living in the desert). We went hiking and Troy did some mountain biking. We drove down into the interior of a collapsed volcanic dome called El Solitario. Troy saw some big buck deer, Canyon and I saw a wild longhorn bull, a big tarantula that we stopped and I had to get out and make him move so we didn't run him over, and horses. I was really hoping to see javelina. Of all the years we have lived in the desert, I have never seen javelina. Troy has seen them in Arizona before, but not me, so I was really hoping this time. We saw their footprints every morning near our campsite, but that was it. The best thing about camping this time around was that we bought a generator from my parents. It was nice to not be worried about running the battery out. It was near 80 degrees during the day and down in the 30's at night, so we needed the battery to stay charged so we could run the furnace at night. We also purchased a camping oven and we were able to bake some of our food. We made muffins, corn bread, brownies, and breakfast pizza. It was great to be able to bake while we were camping. We spent New Years Day out in the middle of what felt like nowhere. Our cell phones didn't have service down it and it was NICE to not be getting calls from Troy's work all the time. I should have left his cell phone down there!

Here are a few photos from our trip:


Just above our campsite where we went on a little hike and were climbing on rocks


Troy getting ready to go mountain biking


Overlook of El Solitario which was really hazy that day



Canyon's rock collection down in El Solitario


Hiking into Ojito Adentro which is an oasis in the desert and was beautiful. We had to climb over lots of big boulders to get to the water and Canyon loved every minute of it.


Ojito Adentro (if you look close enough you will see Canyon doing the Hook 'em Horns sign with his hand)

Before Canyon could touch anything


Canyon just getting up to come and see what Santa brought him

We had a great Christmas at our house! My parents and little brother came from Utah to spend the holiday with us. I think they brought the cold and wind with them. We had horrible windstorms all week long. It was miserable! We went out and ate at some of our local places and just hung out around the house. I think Santa dumped his whole sleigh at our house. Canyon got his share of presents from Santa. He kept checking each present to see if his name was on it. He was so overwhelmed with all his new toys he didn't know what to start playing with first. Instead of making the traditional turkey or ham for dinner this year we barbecued ribeye steaks. It was nice not to be cooking all day long.


Making sure this present has his name on it


Canyon checking out the race cars he got that goes with his super cool racetrack


Playing his new harmonica


The dinosaur playmat that I made for him

Today is miserable for those of us who live in the desert. It is cold and SNOWING!! I do not miss living in Utah and dealing with cold weather and snow. I hate driving in the snow and I hate leaving the house when it is cold. So today, not only did it snow I also had to go grocery shopping. People drive crazy in El Paso and when it storms you don't want to even want to go anywhere for fear of getting in an accident with the maniac drivers around here.


Yesterday the wind was blowing very hard and I had to go down to Fort Bliss. On my way down, a huge gust of wind blew a tumbleweed into my windshield and broke it. It looks like a baseball hit the glass. Luckily it hasn't spread and is only in the upper passenger side. Troy called our insurance and to get our windshield replace it will cost $200, so we will just put up with it.