Austin to Big Bend TX road trip 🚙

I absolutely love four day weekends!

Typically I can find any excuse to take off on a whim for a road trip and I had my sights on the rugged desert of southwest Texas. After an easy 3 hour direct flight to Austin, I headed out into the unknown with a 5+ hour drive bound for the small town of Marathon. I originally predicted an 11:30pm arrival and wouldn’t you know it, I pulled into BFE on the dot!

But my sometimes not so rational thinking almost derailed night #1…..

My lead foot absolutely took advantage of the 80mph speed limit. With a killer music playlist set on random and the windows down, I thoroughly enjoyed the solitude and escape into another world as time sped by (literally).

I had heard once outside the Austin city limits to get used to the nothingness. After passing by the town of Ozona (which I oddly got to thinking about global warming) with only a quarter tank of gas that I probably should have errored on the side of caution for one of the first times in my life. But since I’m solo on this trip, I didn’t bat an eyelash at pushing the limits.

So while one of my goals on this trip was to eliminate the stress and drama of everyday life, I made the cardinal mistake of road tripping! As the gas gauge continues to decline down to 9 miles remaining, I begin sweating through my only long sleeve shirt and pants I had packed because the next town (which is generously stated) is still 21 miles away. OMG.

There is one exit off of I-10 that I begrudgingly took, as the two supposed gas stations here are nowhere in sight. It is pitch black. I pull up to one and don’t even try to get out because it is locked up. I then drive .25 miles to a shack that I can barely make out in the dark and pull up to the gas pumps. With no expectation, I try my credit card and it miraculously works! So… I guess in the desert pumps are always on!

Quick side note – the damn car speedometer was stuck in km/h, so I had to keep my converter calculator open the entire weekend. After trying for an hour to resolve the issue, I just finally chalked it up to another GDC moment and sucked it up!

With that crisis averted, I finally pull into my beehive parking. Yep, I booked an Airbnb built entirely by recycled parts themed as a hive. The 50 sq ft structure was my home for a quick nights rest.

The shower house was next door and shared with another rental. All the necessities were available and I was ready to embrace my minimalist weekend ahead.

After a actually very restful sleep, I made the easy one hour drive to visit my 51st National Park at Big Bend. And thus began 3 days of hiking and exploration to my hearts content!

So my message… be sure to fully embrace all the highs and inevitable lows along your journey… and hopefully be able to laugh about them in the future!