More Magical in Big Bend

by Elena Whatley

When I was little, Big Bend wasn’t camping, it was a big sleepover.  There were a lot of people and we had great food, music, stories, sleeping bags and loads of fun.  OK, so there weren’t a bunch of giggling teenyboppers’ freezing each other’s underwear – but really close! We had a beautiful spot by the river, huge trees as tall as I could see, and at night there were more stars than I could understand.

My first memories of Big Bend are simple pleasures: eating eggs with lots of stuff in them, finding flint shards, and watching the fire dance. I remember watching the fireworks from atop a cliff.  Somehow, fireworks were a little more colorful, a little brighter, and a lot more magical in Big Bend.

I don’t remember the first time I hiked up to the top of Apache peak but I know it was special.  It made a little girl feel like she was on the top of the world! The river looked so tiny and there were more colors in those sunsets than in my crayon box. The crystal throne and its many friends were all the incentive I needed to hike up that enormous rock.  I couldn’t imagine that a diamond mine could be more beautiful than the collection of quartz that was spread there.  Fairies must visit; I used to think to myself. “Please dad, can I have this piece too? I promise I’ll carry it the whole way, I promise.  Please?"

Since then we’ve changed our camping site and invited a few more friends to the sleepover, but it’s still about great food, music, watching the fire dance, and having fun.  Thank you daddy for starting such a fun and enchanting tradition and sharing it with me.