Out in the Wild West

We left our motel under heavily clouded skies which kept us cool. The chance of rain was forecast to be 30% with scattered thunderstorms. We were hoping recent weather patterns would prevail and that the rain would hold off until the afternoon.

Riding out of Del Rio the landscape was initially flat and covered with low scrub. We rode across one arm of Lake Amistad, formed by the Amistad dam on Rio Grande.

These birds feast on road kill.

About 20 miles out from Del Rio we were stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint where we had to show our passports and visas. They were, of course at the bottom of our bag, being amongst the least used items we are carrying. The Border Patrol guards were very courteous and patient as we unpacked. They inquired about our travel plans and once the formalities were out of the way, chatted with us about where we had travelled in the US so far, where we lived in Australia and so on.

As we went further the landscape changed dramatically to rolling hills and rugged canyons.

There were very few towns along the way, and miles between them. For much of the time we were alone on the road except for the occasional border control utes. Along the way we passed through many road cuts.

 These revealed the strata of the underlying rocks. In places white limestone overlaid red rock - and vice versa. In others there were thick layers of limestone with vertical cracks in the strata that gave them the appearnce of man-made stone walls.

We travelled 110 miles to Sanderson, Texas before stopping for lunch in a local diner that made a terrific BLT sandwich, but only had "non-dairy" creamer for us to whiten our coffee. Dairy products are probably less attainable here.There were more Border Security personnel in the diner, and we passed several of their patrols along the way.

Goats were farmed in a few places only. There was the occasional derelict farm house. It is possibly too isolated and too difficult to make a living. A few horses and cattle appeared only as we approached Marathon.

Our destination for tonight was Marathon, which is about 2 marathons' distance from Sanderson. At times the road was straight for miles. The soil appears to be limestone.

We have not seen dry river beds in the US before.

We arrived early in the afternoon and went chasing accommodation.

We didn't have much choice, and the only motel in town charges like a wounded buffalo. We went exploring the town, but everything was shut mid-afternoon, presumably for siesta.

Trains with about a hundred carriages pass through the town on a regular basis. We were given ear plugs for the night but the problem is not that serious.

We bought some chips and beer. That's when we learned everything costs big $ out here: $4.39 for a bag of potato chips and over $11 for a six pack of beer. An avocado, tomato and apple cost nearly $5.

As the day wore on and the air cooled off we sat outside our motel room and ate a dinner of last night's leftovers. Watching the sunset as the evening cooled down was very pleasant. The breeze whistled through the stunted pine.

Wildlife.

About 4 ins. long

This bee is alost an inch long.

Butterflies

Heading West

Our journey west through Texas took us today from San Antonio to Del Rio, a distance of 158 miles.
Once we cleared the city we found ourselves on open roads across a flat landscape. There were no trees, only low scrub and what looked like saltbush covering the ground.

Highway 90 has speed limits that are as high as 70 mph for much of the way. Our bike never missed a beat and just hummed along the whole way. Maybe we should teach it the words...

As we travelled further, we drove into the approaching storm. We reached Del Rio in the early afternoon just before the rain arrived and quickly found a suitable motel.
Americas Best Value Inn  a pool which Wanda relaxed in for a while.

 Before we could head out to the laundromat and supermarket the rain began. At one stage it was very heavy, so we waited it out.

We only had a mile or two to travel, but the roads were incredibly slippery, and Chris even had trouble finding grip under his shoes when stopped in car parks. Flooding in gutters was consideable and slowed down traffic.

Del Rio is a border town just 4 miles north of the Rio Grande. Hardly anyone we met or sought directions from spoke English.

We ate dinner in our room as the rain set in for the night.

We have no photos of today's journey - they were amongst those acccidently deleted.

San Antonio

Today we travelled from Austin to San Antonio, a modest distance of 80 miles. We left in cool and cloudy conditions and travelled the whole way on Interstate 35 because there was no reasonable alternative. This also meant we arrived before lunch and had plenty of time to explore San Antonio's two major tourist draws: The Alamo and Riverwalk.

Our Journey down I-35 took us down a corridor of businesses, malls and other developments that was pretty much continuous all the way from Austin to San Antonio.

Along the way we ran into some rain, but not enought to warrant getting into wet weather gear. Driving into San Antonio gave us a less than welcoming feeling. It seemed to be an sprawling city with little of beauty.

But then, right in the middle of the downtown area was the Alamo, easily recognised by the stone walls surrounding it.

We spent quite a lot of time exploring the buildings and grounds.

 

There were many fine exhibits in the museum and a diorama in the souvenir shop. Chris was struggling to reconcile the diorama and maps of the Alamo in 1836 with the current buildings, walls and structures. It turns out that there is very little of the Alamo still extant, and that there are a lot of modern buildings walls and gardens that look old but are unrelated to the fort that was heroicly defended to the death by Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, William Travis and the two hundred men in their command. A major road runs through the old structure, and a few stones on the other side mark the southwest corner of the original fort.

Next to these stones was a visitor centre where we were given a map of the city showing the other major attraction - the Riverwalk. Before tackling that, we stopped for a late lunch in a store a few doors down the road.

Do chimeras really exist?

The Riverwalk is a series of picturesque paths below street level that meander along both sides of the San Antonio River and the network of connected canals. It is a most attractive haven in the centre of the city as the walk is lined with restaurants, hotels, bars and shops. Bridges allow easy passage fron one side to the other at various points along the walkways.

Unfortunately we have no photographs of the Riverwalk. They were accidently deleted from our camera before they were downloaded. However you can find pictures of it here.

Once you walked down these steps it was another world. It is one of the prettiest city walks we have seen.
It was a beautiful loop walk, through trees, plants and restaurants with colourful umbrellas. You could cross over the river at any time on bridges that would rival those in Venice. People walked out onto their hotel balconies to watch the scene from above. The tourist boat ride was very busy so we walked around it instead.

After walking around the central network of canals, we booked ourselves on a boat tour. We had an hour and a half wait for the next available tour, so we returned to the Visitor Centre and asked for some help finding a motel. We found one that was close to the city but surprisingly inexpensive and booked ourselves in.

Returning to the cruise dock, it began raining - a drizzle at first. As it began to build in intensity, we sat down at a bar for a drink. We wanted to sit outside under the large umbrellas, a proposal that was resisted - ultimately in vain - by the bar staff. The cruise boat didn't turn up and on investigation we learned it was cancelled. We took our refund and headed off in the rain to find our motel. Our GPS gave us no help in finding it, and we ended up riding miles past it. We telephoned the motel for help and headed back towards the city following their directions. It turned out the motel was within walking distance of the Riverwalk... It was also very good value although it was in a neighbourhood that looked a little rough.

We were tired and with all the rain couldn't be bothered looking for a supermarket to make our own dinner, so we ate in a lovely Italian restaurant that was a short walk from our motel.

A Rest Day

After staying up late last night we turned off our alarms and slept in until 9:30 am.

Everyone else was up by then. John was repairing an old violin case for his niece. We spent the morning chatting with Susan and Mark before they had to leave for home.

They drove off just before Judi returned from her overnight "gigglefest", so she never did meet them.
John and Judi had plenty to keep them busy especially in the garden, so we had a rest - and fell asleep all afternoon. We hope Susan and Mark survived their three hour trip back home to Dallas.

The only pet that John and Judy now have is a young owl which perches itself high in a branch high above their front door. It is inactive during the day making it difficult to photograph. They were lucky enough to watch it develop, with its siblings which have now moved on.

We offered to take John and Judi out to dinner. As it happened there was an al fresco dining area at the Central Market. It is within walking distance of their home, with live music and dancing. We made our way there and enjoyed some good Cajun cooking washed down with beer.

The music was a mix of Cajun, Creole and Zydeco. Austin is a town known for it's music. It's played  regularly and is designed to make people happy. There is a friendly community spirit that is not apparent in other places.
 
Young and old danced like no one was watching (but they were...)

 

Touring the Hill Country

John and Judi are both busy people, so we took off today for a ride west to Fredricksburg. We followed a route in one of our ride guides that took us to Bee Cave and then Dripping Springs. The windy roads and gentle hills made a very pleasant ride today.

After following scenic and windy Creek Road for nine miles, our route led into the Pedernales Falls State Park. The falls were dramatic without being spectacular. The strong whirlpools discouraged swimming.

The warnings say that this peaceful scene can change dramatically within 5 mins.

 

Passing through Johnson City on Highway 290 we passed Lyndon B Johnson's ranch 15 miles down the road. We soon reached Fredricksburg and turned north without stopping.
Our noses took us to Ronnies BBQ for lunch.

The animals we saw on the journey included horses, cows, goats, deer, sheep and a runaway llama patrolling the road.

There was plenty of cactus.

We were expecting Susan (a friend from the metal artists group) and her husband Mark to arrive from Dallas at John and Judi's at 4 pm, so we were running to a schedule that didn't have a sightseeing allowance built in.

At Willow Creek we turned east on the homebound leg through a small town pretentiously named Willow City.We stopped for refreshments at a service station in Marble City. We saw another rider on a BMW R1150 RT stop for petrol and went over to talk bikes.

We hit it off instantly with Ron, and when we found out we were both heading in the same direction, agreed to ride together.

 
He was heading home from his ride and invited us back to his home for a beer. His wife is an avid quilter.

Heading off we made a beeline for John and Judi's. Judi had a girls' night out with former work colleagues, but Mark and Susan were there to greet us.

We had a barbeque dinner, drank rather a lot of beer and wine and had a raging good time. Mark demonstrated a few card tricks before we all decided to play a game of cards.
John relaxed enough to show us some of his artmetal castings.

We suddenly realised it was 1:30 am. Although Mark and Susan are party people it all suddenly lost momentum and we crashed. Inflating an air bed was not an easy task. Nor did it stay inflated during the night.