Month: February 2016

It was hard, but we finally said goodbye to Big Bend National Park. We’d been in the park for fourteen nights, staying in all three of the organized campgrounds. Each wonderful in different ways, and I would definitely go back. But time moves on, and so must we. So we spent our final night watching the sun go down, then packed up early to head off towards the Gulf.

Our route to the coast is over 900 km, so we have to break it up into a few days of travel. We also needed to do laundry, and apparently there was some comment from the silent partner here about me needing a shower (she may have said “desperately needing…”), so we decided to move back into a motel for a couple of nights.

We found a cheap, not-so-sleazy, motel in Del Rio. It had all the requisites: cheap room with fridge and microwave, free parking and wifi, and a guest laundry. Unfortunately it also had a rather stinky air conditioner, and it appeared they were running a daycare out of the rooms beside us and above us. Kids were running and screaming and banging doors all the live-long day. Good thing most of them were pretty cute. And they quieted down by evening, so all was well.

Driving to Del Rio turned into a bit of an adventure. By noonish the wind had picked up to over 40K with gusts a lot higher, which is very hard to drive in. My bike’s mileage dropped by 1/3rd, and I was hard-pressed to maintain anything close to the speed limit (75 mph!). By the time we got to Del Rio I was done. It was nice to spend two nights, despite the kids and the stinky air conditioner.

Confession #1: We went to Walmart. I know ... shameful. What can I say; it was the only grocery store a round. It was either that or go back to Applebee's for dinner again, and one night there was enough.

We pulled out of Del Rio and carried on towards the Gulf. Because of the distance, we still had one more urban over-nighter to make before getting to the coast and our next campsite. We chose Cottula for its location (shooting distance to the coast), size (3,500 people), and it’s cheap rooms. Why they are so cheap became obvious once we arrived; there is a HUGE number of hotels/motels here.

Confession #2: We ate at McDonald's. I know ... shameful. It was even my idea. In my defence, we had few options and I was hungry. Besides, they have free wifi, and the meal wasn't actually that bad. My chicken sandwich was on-par with any mid-level restaurant, and it was pretty cheap. So maybe I'm a now a fan of McDickie.

We had checked them out online, and decided to just wing-it and look for a cheap place once we got there. On the map there was this large collection of hotels, so we drove in. It looks like they are all pretty new, and all built about the same time. We checked into a Holiday Inn (which is usually way out of our price range) and got a great room for a very modest price. It’s so nice, and the wind is so strong, we decided to stay another night.

Turns out the reason there are so many hotels in such a small, and out-of-the-way place, is all about the oil. Wikipedia tells me Cortulla has 23 hotels and many other motels. Why? Because: “Cotulla falls within the second largest oil-producing region of the United States. Cotulla houses the largest sand fracking facility in North America.”

Of course with the drop in oil, it’s all going bust now. We’re in this largish hotel and we might be one of only a 1/2-dozen guests. At this point I haven’t actually seen any other guests. Maybe we’re alone!

Funny thing… when I went outside to take the panorama of all the hotels I was accosted by an employee. She approached and asked me, “Why are you taking pictures here?” I asked her, “Why are you asking me why I’m taking pictures?” She started to mumble something about security, which I pushed back on, so she finally admitted that they thought I was from the City, and was photographing their bylaw violations. They were letting trucks drive over the curb and park on the lawn/ground right beside a City sign that said something like “NO DRIVING ON THE CURB OR PARKING ON THE LAWN.” When she learned I was just some silly tourist we became best of friends.

Tomorrow, wind allowing, we plan to drive to the Gulf coast and move back into our tent at Padre Island National Seashore Park. Padre Island is a barrier island along the coast here. There is cheap to free camping, and we can apparently set up in an organized campground, or if the bikes can manage, drive out on the beach and pitch our tent anywhere above the surf line. Hmmmm, I wonder how big the tides are 🙂

After saying goodbye to Linda and Roger and Rascal we decided to stay at Rio Grande Village campground another three nights. It’s hard to leave a place that is beautiful and warm, with good services and relatively cheap fees — so we stayed.

It gave us a chance to do a hike together that I had planned from the first day, and then Ann did it by herself, and this broke my poor whittle heart b/c I was saving it for just us, and I shed a tear trying to be strong telling her it was OK, but secretly I was all broken up inside… and then she smacked me and said stop being such an annoying brat for trying to make her feel bad, which is what I was really trying to do 😉 …

Ummm, what was I saying …? Oh yah, we went on a nice hike together 😉

 

The walk took us up to a grand lookout of the area, as well as down  to the Rio Grande River. Mexico is an easy stone’s toss from here. Border protections are around, but not in your face. We were warned about purchasing any Mexican trinkets while on our hikes, and we did indeed come across a cache of stuff.

There were prices on the walking sticks and metal twisty doodads, along with a jar to put our money in. We even followed a non-identified trail to the water that came to an easy river crossing point. It was clear (from the poop) that burros and people come across here, presumably to service the cache points. While it’s technically illegal to buy stuff this way, it’s clear the US authorities turn a blind eye to the activity. Nice, since it’s also clear tourist dollars are the primary income for the people of Boquillas.

On our last night at Rio Grande we were invited by camping neighbours Dan & Lindsay to a wonderful dinner of steak, potatoes and Mexican corn at their fancy trailer. Turns out they are both motorcycle and scooter people AND sailors who have lived aboard for seven years. They saw us driving our little bikes, noticed the Ontario license plates, and had to find out more. We heard about their adventures travelling the country with trailer and off-road motorcycles. And we told them about our little bike travel, and our pending sailing life. It was grand fun with great people!

After final morning showers we did finally move down the road, and up the mountains, into Chisos campground. And what a spectacular site it is!

We arrived on Thursday just ahead of another American long weekend (I thought these people had no holidays!). We lucked out and found a stunning campsite at the end of the grounds, overlooking the caldera valley that Chisos is located in. We’re literally surrounded by mountains which are the  remains of massive volcanic activity some many millions of years ago.

 

It’s also home to the very tame and very cute road runners.

 

 

 

In addition to the campground Chisos  valley also houses a store, a  motel and a rather nice restaurant/bar, complete with free wifi. We used our recently-past 28th anniversary as a good excuse to treat ourselves to a fine meal. It was grand. We used the same excuse on Valentines Day to have yet another yummy meal. Ann was presented with a red rose as we walked in, and which she kept for a few days. Of course I was presented with the bill at the end of the meal … Sexism sure cuts both ways.

                      

Although we originally booked in for three nights at Chisos, we easily extended it to six. The days have been summery, and the nights are warmer than in the other two Big Bend campgrounds despite being up nearly 5,000 feet. The scenery is stunning, and the living is easy here, so staying seemed like the right choice.

As usual, we also met some great people. Sally and Jim were camped at the site beside us. We got to chatting over a couple of nights, and a couple (or three, or four) glasses of wine. They have converted a large van into a travel van, and are planning to explore the US and Canada over the coming months. It’s great to learn how other people are doing things, and to get to know fun and interesting new people.

While at Chisos I did what I do best, which was basically sitting around all day reading. Ann, being far more active and adventurous, went on a great 3.6 mile hike out to the “window”, which is an opening through the caldera that overlooks the flatter lands below.

 

   

We settled in for the nights, meeting new people, and generally just relaxing with good food, warm weather and good books.

 

 

 

   

  

Tomorrow we plan to move on. We’re still aiming for the Gulf, but that will take at least two to three days of travel for us, and the camping looks sparse along the way. We’ll likely be moteling it for a few days, but I guess we’ve earned a bit of luxury after nearly two weeks sleeping on the ground.

The wind that had left us stuck in Marfa for two extra days finally let  up enough, so we packed our bags (again) and headed south to Big Bend National Park where our new but already good friends, Linda and Roger (and Rascal) were waiting. The last night in El I’m too funky to be so hip Cosmico campground turned out to be the coldest night yet, hitting -10.7 ºC that night. So the choice to move into one of their over-priced “safari tents” turned out to be a good choice. We awoke to frozen food (zucchini) and ice on our covers. But the  heated bed, and Ann’s snuggles, kept me warm and toasty.

The drive to Big Bend was pretty easy. We stopped along the way for lunch, finding a food truck called Cow Dog, which served the most delectable hot dogs I’ve ever had (sorry Sam). Arriving in Cottonwood campground (one of three organized campgrounds in Big Bend) we reconnected with Roger and Linda, had another dinner courtesy of Linda’s great cooking, drank too many margaritas (Ann’s fault 😉 ), and made plans to do a hike the next day.

The next morning we had our typical slow breakfast and coffee, then piled in Vanna and drove to the start of the Santa Elena Canyon trail. The hike took us a short distance into a very deep and beautiful gorge along the Rio Grande River which marks the border here between the USA and Mexico. It was simply amazing.

The short path started with a switchback climb to a lookout, and then went back down, following the American side of the canyon. We took our time, taking plenty of pics, and just taking in the beauty of the place.

 

Back at camp we connected with another fast-friend by the name of Robert McNamara (no, not that Robert McNamara … at least, I don’t think so). Bob is travelling the country in his very stylish Airstream following the recent death of his long-time wife. Bob is one of those incredibly gregarious and kind people whom you can’t help but immediately enjoy. He reminds me (and Ann) of our other friend Chester (Chet), whom we had hoped to connect with in Mexico, but sadly won’t this year.

Anyway, Linda and Roger had met Bob before we arrived, and we all connected over Linda’s great cooking and great conversation. Bob not only travels in Airstream style, but he also carries with him an assortment of toys, including a kayak. He suggested we all spend the following day taking turns paddling the canyon that we had just hiked. It was an easy sell, so the next day we loaded back into Vanna and went back down to Stanta Elena Canyon and spent the day paddling and playing around the Rio Grande.

 

The following day we said goodbye to Bob who was carrying on west, while the rest of us agreed to meet up again in the main campground over at Rio Grande Village. Roger and Linda arrived early while we diverted back up to a nearby town to resupply. We met up with Rascal’s parents later that evening after another fascinating drive through this dry and interesting land.

 

This campground is right next to a border crossing to Boquillas in Mexico. This crossing, like all the other crossings along the Park, was closed following the  attacks of 9/11. I can only imagine how  economically devastating this must have been to the Mexican border towns which likely relied on US tourism for their existence. But the Boquillas crossing has recently been re-opened to foot traffic, so we decided to once again venture south to Mexico.

We drove down in Vanna and parked at US Customs. We were reminded about what we could not bring back, and also told the crossing closes at 5 pm, so we’d better be back before then. We then walked the short way down to the Rio Grande River, where our rowboat chariot awaited us. We all climbed in for the minute-long row across the border.

 

After paying the ferryman ($5/person for a return ticket) we were given  our options to get into the actual town of Boquillas, which is about 1 mile away. We could walk, take a pickup truck, ride a horse or climb aboard a burro. We all opted to make asses of ourselves, and climbed (or were assisted) up into the burro’s saddle.

 

Although I normally dislike having more than one brain operating any vehicle I’m driving, my burro required little guidance from me (thankfully). It dutifully plodded its way up the trail all the way to town. We had been assigned a guide named Martin, and he helped us all get through Mexican customs, and then gave us a grand tour of his little town which he was rightly proud of.

 

Boquillas had clearly suffered decline, I’m assuming during the closed-border period. There has been some major new improvements of late, including a new school, a hospital, and a solar power generating station that provided electricity for the whole town. But overall, the town looks rather impoverished.

 

 

I have little experience with so-called “third world” living. I suppose Boquillas would qualify for this category. The town was harsh and rough. The homes and buildings outside of the new  government ones, and the two clearly-tourista restaurants, were simple and course. The roads were haphazard and dirt (not even gravelled), and there were many buildings that were simply abandoned and falling down. But there was plenty to be proud of, including our guide Martin’s home, which was simple and beautiful (and he was clearly proud of it).

         

We ended our time in Boquillas with a fine Mexican lunch of tamales and enchiladas, all washed down with individually unique margaritas, each one seemed to have varying amounts of Tequila, ranging from none, to Wholly Schmolly! We ended our visit as it began, with a burro ride back to  the river, and then a short ferry ride over to America.

Linda and Roger are heading to Dallas to meet his sister-in-law and hopefully get a new cover for their air conditioner (which blew off in the Marfa wind storm). We spent a last night with them, drinking one too many a margarita (again, Ann’s fault) and enjoying our time together.

A final breakfast of pancakes (we finally cooked for them!), and a last goodbye and we are once again left to our own. I know we’ll stay in touch, and might even meet up again later. There was talk of connecting in Newfoundland (assuming we get there with out boat), but I know this is only a temporary goodbye. We will connect again.

For now, Ann and I are staying put in Big Bend. We plan to stay here at the main campground for a couple more nights, then probably head up into the hills to try out the last campsite at Chisos Mountain. After that we expect to carry on eastish, heading for the Gulf … but who knows where we’ll end up and who we’ll meet. A lovely couple on off-road motorcycles stopped by our site to introduce themselves, saying they had a long history riding scooters AND living seven years on a sailboat. They were impressed with our journey, and they invited us for dinner tonight, so the fun carries on!

BTW, Ann and I celebrated our 28th Anniversary yesterday over a fine feed of jalapino spiced wieners, instant hash browns, fried onions and garlic, and stir-fried frozen zucchini and tomatoes. All of this washed down and toasted with fine boxed wine. What could be a better Anniversary!

We left our cheap motel in El Paso and headed down the highway to Marfa. We had to use the Interstate highway, so the ride was fast and furious, with lots of fast moving cars and trucks. The highway speed limit actually hit 80 MPH — that’s nearly 130 km/hr, which really meant everyone was driving closer to 90 or 100 mph. And that included the transport trucks! Add to this a pretty high wind, and long stretches of scraped pavement, and it was a ride not to be repeated.

Luckily we arrived to our destination of Marfa without any problems. We found our way to El Cosmico, which is a campground just outside of town. It’s a rather pretentious, completely artificial, too-cool-to-be-real, kinda place. It offers a “roughing it” experience, seemingly aimed at 20-something “hipsters.” You can stay in old parked RVs, canvas army-style tents, teepees, or yurts. They’re all decked out with comfy beds, electricity and the RVs have water and showers. They also offer basic camping (for $15/person), which is why we’re here.

Actually, it’s wasn’t all that bad. Just felt rather fake. But the main building had coffee in the morning, and sold beer for the evening. It even had free wifi, which turned out to be a blessing on our third day when a windstorm blew in and left us unable to ride our bikes. They also had outdoor communal kitchen and showers, which was wonderful to use after dark. The water was hot, and you could stare up into the stars while scrubbing the grime off. Cool, eh 😉

 

The town of Marfa is kinda interesting. There are a number of art galleries and interesting shops and restaurants. Unfortunately not very much was open when we were there, even though this is apparently the busy season. The town itself has the feel of decline, with a lot of businesses bordered up and vacant. Walk a bit off the main drag and you encountered gutted and dilapidated houses. All in all it had a pretty rough and declining feeling.

 

Despite this, it was still an interesting place to stay. And stay we did… We originally booked in for two nights, but the morning we planned to leave had a forecast of winds over 30 knots, with gusts going much higher. There were RED wind warnings all over, so we decided to stay another night.

 

 

It’s a good thing we did. The wind kept increasing to the point where we feared for our tent. It wasn’t just blowing hard, it was picking up all the dust and grit from the desert. It was an honest-to-goodness dust storm! The dirt was everywhere; in your hair and eyes, in your clothes, and even inside our closed tent!

 

 

 

 

We’re hoping the wind will let up tomorrow so we can drive the couple 100 km down to Big Bend National Park. We’re trying to meet up with Linda and Roger and Rascal again. Tonight will be another cold, and blustery one. But at least there’s beer!

ADDENDUM: The wind continued to build to a howlin’ gale. Our tent was doing OK until branches from a nearby tree cracked off, hitting our tent and tearing a hole in the fly. It’s not too bad, and at least it’s over the vestibule area. We have some patching material, so we’re in search of a nylon adhesive.

We awoke today with plans to get going to Big Bend. Overnight was another cold one, and it wasn’t much warmer by later morning. Still, we packed up and tried to beat the building wind, but it was all for naught. The wind once again was blowin’ a gale by 10 am, so we’ve opted to stay here one more night. This time we’re treating ourselves to a “safari tent”, which is really just a square canvas tent. But it comes with a bed, lighting, and an electric mattress heater. Nice, since the forecast calls for -6ºC tonight.

We used the communal cookhouse again today to cook up a batch of Ann’s World Famous Beans. They had a sign board there, so while Ann cooked I left a message: