Big Bend National Park in Texas was a place I had vaguely heard of but knew nothing about when a dear friend asked me to go camping there in March 2022. I am typically a hotel kind of girl but decided to push outside my comfort zone and try camping.
Arriving late at night to a star filled campsite in Terlingua, Texas, as a huge moon rose over the hills was a humbling experience. We only camped for one night due to windstorms and opted to move camp to a cheap motel nearby for the remainder of the trip.
The dry, yet colorful terrain was alien to my senses coming from a very green Tennessee landscape. During the nights, the designated Dark Sky park was mesmerizing with more stars than I could fathom. Sunrises were filled with vivid color that I knew I could never possibly recreate in a painting, but still I tried. The diverse plant and animal life were surreal. There was beauty in every direction and a trip to Mexico via a row boat for lunch was an unexpected joy that I still smile about. The park was vast and seeing buttes, mesas and canyons had me in constant awe at the power of the earth.
I fell in love with everything there.
Carrie Lee Bartlett Art 