Not to state the obvious, but Texas is a really big
state! It seemed to take us all day to
drive from Garner State Park to Marathon, which is forty miles north of the
entrance to Big Bend National Park. Many
people dread such drives, with not much more than the desert to look at. I actually enjoy driving through the desert
and looking at the subtleties of the landscape.
As we drove from east to west, the vegetation became
progressively smaller in size, giving way to scrub brush and cacti. The terrain is by no means flat. The hills give way to canyons, and mountains
are visible in the distance. At Del Rio,
we passed through a portion of Amistad National Recreation Area. Although I was tempted to stop to get a
National Park passport stamp, I knew that would be cheating since we did not
have time to actually visit the park.
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Amistad National Recreation Area |
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Lots of Recreation Opportunities at Amistad |
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Crossing Amistad Reservoir |
We also encountered our first checkpoint of the trip just
west of Del Rio. No matter how you feel
about illegal immigration or drug trafficking, going through a checkpoint can
be a somewhat unsettling experience. The
Border Patrol agents and their dog, however, were very nice and just waved us
on.
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Our First Border Patrol Checkpoint |
The farther west we drove, the more the traffic thinned
out, and we often drove for miles without seeing another car. This part of Texas is a very desolate place,
but beautiful in its own right.
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A Windmill on the Landscape |
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Pecos River |
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It's Not Completely Flat Here |
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Hills in the Distance |
We will be entering Big Bend National Park tomorrow
morning and have campground reservations for three nights. We understand that there is no cellphone
reception, let alone internet service, so I will be unable to post any entries
for at least three days. Once we leave
the park, I’m not sure when we will be connected again. So please be patient, and I promise that I
will catch you up on all of our adventures at what I expect to be an absolutely
incredible national park.
Have a great stay at Big Bend! Looking forward to your next blog and pictures. LV
ReplyDeleteLV, Thanks. I can't believe I'm finally going to Big Bend! We will get back to the blog in a few days. Sarah
DeleteSo glad you got there. I knew you want to go there when we talked in Colorado. Get used to the desert, you have a lot more to go thru. We will be able to meet you in borrego Springs of you want
ReplyDeleteI actually enjoy the desert and am looking forward to seeing more of it on our way to seeing you. We'd love to meet you in Borrego Springs. Sarah
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