{texas cont'd}
With mixed emotions, it was time to say my goodbyes in Houston and continue on with my trip. I spent Friday night in Katy with Caitlyn & her family, where we stayed up wayyy too late sewing and chatting! The next morning we all went out for brunch at a local cafe. Through the course of conversation I mentioned that if Caitlyn wasn't up to anything she should just come to San Antonio with me.. so she did! We went back to her place to quickly get her packed, then hit the road!
We got into San Antonio mid-afternoon and went directly to the riverwalk to explore that area. It's very quaint with lots of pretty little details; it was a busy day along the river but we enjoyed the sights regardless. After a bit of a walk around, we decided to do the river cruise, which was a narrated half-hour ride along the canals.
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| San Antonio Riverwalk |
Caitlyn made arrangements to meet some friends of hers for dinner, so after our river cruise we headed to their home on the north side of San Antonio where we had dinner with Blake & Collin, their parents Tom & Tammi, their grandparents & an aunt. They cooked a delicious meal and we had a great evening with them. Blake & Collin were getting ready for a concert the next day, so they played us some tunes that evening - Blake on the viola and Collin on the guitar. Tom & Tammi invited us to stay there for the evening, so Caitlyn and I camped out in their driveway!
After church the next morning, we had a delicious lunch together (best stuffed bell peppers!) and then Caitlyn & I took the scenic route towards Blanco where the concert would be. We saw some longhorn cattle along the way & made a quick stop off at a state park, but decided to not rush through and come back later. The concert was full of incredible talent and I was glad we had gone; Blake played the viola/violin, Collin played the guitar/violin, and another man played the cello. For the second half a lady joined them on the violin to play as a quartet and they played a really lovely series of songs by the Danish String Quartet.
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| Texas Longhorn Cattle |
After the concert, we said our goodbyes and headed back to Guadalupe River State Park. It seemed to be a popular place to be on a warm Sunday evening, and we thoroughly enjoyed wading in the river while eating popsicles! We spent the night camped out at the local Walmart, to give Caitlyn a true vanlife experience..
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| Goodpops; my new sunny-day obsession |
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| Guadalupe River State Park |
Monday morning I took Caitlyn to the bus stop for her ride back to Houston, then headed to the Alamo for a look around. It certainly has an interesting history, but the fame of the name and the reality of the place didn't quite match in my mind. Either way I had a good look around, went through the church and watched the short history film.
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| the Alamo mission church |
I headed off mid-morning towards Fredericksburg, which is a quaint german village with lots of boutique shops and grocers (cured meats & preserves, mostly). It was a lot of fun to shop around and see some of the unique items there. From there across to Fort Stockton was a very uneventful drive without too much to see, where I spent the night in the busiest Walmart-turned-RV-park yet - over 25 trailers & camper vans!
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| Fredericksburg boutiques |
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| The most beautifully displayed fabric store, Fredericksburg |
I had a great sleep and a slow morning, then discovered as I went to leave that my battery was flat. Thankfully I had booster cables and a man nearby realized my predicament and brought his car over to give me a boost. I had planned to go the remaining two hours down to Big Bend National Park and spend the majority of my day there, but was faced with the dilemma of whether to proceed or get my battery checked out. Knowing that Big Bend is quite remote, I opted to get my battery looked at and discovered that the cold cranking amps were about 20% of what they should have been. Thankfully the folks at Advanced Auto Parts had a battery in stock, and even installed it free of charge! The battery sits under a support bar, so I was glad they had the tools and were able to change it. It was nearly noon by the time I got on the road, but I would soon discover that there was a 1.5 hr time change to my advantage, so I got into Big Bend around noon too! The drive down was flat desert but I kept seeing mounds of dug-up dirt and eventually realized they were gopher holes!
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| Getting a new battery installed |
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| Gophers! |
In anticipation of more National Parks to come, I got myself an annual pass (only $80 versus a $25 single admission!), a park map, and started planning out my time. It was quite a hot day and I didn't have a lot of the day left, so I headed towards Rio Grande Village to get myself a campsite, then headed off for the short Boquillas canyon hike. The Rio Grande is quite shallow and narrow, so Mexico is very close by. I saw one Mexican man cross the river on his donkey, coming to check on his wares. They aren't legally allowed to cross or sell things in the US, but they set up their walking sticks (or whatever they are selling) with a little jar along the hiking trail, and they keep a close eye on it. There is a very strong border patrol presence in the area as well, so they are certainly taking a big risk to make their living.
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| Welcome to Big Bend! |
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| Boquillas Canyon (USA on the left, Mexico on the right) |
After a very hot hike into the canyon, I headed towards the hot springs for another short hike and soak there. There's an old abandoned resort on the hike in, and then the hot springs sit right on the Rio Grande. They would have felt amazing on a cooler day, but I ended up spending most of my time in the river. I got a little freaked out when someone mentioned snakes, but I never saw any so it was quite refreshing and enjoyable.
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| Abandoned hot springs resort |
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| Rio Grande Hot Springs |
The next day I got up early to head to Chisos Basin to do the window hike ahead of the heat of the day. I failed to take into account the weather forecast and the fact that up in the mountains is always cooler, so there wasn't actually any rush. I started off on the 7.5km hike, and hiked steadily downhill through desert, past beautiful flowering cactus & boulders until I eventually reached the canyon that ends at the window! I was surprised by how high I still was, with a sweeping view out across the desert valley. The hike back was naturally uphill, the whole way, but it was well worth it.
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| Hiking to the window |
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| "The Window" |
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| Flowering cactus |
After a little break and a picnic lunch at the Chisos Basin visitor's centre, I headed north to the Grapevine Hills trail, which leads to the balanced rock. I am convinced that the 6-mile drive along the very rough dirt road in was the most challenging part of the whole hike. Seeing the balanced rock was neat, and makes you wonder how it ever got there. I also saw a very colourful little gecko-like creature - nature is so full of surprises and awe-inspiring sights!
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| Balanced Rock! |
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| Colorful gecko |
I continued around to the west side of the park along the very scenic Ross Maxwell scenic drive, and found myself a campsite at the much smaller Cottonwood campground. I still had a couple hours of daylight, so I drove down to Santa Elena Canyon, which is the deepest canyon along the Rio Grande with 1500 ft. limestone walls. You can hike partway up the American side of the canyon, then down again to the river's edge within the canyon, which was very neat. You can wade up the river, but the water is very silted and there are clear warning signs of the consequences of illegally entering Mexico; the international border is defined as the deepest part of the river, which is difficult to determine until you've passed it!
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| Santa Elena Canyon (Mexico on the left & USA on the right) |
The next morning it was a couple hours of driving through questionably habitable land and another hour time change before I rejoined civilization in Alpine. It was a short drive further up to Fort Davis, which is a fort along the strategic Chihuahua Trail which was used during the Indian Wars from 1854 until 1891.
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| Fort Davis National Historic Site |
Balhormea State Park was another short drive north, which features the world's largest spring-fed swimming pool. After a few days in the desert, diving into the fresh spring water was very refreshing! I spent a couple hours there enjoying the pool and swimming laps.. like three.. it's a massive pool from end to end! The fish helped with the motivation to keep moving. My favourite part was the depth tiles on the poolside which read '3ft to 25ft'.. it's somewhere in there!
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| Balhormea State Park |
J.
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