Big Bend National Park

We did a driving tour of Big Bend National Park  in several vehicles that are on the tour along with some vans that Bubba rented. It is a high desert park and many wild flowers are blooming. I caught a glimpse of a pinkish colored snake and a bird that had a nest in one of the Torrey yucca.
One highlight of our time there was our first look at Texas Bluebonnets which I had not realized are lupines. The Bluebonnets in Big Bend are a subtype called appropriately enough, Big Bend Bluebonnets (lupinus havardii).
We went to Santa Elena Canyon and saw the Rio Grande which actually had water in it. Some of the group climbed a high trail to look down over the canyon. The valley floor looked like spring with trees with the bright chartreuse leaves. Quite different than the spring at home with temps in the high 80's. VERY different from overnight in the tents where we woke up with heavy frost coating the tents and our bikes. I was so glad for the closed cell foam pads that Dale found for us. Sometime during the middle of the night I realized that it would insulate better if I put it on top of the mattress and slept on top of it rather than having it underneath where it wasn't wide enough to insulate fully. Dave didn't take my advice and slept cold. I used two sleeping bags and slept with a hat on and longjohns. I knew I'd been hauling them for 1000 miles for some reason! Others hadn't packed for cold weather and looked quite worse for wear. Tonight isn't supposed to be quite as cold, about 46 or so.