Day 81 - 19 Mar - Del Rio, TX to South Padre Island, TX

Photo: Fresh raindrops on a spiderweb in Big Bend NP. I think this is a terantula's nest (they do have them in the park). I had to lean in close for the photo....'Lynne Corkum--Wildlife Photographer'.

We had a glorious night in our Ramada room...you really take those bathtubs for grantide when you haven't had one for a while! We even slept late again. However we wanted to get to South Padre Island be the end of the day which meant a long drive so we packed up and headed out.

We drove south on Hwy 277 and once we got to Eagle Pass we were amazed to see that the 'drab' desert had turned green! South Texas has had a fair amount of rain over the past few days and the normally scrubby bushes all across the desert, just sucked up that water and out came the leaves. Even some of the normally dry aroyo's (creeks) had a bit of water in them. There were lots more ranches along this route, judging from the mail boxes and fancy sign posts but you still can't see any houses or barns. There seemed to be lots of goats in the fields beside the highway, but not many cattle that we could see. However, I think many of these 'ranches' are 100's of acres in size so it's not surprising that we didn't see anything but all these full, green trees.

The Rio Grand river is a natural border that separates Mexico from the US and given the issues with illegal immigrants in the news lately, I'm not surprised that there are so many. Most of the border is desert, as I've described in previous blogs and stretches for thousands of miles between the two countries. The Border Patrol are always evident...there are numerous 'check points' along the highway and while the guards are extremely polite, they look inside the van and chat long enough for the trained dog to sniff around the van...looking for drugs I guess. I know that when we were in Big Bend, the park newspaper pointed out that there are many drug smuggling routes through the park and hikers should be aware and beware! All along this border corridor is a road that run parallel to the highway and the border patrol cruise these roads, inside the fence, day and night. They will pull a line of old tires along these roads behind their trucks, at certain points & various times and then check later to see if there are footprints in the dirt. While we were stopped today at a picnic area, a border patrol truck drove the road behind the area and one guard was hanging out the window, looked at the dirt area near the fence for signs that someone had climbed the fence. It must cost millions but in an area as remote as this part of Texas, catching someone would almost seem to be a matter of luck. The only giveaway would be a truck or car parked along the road for any length of time (to pick up someone by pre-arrangement) and no doubt the sheer number of patrols would result in a catch.

We arrived in South Padre Island about 8 pm and had called ahead to arrange of a site at the KOA here so just drove in and hooked up. Tomorrow is going to be major clean up/out of the LuvMasheen as there is still sand everywhere. I wish I had a little vacumn but the mini broom will have to suffice. It must be time to go home...I'm starting to think about cleaning...perish the thought!

Yesterday was Jacqueline's birthday...Happy B'Day to our sweetheart. Kim says Ty was dressed in his astronaut's suit and cowboy hat yesterday, having fun on Trueheart...now, that would have been a picture! Until next time, our love to everyone. xx