Window View Trail, Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National park

The Windows View Trail starts in the Chisos Basin just behind the Basin General store. This hike is considered easy as it is only .3 miles round trip. The trail is also paved making it handicap accessible. 

start of trail

The first plaque you come across is dedicated to Stephen Tyng Mather who led a publicity campaign to promote the creation of a unified federal agency to oversee National Park Administration, which was established in 1916. In 1917, Mather was appointed as the first director of the National Park Service. He served until 1929, during his tenure Mather created a professional civil service organization, increased the numbers of parks and national monuments, and established systematic criteria for adding new properties to the federal system.

Stephen Tyng Mather

The Windows View Trail is relatively short compared to the many Basin trails that can be started from it. 

Once you get to the center of the trail you can read about the Volcanic origin of the Chisos mountains around you and also use the marker to help put a name to each of them.

Once you have read about them you can take as much time as you like to just sit and be with the area.

 The view is amazing and you can hear so many different things if you just take the time to slow down and enjoy. 

Here's our Google Photo Album of this hike. 

Visiting Viviana before her Deployment to Germany

Living on the road I don't get to see my family as much as I would like, so when the opportunity came up to see my little sister before her deployment I had to take it. Since Bert and I work the same schedule he was unable to travel with me.

I looked into flying but it was going to be $300+ round trip and Bert would have to drive me 3 hours to the airport and 3 hours back home. Greyhound was going to be about $150 round trip but last time I took Greyhound I got extremely sick so that was a no go. Only other option was the train for $110, I had never been on the train so I thought this might be a fun trip to try it out, even if it was going to be a 14 hr ride. At least it was all overnight so I could sleep most of the time. 

The plan was to leave on Thursday and return on Tuesday. After discussing it with Bert  I was only working a half day on Thursday and already had the beginning of the week off. I looked for a earlier train and was able to leave on Monday and return the following Tuesday giving me a full week with family.  

While in Austin I was able to hang out with all of my siblings, something that does not happen very often. My mother made some amazing home cooked meals and I was able to just be with my family. We watched movies, painted and just sat around talking a lot.  

The VFW my family belongs to held a Deployment party for my lil sister. All of my siblings showed up and a group of Soldiers stationed with Viviana came to celebrate with us as well. We ate and drank and had a blast. 

Hope you enjoy the video I made of the time with my family.

Thanks to Prime Day discounts we now own an Instant Pot.

So after 2 years of living in the RV, we decided that we would try using an Instant Pot to make some of the things we eat regularly a little quicker. We knew going into this that we wanted to get the 3qt over the 6qt because we did not want something that big on the counter.  Here's our affiliate link:

Instant Pot Duo Mini 3 Qt 7-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker and Warmer

From looking at the recipes they can be kind of confusing on what is needed and when it goes into the pot. So far we have made Beans, Rice, Red lentils and Ratatouille with great success. I'm looking forward to making French toast casserole.  

Cooking with Your Instant Pot Mini: 100 Quick & Easy Recipes for 3-Quart Models

The Instant Pot does not come with its own pot cover so you will need something to cover it if you plan on taking out the interior cooking pot and placing it in the fridge. 

Instant Pot Tempered Glass Lid, Clear – 7.6 in, Mini 3 Quart

If you have any questions or ideas on things we should make, drop us a message in the comment section. 

Note: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon products.  As Amazon Associates, we may earn a small commission at no cost to you on qualifying purchases.