Mission to Del Rio and Big Bend

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Its not like a real mission.  We just travelled from Mission, TX to Del Rio, TX.  We really weren’t operating on all cylinders this morning as we awoke later than we should have for a travelling day.  When we were getting ready to go we started talking with a couple from Regina, Veryl and Wally Boychuk who have also recently retired.  This is their second year in south Texas and from the sounds of it they are looking to continue this tradition for the foreseeable future.  They intend to stay for a couple more weeks then start working their way up through Austin, TX before heading home to Saskatchewan.  Hopefully we will meet up with them next year.

We finally pulled out of our site at Canyon Lake RV Park around 10:30.  It was a nice warm morning with a bit of a southerly wind, which would be coming from our back for a change.  We travelled along US83 which roughly parallels the Rio Grande / the Mexican border for most of the way northwest towards Del Rio.  The US border patrol is out in full force.  We had to stop at one checkpoint, and we were asked  where we were from and if there was anyone in the trailer.  He didn’t want to see in the trailer and didn’t want to to see our passports.  I guess we didn’t look like criminals, however; their drug sniffing dog made a trip around the perimeter of the trailer but of course did not find any traces of illegal substances. We saw at least 30 or 40 border patrol trucks.  Many of the trucks also have tracking dogs in the back.

We stopped at Zapata, TX for fuel.  Zapata seems to be quite a fishing community at the north end of the Falcon International Reservoir.  This area is also a lush farming region that grows a lot of various crops such as onions and wheat and pecans.

The blue bonnets are starting to bloom along with a lot of the other wild flowers for which Texas is so famous.  There are also some cactus out in bloom. The Del Rio area is an extension of the Hill Country that extends south from the middle of Texas and there are some wineries along the way; so we will have to put a winery tour on our agenda.

We stopped for the night at the Buzzard Roost RV Park.  It is a small park, that is not really equipped to handle trailers with slides so it was quite tight getting into our site.  It was however the cheapest accommodation on the trip at only $17.50/night for full service including cable and a very strong Wi-Fi signal. 

Monday, March 15, 2010 – On to Big Bend

We were out of the campground before 9:30 this morning.  Not exactly earth-shattering but at least respectable. We started the trip in a light drizzle which would continue for most of the day.  We passed the Amistad National Recreation Area.  This is a large mixed use recreational park surrounding a dammed up section of the Rio Grande, just north of Del Rio.  It appears to be mostly a fishing area from what we could see of it.  Just past Amistad we were once again stopped at a Border Patrol inspection station.  Same routine where they circle the vehicle with a drug-sniffing dog and then let you pass,  We had noticed in the car ahead of us the German Shepherd had stood up on the driver’s side door looking in at the driver…that must have been a bit un-nerving for the driver.

We continued north west up US 90, moving further away from the Mexican border.  All the while we were bucking a strong Texas wind that slammed our trailer on the front passenger corner. As we drove we saw fewer and fewer Border Patrols, only about 6 or 7 today.  The character of the land changed to rolling and hilly with large rock cuts made for the road.  The vegetation also changed from the lush green that we had become accustomed to in the lower part of the valley to a grey, green colour of the desert.  The population density has also changed drastically from the lower valley.  You only see an occasional trailer or home every few miles.

We fuelled the truck and slip tank in a tiny town called Marathon, expecting that fuel in the park will be horrendously expensive..  We then turned south on US385 toward Big Bend National Park.  This has got to be one of the nicest roads on the trip.  It was a two lane, undivided road with wide paved shoulders.  BUT was it smooth!! The contractor for this road should give road-building lessons…it was that nice.  It also helped that for the first time today we had a tail-wind and that made the drive very relaxing. 

Oh yeah, why is it called Big Bend?  The Rio Grande flows generally from the northwest to the south east, forming the international border between Mexico and the United States, in Texas.  At Big Bend National Park, the river takes a sharp turn of almost 90 degrees, towards the north east (a big bend) for about 70 miles before gradually resuming it’s south easterly flow.