Guale 2 is considered the most beautiful, most remote and most challenging to get to campground in the Ranch, so of course we had to go there. With Eric still full blown sick, winds gusting at 45 mph and temps in the mid 50s, we’d need to keep a positive attitude in the face of colliding adversity.
Checking in at the Sauceda Visitor Center, we met Field Ranger Gabriel, a young Keanu Reeves look-alike who quizzed Eric about Boss and wasn’t a fan of our Michelin LTX A/T2 tires. Nor did he feel good about the 2 electric bikes on the front hitch. “You got a full spare? Plugs? Off road driving experience?” He must have been thinking “Okay Boomer” looking at a weepy eyed exhausted man and his inquisitive wife asking him to describe the offroad trail in minute detail.
The adverse front was forecast to move through by morning. We started spitballing back up plans in case we had to wait out the front and flu. Keanu gave a shrug and a smile and suggested the Sauceda Bunkhouse. Wha What? We could make homemade chicken vegetable soup in the commercial kitchen, post a blog on the Texas Park WiFi, and crash in a bunkhouse that has a hot shower and toilet? Done! Guale will be there in the morning.
While Eric is reading Wyatt Earp, Sheri is reading Those Who Wish Me Dead, a book about surviving in the wilderness when you are being hunted by assassins. For the record, there are no assassins in Big Bend Ranch. Rule number 1 – Keep a positive attitude. Rule number two – Administer first aid if you are injured. Rule number 3 – Find shelter. We figured bunking like Texas cowboys answered all three.
Like Jack and Wendy in The Shining, we are the lone bunkhouse occupants in a place that could hold 30. We have not seen any twin girls at the end of the long hallway of bunks, but give them a chance. Eric is alone on the men’s side and Sheri is alone on the women’s. Even with the chance that the Sauceda Bunk House is Texas’s answer to the Overlook Hotel, we were drawn in by the protection from the elements. Just like Jack.
The key to the best made plans is to not be too attached to them. Sometimes the flex is better than the schedule. Hopefully chicken soup will work its magic and there is an off-road adventure to the infamous Guale tomorrow. Until then, it’s hard to argue with becoming a bunkhouse cowboy for a night.
