If you needed a sign to take the trip with the gals, this is it. There aren’t many trips that go off without a hitch, especially when you have to spend more than seven hours in the car… This one actually did. I attribute that to great company, the perfect environment (and luck with weather) to unwind, and the right amount of items on the itinerary for a quick three-day weekend.
I’ve lived in Texas for five and a half years and the furthest west I’ve been is Fredericksburg, until this past December. I’ve always known there was a heck of a lot more state to see to the west, but it certainly requires some planning and education about the best spots to explore. Thanks to some solid recommendations and a few friends that were willing to take a bit of an adventure with me, we planned the perfect getaway!
The Willow House
We based this all on the two nights we would spend at The Willow House in Terlingua. And let me stop right here and say if that’s the only reason you book this trip, it was the same for us! This 12-Casita property is impeccable. The adobe style private rooms open up to incredible views of Los Chisos in Big Bend and the property includes a main house, complete with a full chef’s kitchen, living spaces, multiple dining areas, and a centrally located fire pit to enjoy the cool desert nights. I can’t say enough good things about the property itself, the owners truly didn’t miss a beat!
The Willow House is about 7.5 hours from Austin if you drive straight through. We left on a Thursday evening so to avoid driving late in some pretty desolate areas, our overnight stop was in Ozona, one of the few options to find a clean hotel on the way. In the morning, we decided to make a pit stop in Marfa, which helped break up the trip a bit.
Marfa
You probably know Marfa for its famed Prada store art installation, which we obviously stopped and took a good…err…600 photos at đŸ¥´. Yeah, we can blame me for that. But could you ask for a cuter backdrop?! We also stopped at this cute coffee shop, Do Your Thing, took a gander in a few galleries around town, grabbed lunch at the Water Stop (great food and cocktails!), and ice cream in a laundromat (yep…), and got back on the road to Terlingua. We stopped to get groceries in Alpine (the nearest full-service grocery store), and had about an hour and half left to get to The Willow House.
This last bit of the drive was incredible. Having grown up in the midwest and on the east coast, I never really saw a desert landscape or mountains, so this was pretty fascinating to me.
Our first night at The Willow House, we made a gourmet meal of tacos, enjoyed a large amount of red wine, took an obscene amount of polaroid photos, and even had a Tarot card reading to finish off the night with some fun. Leave it to our friend Rachel to have this insanely appropriate head wrap for the occasion – she is the costume queen!!
Big Bend
Saturday morning, we got up early and made our way into Big Bend National Park, which is just a few minutes from The Willow House. After an hour drive in during a spectacular sunrise, we stopped for a hike at Balanced Rock – appropriately named for well…a rock balancing on other rocks. This was about a half hour in, half hour out, and flat aside from some climbing for the last five minutes to reach one of the most amazing views of Big Bend.
Terlingua
Post-hike, we went into the small Ghost town of Terlingua and got breakfast at Espresso y Poco Mas. Not sure if it was the post-hike hunger or if the food was actually that good but all four of us thought it was excellente. From there, we explored the town a bit (there’s really not too much to see…). There are a couple shops with art and souvenirs and some historic buildings.
From there we went back to enjoy The Willow House property (including finally using our casita’s private outdoor shower!) for the day before heading out for a sunset horseback ride. This was one of the best parts of the trip to me. The two-hour trek on horseback takes you through some of the oldest parts of the historic mining town of Study Butte, including ruins of several buildings.
Our leader, Shelby, at Big Bend Stables, was awesome. Not sure how she felt about us city-slickers (yes, she actually referred to us as this), but we loved her! If you’re wondering how small this town actually is, we saw her at one of the few spots there are for dinner, The Starlight Theatre, just after the ride. There was live music, a fun atmosphere, and the bathrooms are actually in the old town jail… while the food wasn’t anything to cry home about, it was a fun last outing of the trip.
In our last hours, we made s’mores at The Willow House fire pit and played games before passing out pretty early. Which reminds me, THE BEDS, Y’ALL! They have an entire Amazon storefront with all of their bedding details (yes, we asked), because they were AMAZING. When I say I slept like a baby, I truly did. The most comfortable bed I maybe have ever slept in. Seriously.
We headed out early the next morning after a quick breakfast at the house and drove straight through back to Austin so we could be home before dark. A few podcasts, car games, and great playlists, and we were home. Refreshed and rejuvenated from a truly “good for the soul” weekend.
What I Spent
As far as how much I spent, we split lodging four ways, which made it super affordable ($340 per person for the Hampton Inn and Willow House combined). About four tanks of gas split four ways ($200), horseback riding ($90 per person), groceries ($30 per person) and meals/coffee out (about $100 total), my personal grand total came to about $610. For a three-day weekend, this was a pretty reasonable number to me. No flights certainly helps!
I wouldn’t have changed our itinerary a bit, and we’ve all agreed we would LOVE to do this again next year. So if you’re planning a trip out west, or need some inspiration for a gals weekend, hopefully this gives you some ideas!
