Historical Del Rio, TX...not just BASS fishing y'all

We have spent the better part of 2 full weeks here in Del Rio, TX. Besides being across the Rio Grande from Acuna MX, Del Rio lies just south of the Amistad National Recreation Area - that includes a BIG , as in 50+ bass fishing competitions per year big, fishing hole.

We hadn't planned on being here this long, but a family illness/passing provided a very good reason to park ourselves. Once all that family business was tended to, we started to look around. Del Rio is interesting...

The Val Verde Winery was established in 1880, by Italian immigrants, it is the only oldest survivor of 25 original winery's in Texas, still held and operated by family on a street lined with very old pecan trees and fabulous Italian influenced homes.

And if you drive down Pecan street you actually come to the end of the road and the "FENCE".... and while much of it isn't shown here, we were stunned to see this stop short....so does one just swing around the end to immigrate? It is a source of some irritation for Mike - amusement and wonder on mine. "Let's build a fence - and stop short".

 

 

This gorgeous painting is located within the small chapel  at Whitehead Museum.

Whitehead Museum
 

Museum sign(s)

This beautiful piece is actually a fold-up bed - stunning.

 

 

A gorgeous Victrola...

 

Turn of the 20th century icebox...YIKES!

      

 

 

This is Pepe...he lives in the museum office, along with 4 other parrot ....apparently he bites.

 

 

No, we did not cross the border - even though it was a mere 8 miles away. We asked a number of people about "over there" and no one trashed it, but they didn't say - yes, you should do that. Most of the tourist shops no longer exist, restaurants are now inside Del Rio and while there are still dentists that provide good services, the Mexican Mafia control the town. They are the law. Thank you but I'll just spend my money here locally in Del Rio.

 

We are on our way to the Alamo tomorrow....giddy-up!

 

~ Adios

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A jewel in West Texas...canyons and pictroglyphs...

We discovered this jewel when looking for a place to park that was close to Del Rio....with a border town  just a short 2.8 miles to the West, you just would not know there were some of the best preserved pictroglyphs that we have seen during our travels.

 

 

Seminole Canyon, located on US 90, roughly 40 miles north of Del Rio Texas...high up on the rim of the canyon, the two nights we were there we experienced high winds. According to the park host...it is windy there much of the time. It was also on the cool side the day we decided to take the afternoon guided tour of the canyon pictographs.



 

The Maker of Peace

 While we were waiting for the canyon tour guides to appear we went for a walk around the grounds of the visitor center and came upon this beautiful bronze sculpture of the "Ancient Ones"...or how many of the pictroglyphs found in the canyon was incorporated into this art piece.  This photo does not do it justice for sure. It is so large that you can't get close enough to get a good shot of it.

 

sign says it all

 

The canyon hikes requires a guide, however there is a 7 mi /rt canyon rim trail that you can take alone and they also have volunteer guides that have scheduled hikes offered during the week.

Descriptive panels line the shelter trail

 The photo below is captured in the panel above....Paintings by Forrest Kirkland - "In 1934, Forrest developed his technique for copying the pictographs: careful measurement and scaling, pencil sketching, and then water coloring with matching colors. He didn't paint anything he couldn't see. His vision to preserve the rock art of Texas in watercolor became a mission. He would paint and Lula, his partner, would drive, scout, photograph, sketch, and cook. Lula performed most of the chores because Forrest's heart was weakened from childhood Rheumatic fever. "

 

 



 

 

With time, weather and early collectors of artifacts, the visual completeness of some of these pictroglyphs would be lost if not for Kirkland's artistry. 

 

The several shelters we were able to visit during our 90 min hike captures just some of the history of the "Ancient Ones" .... who actually traveled through this canyon and used has not been determined.

 

~ Ciao

 

 

The mess of weather we found in Texas

 

It's been a wild 2 weeks for sure. We left Tucson at the end of December searching for warmer weather in Texas...many had told us that the secret source of heat came from a glowing yellow orb that hung out along the border of Texas and Mexico. We were intrigued, due in large part to having spent most of December in the cold town of Tucson and frankly, we were tired of fighting the temperature as it continued to drop. I mean, we spent some cash last spring installing solar panels on this tin-house darn it! We want to use the power it is suppose to be generating....

First stop Balmorhea State Park. Population 479...

One day in we receive the blessing of 9" of snow

 

Nice 'hot springs' pool is located here. Nope, no shining yellow orb or warmth could be found!

 

Once the roads were clear we departed for the Davis Mt State Park and Fort Davis NP, hoping that moving even 50 miles down the road would provide more Sun and heat, and they stood between us and Big Bend National Park - our original goal. Little did we know that during the second evening in the park....snow fell. Again with the cold, damp weather..

  

Davis Mt State Park

If you get to Fort Davis, stop into the Old Texas Inn to at least have a soda - they have a fabulous old-time soda fountain, stools and all. Upstairs is a small, quaint art gallery.

Old Texas Inn/Drugstore Cafe and Art Gallery

 

The park is lovely, however there is no cell phone reception (at least not with our carrier) and the park wi-fi, when working, was slow....very slow. We did venture out to see the local towns, Marfa - yes we went to see the Mystery Lights - no sighting...and we had a good "that we got 'Punk'd" moment of laughter.

  

Marfa Courthouse and Palace Theatre

 

Marfa also has a beautiful historic hotel with a nice dining room where we had a delicious meal.

     

Hotel Paisano



Filming of the movie that starred Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean, "Giant" took place in Marfa and Hotel Paisano  had the privilege of hosting the cast and crew. Cool.

 

Finally the road is clear to McDonald Observatory, 16 miles from the park and on one of the highest points in Texas and still no cell phone coverage....not even extended service Texas isn't doing much to  make me fall in love, that's for sure.

   Operated by the UT/Austin this is really impressive. We've been to Kitt Peak and this tour was far more informative....we thoroughly enjoyed our 4 hours there.

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2.7 m (107") Harlan J. Smith Telescope

 

Home of the 9.2m Hobby-Eberly Telescope

 9.2m Hobby-Eberly Telescope

91 hexagon mirrors make up the 9.2m Hobby-Eberly Telescope and are aligned by computers daily.

 

West Texas has interesting history, landscape and small towns that we are really happy we were able to tour it all. But the weather truly was barely bearable...I really do wonder what I did to make the weather gods mad.

 

We are passing on Big Bend until we can determine Sun/solar equality (no electric in some parts of that park) and are heading towards Del Rio....

 

Adios amigos~



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



Snowbird means snow....even in TEXAS

Well, it's finally come to pass...."snowbird" means two things to me now: 1) traveling south to warmer climates from the north during winter, AND 2) being snowed in - in Texas!

We are in Balmorhea State Park which has this incredible swimming pool, fed by San Solomon Springs.

only part of the pool

"Dive into the cool waters of the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool, which covers 1.75 acres and stays at 72–76 degrees year round. Scuba divers love the clarity even at a 25-foot depth. In addition to swimming and camping, the San Solomon Courts offer motel-style retro lodging built by the CCC in the 1930s with a Southwestern adobe look; most units have kitchens. Canals along the Courts lead to a restored ciénega (wetland), where a window built below ground provides a fish-eye’s view of the underwater world." (from the website linked above).

You can swim AND scuba/skin dive in it... along with the -

CATFISH!
 

Cabin bound yesterday while it snowed, we ventured out today as it had begun to melt. It is still faily cold, however, the weather is reportedly improving over the weekend. We are going to attempt our escape tomorrow -

Pool curves around to the left

  

Ducks!

 

Here's to finding the Sun and becoming a "SUN-bird" in short order.

~Ciao

Destination Texas - check

 

After a couple of diversions in our travel itinerary we have finally arrived in the great state of Texas. I was expecting more warmth....the nights so far have been in the teens/20's...in the rig it is cold even with a propane heater.  We've had icicles on the water sprout and ice on our windows...but hey, we are camping in Texas in January

 

Juarez, MX from I-10 @ El Paso



We are staying near Balmorhea until the increment weather moves through...snow is forecast for -tomorrow. We left Oregon for snow in SW Texas....? Give me a moment....OK, I'm on board again.

Metalwork statues outside an Mexican import shop

Balmorhea...quaint small town, population 469...we have determined that it flourishes in summer because most of the businesses were closed, and not just for the holidays.

 

 

We then drove to Pecos, about 38 miles for propane and some groceries. Either of which we could find closer to the park. We were surprised to find the once thriving town, now very depressed and shabby - like so many of America's small towns the main drag contains closed storefronts

 

Downtown Pecos

Closed State Theatre

 Several buildings have been transformed into museums....such as the old railroad station....

 

and this storefront is now a Antique Car museum.

Pecos is famous...

this historical marker was right on the edge of downtown Pecos.

and finally, to let me know that I am indeed in Texas. A real cowboy climbing into his truck at the Napa Auto Store. Nothing says Texas like a man wearing spurs!



Next stop...Fort Davis.

~ Ciao