The Chronicle Issue 2 Columns The Chronicle Editors- The state in-Chief of things share their experience The “Old with nature Ore Road” sign,requires a four-wheel in the Camping drive. Deep chaos Photo by Ian Pumphrey. Photo by Annabelle Podmore. Podmore and her family outside heartof Camper has car trouble on bumpy road, gets help from Texas strangers, beauty of nature on a memorable camping trip the McDonald Observatory. Ian Pumphrey | Co-Editor-in-Chief Junior reflects on camping trip around the Lone Star State Named after the 100-mile long twists of the Rio Grande river that form Annabelle Podmore | Co-Editor-in-Chief tent the previous Christmas (don’t worry, the Texas-Chihuahua-Coahuila border, Big Bend When I was in eighth grade, my I asked for it!), so I was super excited to Big Bend National Park is like a second, -Has a land area of 801,163 acres family decided to spend Spring Break road finally use it in nature. After getting a cool much-drier home to me. In fourth grade, I -Was made a national park on June tripping around Texas. It was one of those shirt and a pack of cards at the gift shop, I began traveling to the park with my father 20, 1935 crazy ideas my mom gets sometimes, spent most of that day at the campsite. on a yearly basis. It’s been a tradition ever -Has its highest elevation of 7,832 ft where she insists that we need to be My mom, sister, and cousin decided to since, and the park has had a large impact on Emory Peak making more memories as a family, so take a hike, and since I’m not the sporty on the ways I’ve grown in my appreciation why not? type, I stayed behind. It was a good thing of nature. The park’s highest point, Emory It had already taken two and a half The trip involved my mom, sister, I did, because they ended up getting lost Peak, was the first mountain I ever hours to drive into the park, three hours aunt, uncle, my two cousins, and me. My and my uncle had to drive to pick them climbed. Its night sky gave me my first to fix the tire and drive out of the park, uncle acted as our “tour guide,” since he up three hours later. In the time they glance at the beauty of our galaxy and the and it would take another hour and a half had done a lot of driving around Texas in were gone, my aunt had taught me how to intricacies of constellations. Its spacious, to drive into Alpine, a town outside of Big his life, and knows almost all about our play guitar and poker (both of which I’ve airy desert was the first image that came Bend. beautiful state. forgotten by now). to my young mind when I thought of Just thirty minutes before they closed, We set out on the first Sunday of We hiked up a mountain to watch the nature. Truly, Big Bend National Park has we drove into Vance’s Tire Shop, the Spring Break, and immediately pit- sunset that night, and when we got back been a haven for me, and each trip has seediest and only tire shop I’ve ever been stopped at Dziuk’s meat market in to the campsite we made friends with a only furthered my adoration of the area. to. When told the left front tire couldn’t be Castroville, which was a necessity for man and his dog, who were parked next Although, this year’s trip played out much replaced but instead the spare tire would beef jerky and other road-trip snacks. to us in a trailer. We got to know him differently than the rest. If the trips before be put on the old tire’s rim, my dad and After that, we drove down to the Pecos over s’mores, and then we went to bed. this year were essential lessons in nature’s I, for the first time out of all our trips River, where we met a couple named In the middle of the night, I woke up to therapeutic qualities, this year’s trip was a over the years, questioned continuing Kenneth and Marie, who were 14 months the sound of rustling near my tent, but it lesson in what to do when a tire goes flat our stay in Big Bend. The whole day had into their 22-month biking expedition didn’t bother me enough to wake me up in the middle of a desert. been spent driving in and out of the park, from Argentina to Alaska! We took lots further, so I went back to sleep. It turned It all started when my father and and all because of a tire, our plans of a of pictures of their bicycles (which they out to be some wild hogs looking for food, I were driving past the road marker backcountry campsite and a stress-free assembled themselves), followed their but my uncle had gotten up and chased featuring the words “Old Ore Road,” Saturday were foiled.Would this be the Instagram, and then wished them well and them away. passing off the message below this title end of our trip? kept on driving. On our way back home the next day, saying ‘Four Wheel Drive Required” as a Not at all. We stopped in Fort Davis for the we stopped in Marfa, TX, filming location simple suggestion. We would be mistaken. In a matter of minutes, we decided night, where we rented a cabin with of the 1956 movie “Giant.” I had never Instantly, we were greeted with proof to stay. Traveling out of suburban San several bunk beds for all of us. I remember seen “Giant” before, but my mom made of the signs legitimacy as our Toyota Antonio into the spacious desert of Big sitting in my bunk (I called the top one), us watch it once we got home -all three Tundra rocked vehemently through the Bend was never about convenience; it eating caramel M&Ms for hours. Now hours of it! We got to walk through the rough, bumpy roads. Not even a mile was about adventure. Every trip to Big whenever I eat caramel M&Ms, I think hotel where a lot of the actors stayed while in, we hit a rock just right. My dad had Bend before this one had shown me the about that top bunk in the cabin at Fort filming, and learned a little bit about the swiftly pulled the car to the side of the ways in which nature can quench one’s Davis. behind-the-scenes of the movie. road, bluntly stating, “We’ve got a tire thirst for the wild and the thrills of Big The next morning, my uncle had After Marfa, we made one last stop going down.” Bend’s largely untouched land. Some tire brought his own portable stove and at Balmorhea State Park before heading As soon as I got out to survey the problems and the increased risk of driving dishes, and so we ate breakfast outside the home. They had a cold swimming hole, damage, it was clear. I could hear the on it could not take this away. cabin, despite it being a little cold for my a vending machine, and a gift shop. I tire deflate like a bouncy castle meeting After fixing up the tire, we had driven taste. Then we geared up and went over to bought a T-shirt at the gift shop, took a its end. Our left front tire had blown back towards the park, deciding to camp the Fort Davis National Historic Site. We blurry photo of the fish in the swimming out completely within 10 minutes. After at Stillwell Ranch, an area of campsites hiked a little bit through the mountains, hole, and thus concluded our Spring Break twenty frustrating minutes of having right outside of the park. Exhausted from but mostly we looked at the buildings, adventure. I learned a lot of interesting trouble with the truck’s jack, I looked the chaotic day that we had, my dad and and learned about the site’s history, when stuff about Texas, made lots of family out behind us to see if any car was I went to bed early, planning to wake up it was a frontier military post in the late memories (exactly like my mom wanted), coming by. Luckily enough, I could see early to make a day out of Sunday. 1800s. It may not sound like it, but it was and I would love to do it again someday. an offroading vehicle come closer and Sunday had redeemed the chaotic day actually super interesting. closer, driving around the Tundra and before. We hiked Lost Mine Trail, a trek Later that night, we drove up to the The stopping a few meters ahead of us. A man that ends in a beautiful view overlooking McDonald Observatory, to try and see a got out and began helping my dad and I, the rocky expanse of the park. The trip star show. Unfortunately, all their shows finding where the jack was and looking had concluded with a night of stargazing were booked, but we still managed to go tallest at the completely deflated tire. Only five and yawning, and we had packed things inside the visitor’s center, which was like Texas3mountains minutes later a Jeep drove by, this one in up quickly in the morning after.