Heading toward Big Bend National Park

We're checking out of the Crockett Hotel in this morning. We originally planned to spend more time in San Antonio now that Doug has completed his work commitments but the timing for a visit with friends did not work out. Instead we've decided to head for Big Bend National Park today. We'll shop for groceries on the way out of town and hope to make it part way along the 450-500 mile trek to the park. We're uncertain how available Internet connections will be as we head into west Texas so updates might be sporadic over the next few weeks. We're hoping to spend a week at Big Bend then hit Fort Davis with the night sky observatories on our way out, plus Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands in New Mexico, then head to Tuscon and Phoenix in Arizona. From Phoenix we have a side-trip planned back to Florida (by air) April 13-20 before continuing on our road journey through the south west. San Antonio has been fun but exhausting. We're simply not used to so many people or so much noise. The Riverwalk is a jewel in the heart of the city. We've enjoyed our walks and people watching along the route. But we're all eagerly looking forward to the quiet and solitude that the west Texas desert will offer us.