Hey noodle what did you do today?

Well I woke up at 7:30 when my alarm went off, but I still felt tired so I went back to sleep for about another hour. At 8:30 I put my shoes on after forcing myself out of the tent, then put everything in my car. Because that pup tent is so hard to fold in a perfect 3-circle manner, I just folded it twice before calling it good. I brushed my teeth, double checked my camp site (as well as the bear box...Never know what you'll see! (In this case, nothing)), then headed out! I stopped at the Hot Spring road, parked, and did a smol hike. The loop was 1.4 miles, while the hot spring was just .25. I planned to do the whole loop, but since I was alone and had no cell service, I figured I'd better not risk the lonely, potentially rattler-filled trail.

The trail itself was really cool! There was an old building from the early 1900s, then right beside them were cliffs that had petroglyphs and pictograms! I continued on, then saw smol bath made of rocks jutting out into the nearby river. A guy sat on the rocks and a gal swam, and she asked if I was from Ohio. I said close, Kentucky! They were the people who passed me on the backroad to get to the trail (Which I took VERY slowly to minimize tire damage, and also there was a 1 lane spot that wound precariously between cliff face and drop off). The gal said the hot spring was filled, but after 2 years in Florida I wanted cold water! I eased into the river for a quick and refreshing dip, then climbed out into the hot springs. Wooo! Very warm!

I hiked back (passed an older couple, and the woman said you gotta be careful in the river due to currents), then got back in my car. I planned to drive to Glenn Springs, but the gravel road made progress slow, and after like 1/6 of the distance the quality got noticeably worse. I wanted to see the old graveyard up there, but alas, the road was too treacherous. Sorry old folks...You chose a good eternal place tho!

I then went to the ranger station, grabbed a pin, a token, a stamp, a map, and bought an annual park pass before heading out. I headed North, and on the drive I had to go through a border patrol checkpoint. They asked what I was doing and how long I'd been camping, then after passing that I continued northward...North through the tiny town of Marathon, north through Prairie lands. It was really weird seeing the lands change so starkly, and continue for so long. I passed a tiny white brick shack on the opposite side of the road that was dressed as a Target and had a red cart in front of it. I smiled!

I passed through a fairly sizeable town called Marfa, then the ground immediately became dusty and desert-like. You could see for ages, and there were always at least 3 dust devils in sight. I passed another building on the opposite side of the road, this one was an observation booth for the Marfa Lights, which I recall as being some supernatural phenomena.

More northward driving, then passed through a smol town called Valentine. North of that was a shack I stopped at that was apparently an art installation that was dressed as a Pravda store. I tried to find a geocache there (Loads of locks on the fence behind it, but couldn't find it), and grabbed a photo. There were some people my age or slightly younger taking photos, saying the place was built for Instagram...Though the plaque said it was erected in 2005. Millennials, amirite?!

I got to another sizable town and got gas, then grabbed a #1 with fries, medium at Wendy's. Also a Coke. It helped steady my stomach from a morning of eating turkey slices and Dorites and breakfast bars. After passing through the town mountains began dominating the landscape. I passed through these into Mountain timezone, then eventually pulled off to the side and snapped some photos in front of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park sign. After that I stopped in the ranger station, got a wooden keychain, a token, a map, and a stamp. From there I filled my gallon water bottle, then headed down a smol trail beside the station called the Pinery, which lead to the ruins of an old wagon station.

While walking there were loads of beautiful plants, but I must admit the solitude began to eat away at my psyche, and I realized that was why I was feeling slightly forlorn. I ressurected an imaginary friend I had all through middle and part of high, who's a small dragon named Ooret. He's a biologist and adventurer, and is 346 years old. It helped a lot, and I felt way better!

I saw the ruins, grabbed a few photos, and returned. I saw some deer and took their photo as well, though I noticed they hopped along like rabbits...Unlike Kentucky deer! The area smelled strongly of pine and juniper and, if I'm honest, skunk, but the air was cool and the Sun warm and the wind kept the temperature to a pleasant level. I got in my car and drove to a nearby campground (I got spot #11), parked, and did some typing. My computer was close to dying, so I had to quickly churn out my daily journal.

After, I still had a bit of time left over, so I spent some time doodling pics of nearby plant life on a pad of paper. I got a few cacti, a shrub, and even a little yellow finch that briefly visited me. Wonderful!

At around 7ish it was beginning to get dark, so I put the pad away and got into my tent. The night was cool and pleasant, and after spending some time rereading “All Tomorrows”, I went to bed around 11ish.

I hope everyone has a Guadalupe National Park visiting day! <333