Week 5 and it's hard to believe we've been gone that long. Thanks to my Mom, Sister Cathy and daughter Michelle for taking care of Sally while we're gone, and Rita (and Jim) and Janette for taking care of me :). She's back home safely and thanks for Brenda for watching over her til we get back.

We checked out of Rio Grande Village on Tuesday, 2/11 heading for the Chisos Basin in Big Bend NP. They are calling for sleet and ice on those hairpin turns with the trailer! David's excellent driving made it up there with no problem. We picked a nice spot and paid for 5 nights @ $7 a night! I'm telling everyone, COME HERE for a week!! you can tent camp or RV camp and have the run of the whole park, tons of trails, pull-outs, wildlife, birds, butterflies, etc.!! It's a once in a lifetime experience! We wanted to raft the Santa Elena Canyon this year, but the water level is too low, so we are planning for that next year. You can only do kayaks now (not ME!). A fox visited our campsite one night when the fellows were talking and David got pictures! We also met people from Germany, Switzerland and France, and all over the US.

We met Pastor Al (an Evangelist) that travels to Africa seeking souls for God! He parked right next to us...that wasn't a surprise! God is taking care of us while we're traveling away from our Church family. Pastor Al in 1991 walked from coast to coast with a ball-and-chain to bring awareness that a REVIVAL is needed in America! We watched his video showing the revival going on all over the world that is happening in South America, Africa, China, etc.

We love the Chisos Basin @ Big Bend National Park! We had lunch at the lodge one day, dinner another day, and a nice Valentines dinner with a glass of wine and chocolate cake and ice cream! We have had NO TV since entering Big Bend (kinda nice!). It is in the 80's this week and the butterflies started coming out. I will load the new butterflys to the “Butterflies Texas 2014” folder for you to see! David has been quite the butterfly chaser when they are too fast for me to photograph. I appreciate that! We have been walking the trails and I think I'm losing some fat! LOL My knee is doing great with no pain. On 2/16, I walked over 2-1/2 miles to see Cattail Falls, but couldn't do the stairs, but still that's good for me! My daughter had surgery on her broken heel on Thursday and I can only call her every other day because we have to drive 5 miles out of the canyon to make phone calls. We have wifi at the basin store so that's one mile away.

We are in the middle of Big Bend NP and we decided to check out Cottonwood Campground and Santa Elena Canyon before driving down there with the trailer. Well, you can't use generators in only THAT campground, so that's 4 days of not charging both camera batteries and there were too many GNATS for me. We went to the Rio Grande River pull-off where I had a meltdown because I thought I couldn't cross the river so I turned around and left. David got a little mad with me and drove away, then turned around because he wanted me to see it, and I DID and lots of butterflies too! Thanks honey! I know I drive you crazy :) We drove to Terlingua and had lunch at the Chili Pepper Cafe and got groceries and gas. Don't want to camp there, so again we saved $ by not pulling the trailer down there! Yeah us!

Festus' blog this week: Well, I'm getting used to this camping thing, just look at Mom's pictures of me! Me and Dad walk around when no one's looking (I'm supposed to be on a leash!), but I'm so good that I come back when I'm called and I hate the harness thingy. I'm still getting biscuits when I go out and Mom and Dad brought me a HUGE pile of steak leftovers from Valentine's Day! I'm a happy dog! Oh, and I got to see my homeland, Chihuahua, Mexico this week!

week 5: David drove 195 miles this week (stayed in Big Bend)! TWO new birds: Hutton's Vireo and MacGillvary's Warbler both at Rio Grande Village! I had 2 new butterflies last week and at least 18 this week that I am identifying, so look at the butterfly folder on the website to see them! It is exciting for me to see God's new creations!