San Antonio, Nuevo Laredo, Bird Island Basin

2009-08-06~12: I met my cousin Dave at his home in San Antonio. I hadn't seen him in years, so long ago that I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him. I knew nearly nothing about him. In fact, this only happened since my mom suggested it, and then sort of set it up on the fly. I was a bit nervous as I hadn't made any plans past San Antonio.

It turned out that he's incredibly easy to get along with. He's former Army, and an outdoorsman, artist, adventurer, and much more. Over the course of four days, we toured the the parts of San Antonio that everyone knows about, like the River Walk, as well as the out-of-the way, quiet streets and neighborhoods of the city.

I had expressed my intent to go to Mexico, more or less just to be able to say I had. We went to Nuevo Laredo. He was able to provide helpful advice for dealing with the border towns, advice such as: walk in instead of driving in; avoid the Federales; be careful of everything. I had hoped to buy a useful souvenir like a hat or blanket, but sadly, every shop there had the same undesirable goods, all imported from China. I used my very basic knowledge of Spanish to find a post office and buy some stamps and currency, which actually make decent souvenirs. It seems the drug related violence has destroyed the culture of the border towns.

Later we went kayaking on the Guadalupe River in low water. I capsized more than once but learned a few things to avoid. Finally, on our fifth day, we went to Bird Island Basin, part of Padre Island National Seashore. We were facing Laguna Madre, a strangely shallow body of salt water. We paddled a kayak, grilled, drank beer, fished, birdwatched, and camped until the sun set, and watched as little crabs crawled out of the sand to patrol the beach after dark. The pace of our activities left little time to take photos in the past few days, but at Bird Island Basin I was able to get quite a few. The next day we drove over onto the gulf side and took in the ocean and waded out into the beautifully colored and pleasantly warm water. We drove onto the beach and over the sand, which I thought was particularly fun. Finally we parted and I continued on my journey, ready to begin the next chapter - the Deep South.
 

Big Bend National Park

2009-08-05: Big Bend was unbelievably hot. I thought I knew what a hot day was, but this was beyond anything else I'd experienced. It was easily 110° F and there was no breeze and no shade anywhere. Nonetheless, I wanted to cross the Rio Grande into Mexico by foot. I wanted to see the Chihuahuan Desert. I had plenty of water and the will to endure. The park was nearly empty when I arrived and the staff seemed surprised that anyone would be there in August.

A sign was prominently posted informing people of what would happen if they crossed the Rio Grande. If you set foot in Mexico, and then tried to cross back into Texas anywhere but an actual border crossing, you would be subject to arrest and imprisonment. Furthermore, if you bought anything that the local Mexicans were selling, it was contraband, and you would also be subject to up to a year in prison, all of this by order of President Bush. I was disappointed.

I went to find a campsite in the empty campground and found a shady spot. As soon as I left my vehicle I was swarmed by literally half a hundred mosquitoes. I swatted them as fast as I could and sprayed insect repellent on myself, but they kept coming. I jumped back into the car and decided that I could find somewhere to camp in the sun to avoid them. It would be brutal for sure, but I could just lounge around until dusk. The mosquitoes were waiting for me again. I packed up my things and decided that was enough. I drove to a few of the sites at the park and took a look at Mexico from across the Rio Grande, which was actually quite small, little more than a muddy stream, it seemed. At one place, across from Boquillas de Carmen, there were some little scorpion sculptures made from twisted copper wire, and a can for money. I was hailed from across the river by a Mexican asking me to buy one. I shouted back "¡Es contraband! Lo siento...".

The park had a place for laundry and showers so I took advantage of those services. Outside, roadrunners loitered in the shade, but even they looked to be suffering from the heat. I left in the early evening, pointing my vehicle toward San Antonio where I would meet my cousin, who I'd not seen in decades. I knew I'd have to stop somewhere to sleep. On the way out, I got stopped by the Border Patrol who wanted to make sure I wasn't hiding any people in the back of my car. They were polite and not accusatory and I appreciated that. My GPS would have had me head toward Ciudad Acuña, but given the waves of drug related violence, it seemed like a bad idea to have to stop anywhere near there. So I planned a route along some rural highways.

Later that night, on an otherwise empty desert highway, I noticed a flash of movement in my headlights and tried to brake as quickly as I could, but unfortunately I ran right over several rabbits. There were dozens of them in the road. I braked and swerved as much as I could but they just didn't move fast enough if at all. About 30 miles from my destination I saw police lights in my rear view mirror and prepared for the worst, as always. Thankfully it was the Border Patrol again, and they were confused as to why anyone would use this road; apparently, it hardly sees any traffic ever. They didn't even ask to search my vehicle which was unusual for me. I made it to I-10 and found a rest stop and was much relieved to sleep.

 

Western Texas

2009-08-05: Western Texas is dry and mostly ranch land. I stopped for fuel at a dusty gas station in Pecos. A rough looking Hispanic cowboy, an actual cowboy, not a suburban imitator, asked about why I was there, but not in a hostile way. They probably did not have a lot of visitors, at least not from Illinois. I gave him a summary of what I had done and what I had yet to do, and managed to get a smile and a well-wishing. The temperature began to rise as I made for Big Bend National Park.

Better Photo Posting

It looks like Blogger now allows more than 5 photos per post. I won't have to split them up any more. That's nice.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

2009-08-04: I was lucky enough to arrive at the park and get ready minutes before another elevator descent was scheduled. The elevator seemed normal enough, until it began to gather speed, as bare rock went silently rushing by, visible through the windows. Then the operator said "Ah, of course. I'll get the lights." The other passengers expected more light. But the dim interior lights were shut off and only the exterior lights illuminated the surrounding shaft. We dropped 750 feet in not even one minute.

Then the doors opened and I beheld a world unlike any other. There was no way to relate it to anything else. The air was cool and slightly damp. There were strange new odors everywhere. Overhead was nothing but stone. I walked casually through the gloom and over and over had my breath taken away by the sheer beauty of the rock formations. Thousands of years of nothing but drops of mineral laden water had formed landscapes full of spires of surreal beauty. It was almost hard to believe this was still my home planet. I considered how wonderful things like this may be under our feet in many parts of this world, and we would never know it.

My concentration skills were thoroughly tested as I hadn't taken my tripod with me and had to brace myself and my camera for the long exposures required for good photos.

I ascended back into the world above and felt as if I might have been leaving Hades. My fortuitous timing continued, and I took a seat in the outdoor amphitheater to watch the bats exit the caverns at dusk. The park rangers talked about bats for a while, and had a device that would make a "tick" sound every time it detected a bat exiting the cave. Tick...tick....tick tick tick and then a roar of sound. The rangers quickly turned it off leaving breathless stillness. A cloud of thousands of bats erupted from the cave opening in eerie silence, and they spiraled up into the sky. Just then the moon was rising and I watched at the spiral climbed higher, seemingly reaching for the moon itself.