Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, Big Bend National Park

     It rained last night - a big event in mostly desert country.  The temps at the lower elevations where we are camping have been in the low 90's.  It didn't seem to be getting cooler last night so we left the RV closed up and the air conditioning on.  When I heard the rain at 2 am I was happy I didn't have to get up and close windows.  By morning the rain had passed and we woke to another hot, dry day.  Other parts of Texas are just drowning in water, but we just have a few puddles and some wet lawn chairs.  We talked about what we did yesterday as we had coffee. As we were talking about the hot springs it became clear to me that when Rick walked out on a sandbar in "the river" to take a picture of the shelter across the river he did not understand that "the river" he was looking at was the Rio Grande and that the shelter was in Mexico.  Rick almost always knows exactly where he is so it makes me laugh to realize he did not know he was standing on the border!
    We decided to take the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.  Then, as we drove from our campground to the beginning of the scenic drive, a little bit of serendipity happened!  I saw a dirt road called Dugout Wells with some trees and a windmill, so we decided to drive in and take a look.  In this park there are dozens of old farm sites with still functioning windmills or springs.  We stopped to take a picture and I wandered down a trail under some huge cottonwood trees.  A woman sitting in the shade at a picnic table asked me if I saw the butterflies. She pointed to the trees and bushes in this shaded oasis which were covered with resting monarchs.  They fluttered in and out of the shadows.  It was a magical place found purely by accident - serendipity!
    The scenic drive was - scenic.  Lots of great overlooks.  The road took us to Castolon - the ruins of a farming village and store. We had lunch at the Cottonwood Campground under huge shade trees along the Rio Grande.  I identified several new birds for my birding list as we enjoyed the quiet.  The park is pretty empty this time of year - it is much busier in the cooler winter months.
    Our final adventure for the day was to drive the Old Maverick Road. This is a 14 mile "improved dirt road" which runs from the Santa Elena Canyon to Maverick Junction.  It runs along the Terlingua Creek badlands on the west side of the park.  Last night's rain was evident in some wet areas and parts of the road were very washboardy.  However, it was a flat road with no steep edges, some traffic, and we carried plenty of water.  If we got stuck or blew a tire it would have been a boring and hot wait for help, but not an emergency.  It was fun to get out into the hinterland of the park.