After a very hot night, we decided we need places to camp that we can plug into electricity and use the air conditioning….at least Judy decided this.
Not quite the Smokey Mts. in Big Bend
We got up fairly early and drove to take a short hike down Boquillas Canyon. This trail goes down to and along the Rio Grande River, until it reaches canyon walls. All along the trail, we saw small heaps of painted walking sticks, beaded figures and metal work that have been brought across the river from the small town of Boquillas, Mexico. Each heap had a jar to put money into, and a price list. The park service newspaper mentions this, and warns that people may approach you to sell you things. They tell you that the Mexicans can be arrested and the items confiscated, so please don’t encourage them. We were only approached by one older gentleman who could have been “singing Victor”, a man who sings in the canyon for entertainment.
Trinkets for sale from the Mexican village across the river
Last night we spent a bit of time talking to Peter and Karen, as we mentioned on yesterday’s blog. They encouraged us to see another part of the park, the Chisos Basin, which has beautiful mountain views. We were tempted, especially by cooler temperatures, but decided we wanted to spend more time elsewhere, so we left the park and drove east. (Sorry, Karen, we’ll leave that area for our next visit to Big Bend. We always leave ourselves something to come back for!)
Unusual sight for us--cactus and trees together!
So, we headed east on highway 90, passing untold miles of cactus and sand and scrub brush. Occasionally we’d see a few head of cattle, even some long horns, but it seemed mostly to be unused and unusable land. When we crossed the Pecos River we did see the greenest river we’d ever seen. Perhaps it was because we were so used to seeing brown rivers in the Northwest and gray rivers in Alaska.
cool (and shady) canyon on our walk
that's the border too
We drove through a few small towns…some very small. All had boarded up shops and crumbling houses, at least along the highway. The biggest town we came to was Del Rio, so we stopped there for gas and groceries before coming to our stopping place tonight. (Fort Clark Springs) Yeah for electric hookups and air conditioning!
One other thing worth mentioning…..Our route has been along the border for the most part. We have seen lots of border patrol police along the highways, some driving very slowly along the shoulders, looking intently at the ground. And there are roadblocks and checks, even on the interstate. All vehicles must stop. A guard asks, “how many people are in your vehicle? Are you all US citizens?” Sometimes they ask where are you from and where are you going. So far, we’ve not been asked for IDs. We know they are taking pictures of each vehicle, and wonder if they are also scanning us with heat seeking equipment, looking for stowaways or something. It seems so weird to us, and almost illegal at that, to be stopped on an interstate or highway for a citizen check. But we don’t argue, as we want to be on our way.
Green Pecos River
Harris says our total miles today was only 276…seemed a lot longer!
No comments:
Post a Comment