As we’ve
discovered, no place in the USA beats the winter climate of Florida. And
although the Hill Country was very pleasant during the day, we did experience
freezing of our water supply line one night. It has thus been of some interest
to find out what it looked like 150 miles south and on the Gulf, should a cold
snap be in the forecast. A short term escape would be nice to know about. The
Padre Island Campground was OK ( http://www.ccrvresorts.com/features/pp.htm
) and the personnel very helpful and friendly, although the neighborhood was
less inspiring. The full facilities provided an opportunity to get laundry done
after more than a week without such at Canyon Lake.
Our exploration of northern
Padre Island revealed interesting fishing interests but did not excite us from
a RV point of view, although Aransas Pass http://www.aransaspass.org/ proved surprisingly
nice. Rounding the Bay of Corpus Christi ultimately led to the city, which
appeared very dormant but attractive on a Monday http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Christi,_Texas
. Impressive buildings, homesteads and the campus of Texas A&M
University at Corpus Christi to the south http://www.tamucc.edu/
, followed our lunch at one of the very few open eating establishments
in town. This seemed like an entire city on Spring Break and everybody having
left town together with the students! Early Saturday morning we took off on the
long trek to Del Rio on the Rio Grande, across from Mexico.
Aiming for
Route 44, a great deal of construction work threw us off course but we
regrouped and finally headed for Alice, TX. The City of Alice was known for its
large cattle industry until the discovery of oil and petroleum beneath in the
1940s which caused a slight population boom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice,_Texas
. However we didn’t see a sign of cattle and as we pushed on to Carrizo
Springs were amazed at the gigantic ranches that stretched mile upon mile since
Alice, with not a head of cattle in sight! However, evidence of oil pumping and
natural gas wells abounded.
We got gas in Carrizo Springs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrizo_Springs,_Texas and enjoyed sandwiches from the tail gate of
the truck on an open lot into which we hauled the trailer next to the Baptist
church. This was an interesting place with a century plus old church building
neatly integrated with an impressive new structure. We attracted the attention
of a very friendly fellow associated with the church, who explained that his
presence at that time was in anticipation of a veteran’s motorcycle squad who
were on their way to honor the town. The town would reciprocate with some function
and we were welcome to stay for the event! We had a long way to go, still, but
thankfully took advantage of restroom facilities at the church, which he made
available. With a solid invitation to return some day, we departed also with advice
to take route 277 via Eagle Pass, rather than 83 via Uvalde. That is exactly
what we did and set out on the last 100 miles for Del Rio.
Not having
reserved a campsite in Del Rio, we had called the Buzzard Roost RV Campground,
which has been on our radar for years. The fellow at the other end could not
accommodate us for one night but provided info on other campgrounds that might
have vacancies. At the conclusion of Willem’s conversation he inquired about
the accent and perked up, saying he was from Thailand and that his son was with
a bank in South Africa. He also reflected on our need for only one night and
suggested us pull in behind Walmart, where there are 8 RV sites.
This was a
first for us and we were surprised at the suitability of the solution. This
vast pantry and supplies of any conceivable kind on our doorstep had us stock
up and then readied for the night. A couple of other RV’s joined us and through
the night some trucks also moved through. But beforehand, we’ve had a lovely
streak meal at Rudy’s, after not having had the opportunity in New Braunfels
and then had an altogether pleasant stopover without even unhooking the truck.
We had an
early start the next morning and once again, were in ranch country with
individual properties extending seemingly uninterrupted for miles on end. Still,
hardly any cattle in sight but we occasionally saw game animals, even African
antelope at a distance. Hunting, rather than cattle-raising seemed more the in-thing.
Some 20 miles after passing Lake Amistad we got to a border control check
point, where Fickie and Stella had to produce their passports. While they were
digging those out of the trailer, Willem stirred up a conversation with the
officer and learned that oil and gas extraction replaced cattle ranching over vast
areas of Texas but we should see it drop off in favor of cattle and game as we
go further north onto the Big Bend area. Yet further north of Interstate 10,
vast oil interests dominate again. We stayed pretty much south of Interstate 10
and seemed to confirm the guy’s information in the area we covered. As we were
following the Rio Grande, we came across Langtry and stopped for a break at the
Judge Roy Bean Saloon and Museum. This was quite something, and perhaps the
most authentic preserved relic of the Old West that one could hope to see. It
is a rich source of folk lore and the inspiration for movies, books and what
have you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Bean , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langtry,_Texas , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_and_Times_of_Judge_Roy_Bean , http://www.desertusa.com/desert-people/judge-roy-bean.html
We reached
Alpine, TX in the early afternoon, after traversing increasingly drier terrain,
with the last 25 miles past Marathon indicated as ‘scenic’, which it was indeed.
The mountains to the south appeared inviting and it would prove a lot more
scenic than what we imagined by the time we got there two days hence. The
weather turned south on us temperature-wise but Friday would be a better day,
so we stayed in, worked on admin and blog stuff and headed for Big Bend the
next morning.
This was an unforgettable experience because of the beauty of the
scenery. We ventured into the Chisos Mountains of the Big Bend National Park
for about 20 miles, then turned back and followed the Rio Grande through
the Big Bend Ranch State Park from
Study Butte to Presidio and found the scenery unrivaled, to say the least.
Across the river is Mexico and the scene was consistent with what one has seen
in so many movies. It didn’t take long for our attention to be attracted by a
turn-off, which happened to be the Small Village (Rancheria) built in 1985 as
the setting for numerous films and TV series, such as The Streets of Laredo, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streets_of_Laredo_%28TV_miniseries%29 , Rio Diablo, Gambler V: Playing for
Keeps, My Maria, Dead man’s Walk and The
Journeyman. http://lonestartravelers.com/wordpress/big-bend-ranch-state-park-lajitas-tx
The trip
from Lajitas to Presidio with Route 170 was really spectacular and we were very
happy not having the trailer behind us, which would have made for more
difficult driving, given the sharp ups and downs.
We were
still hoping to take advantage of the trailer washing facility at the
campground in Alpine before leaving for Fort Davis but the cold and especially,
the intense wind rendered this impossible. So we made the short hop on Saturday
morning and were astounded by the beauty of the camp in the Davis Mountains
outside of Fort Davis, http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/davis-mountains . This location could feature as the
summer equivalent of Corpus Christi, the winter escape, should one consider
settling in the Hill Country. At an elevation of 5,500 feet, the summers are
great.
We had
reservations for the Star Party that night at the Mc Donald Observatory http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/ and were warned to clothe warmly,
which we did. There were perhaps 100 + people and the program come off best
when the sky is cloudless. This turned out not to be the case, so tickets good
for use within a year were offered to those who didn’t want to stay. It wasn’t
for us, so we went for the indoor auditorium presentation on astronomy, which
was excellent, while others went outside to peer around the clouds through the
numerous telescopes at various objects, e.g. the moon, Saturn and its
satellites, etc. While we were subsequently watching an excellent video
presentation inside, word came that things have cleared outside, so we went
out, fully experiencing the wisdom of advice on the clothing code. We got to
look at various objects at varying degrees of clarity through telescopes,
complementing the material covered in the presentation earlier. On looking at
the moon, the attendant of one of the telescopes pointed out to Willem that
dark crater marks were older than the lighter ones, upon which Willem asked
about the age of the younger craters. The answer was 100 million years, to
which Willem responded, ‘Oh, that was after I was born’. The fellow chuckled,
saying it was the first time he heard that, to which Willem replied that it did
not surprise him. This exchange amused a dozen or so other Star Partiers who
all found themselves in an area of the US where prehistoric times are as alive
as they possible can be, given the abundance of bones, wings and jaws unearthed
in fossil form from various anthropological digs and skillfully assembled in
numerous museum exhibits in life-like splendor. Current theory suggests that
meteorites had something to do with their extinction, while John Knox’s (and
others of similar sentiment) way of looking at things, would be consistent with
human destiny having been in place before the time of the moon poundings. There
is a lot we do not understand and when Jerome, of Vulgate fame, found himself
at that spot, he concluded that denying the facts makes less sense than simply admitting
own inadequacy at interpreting those. The Star Party was a very worthwhile
excursion, having one reflect on the marvels of the universe, their complexity
and experiencing the excitement of witnessing it all. We were back in camp
after 11 pm. to enjoy a hot drink and hit the sack.
Stella was a
bit under the weather on Sunday, so Susan and Willem set out to town and
church, where they were warmly welcomed. It was Spring Break for schools in
Texas and families appeared to be missing, leaving mostly the elderly. But the
pastor and his young family were there and informed us a bit on the
congregation. It was formed in the days of his great grandfather, who
ministered there. Today his father pastors a church in Fort Stockton, 50 miles
to the north. So, these folks’ roots are deep in Western Texas and their sense
of calling strong. Strange as it may
seem, there was some resemblance with a large city center church we were with
in South Africa, years ago. The congregation had primarily student and young professional
members, which constituted a transient situation. In Texas it was the same,
except for the center of gravity resting with the elderly. It turned out that
people are attracted to the area, its beauty and climate for retirement. Some
leave as their medical needs eventually necessitate, or they find their way to
assisted living facilities elsewhere. Youngsters mostly leave for college and
often do not return.
In the front
of the sanctuary is an attractive wooden cross, courtesy of the company that produced
the film, Dancer, Texas Population 81
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancer,_Texas_Pop._81 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BedqQXOtWlE . The church building was made
available for the filming, as well as the house immediately across the street,
belonging to the lady who was sitting in the front pew. Neither of us had seen
the movie but our interest was stirred and we will be looking out for it.
On Monday
morning we set out on the long trek to Las Cruces, New Mexico.
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