a national park in TEXAS

Today at 1:15 pm Mountain Time I set my paw down in TEXAS. It was overwhelmingly exciting. We took a family photo and everybody hugged.

Then we went to Guadelupe Mountains National Park, where El Capitan lives. It is the tallest mountain in Texas. Miss Margaret personally knows three people who have climbed it, and one of them is a Girl Scout named Rebecca.

The rangers there were Wally and Betsy. And you will never guess what. One of the other helper rangers gave me a Junior Ranger book to complete and earn a Junior Ranger Badge. Actually, she gave me the badge too, but on Scout's Honor, I am going to complete the book as soon as I get back to third grade. I think my classmates can help me.

After Guadelupe, we went south deeper into Texas, to Van Horn. There were mountains on both sides as we drove. I never knew the desert had mountains. It was really pretty.

The freakiest part were the really large black bugs who kept crawling across the road. Miss Margaret was sure they were tarantulas, but when she stopped to look, they were really large colorful locusts.

Tonight we are in Van Horn, where another storm rolled through. I never knew a desert could be so stormy. Tomorrow we are going swimming at Balmorrhea, and then to the MacDonald Observatory. I can hardly wait.