Jon and Dana's Excellent Adventure: Texas Part 1

Devil's Ink Well

Danielle and Luigi have arrived! We picked them up in Albuquerque (try to spell that without looking) and, given the recent snowstorm, decided to head straight for Texas. We put about 150 miles behind us and made it to a place called “DEVIL’S INKWELL!” Duhn duhn duhn! It seems that most everything in the desert belongs to the Devil, a.k.a. “El Diablo.” The inkwell was a part of the Bottomless Lakes State Campground, located just outside of Roswell. Unfortunately, we saw no aliens, just a little trout that Jon caught out of the inkwell. By strange coincidence, U.F.O. sightings always seem to happen when military testing of new experimental aircraft is taking place. The fact that people believe they are seeing U.F.O.’s simply provides a highly effective diversion for the military to cover up its exploits.

Jon and Luigi at Carlsbad Caverns

Next stop – Carlsbad Caverns. We walked our way down the equivalent of 8 stories through room after room of enchanting formations, eerily lit up by small artificial lights. It was difficult to take quality photos in the low light, but we had to try, especially when some formations closely resembled body parts.

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

Danielle bustin' out the yoga - Texas

We spent a night on the side of the road and poor Bailey had a run-in with both a cactus and a Javelina. We had to hold him down to get out all the tiny cactus spines out with tweezers. The Javelina came after Bailey when we were gathering firewood. The “firewood” we were collecting was actually dead and extremely prickly pieces of Ocatillo cactus. Bailey came tearing out of the desert growling and snarling with some menacing grunting noises hot on his heels. Jon, Luigi, and I set out with a shotgun in pursuit of the Javelina with no success.

The Earthship - Terlingua, Texas

From there we headed for the Rio Grande. Our friend Cameron advised us to check out a town near Rio Grande called Terlingua. He said that while there, we should check out the local characters, live music at the Starlight Theater, and “The Earthship”. When asked what “The Earthship” was, he simply giggled. “The Earthship” turned out to be a great little shack, cobbled together from various found items, such as tires, corrugated iron, light gage steel, beautiful paintings, etc. There turned out to be many such structures in Terlingua – a place where some very interesting people go to “get off the grid.” However, a strong sense of community was present at the porch in front of the Trading Post. As we sat there, drinking “Texas Busch Light”, and enjoying the warm sun on our faces, a couple of heavily bearded old timers whipped out their guitars and started singing and playing. There were a bunch of locals and tourists hanging out on the porch, enjoying the music as well. After a short while, someone came along with a stand-up bass and joined in. Later, someone else came along, introduced himself to the musicians, and then brought out his percussion instruments and started playing. I didn’t recognize any of the songs, but it was some of the best bluesy country that I’ve ever heard.

Earthship inhabitant

View from the Earthship

Terlingua, Texas

The local message board in Terlingua boasted a weekly farmer’s market, yoga lessons, and land for just $75 per acre. I struck up a conversation with motorcyclist that drove up just in time to miss the massive sand storm. He was from Maine, but drove down every winter to soak up the sun in Terlingua. He said that while there was indeed land for $75 per acre, you might have to drive 70 miles out a dirt road and another 20 on a bulldozer track to find it.

Check this place out for killer live music everynight next time you're in Terlingua, Texas

That evening we had $1 tacos and margaritas at the Twilight Theater while listening to a sister duo performing their original songs. The sisters had grown up in a musical family that used to perform together all over Texas and beyond. They were regulars at the Twilight and nearly everyone, including us, got up to dance. Down the road from the Twilight Theater was the hostel. The hostel office was inside of a bus. The hostel “rooms” were square white tents. There was also a beach volleyball court and a tiny plywood skateboard park/basketball court.

Terlingua Jail

Terlingua was far enough out in the middle of nowhere that it was surprising how young folks there were. Everyone seemed to be especially friendly. I walked from the RV park to the river rafting outfit to look into prices and was stopped twice, and asked if I needed a ride.

Horseback riding in Terlingua, Texas

Danielle and I went for a sunset horseback ride through the abandoned mercury mines. I’ve had some less than satisfying adventures with horses in the past, such as being bitten, bucked off, and carried off on a runaway horse without reins when I was 6. This ride was a big deal because I was literally getting back up on the horse. It turned out to be a fantastic ride. My horse, Blacky, or Midnight, or some such typical black horse name, was pretty good to me,up until the end, when the guide decided to give us all a thrill and took off at a gallop towards the stables, which incited all the horses to chase after.

Dana at the remains of the Mercury Mines

Danielle

Dana in an ore bucket - Big Bend National Park, Texas

Rio Grande, View of Mexico from Texas

Making Pork Butt Tamales in Big Bend National Park Texas

We cooked up some pork butt with beans and ate them in homemade tortillas (thanks Jon Patton for that delicious recipe). We used the leftover stock and pork and beans to make split pea soup and tamales. Danielle showed me how to make tamales that we handcrafted in Big Bend National Park sunshine. We didn’t have a steamer so Jon filled our pot with gravel and water instead. Clever! Topped with spicy enchilada sauce, they were excellent road food!

Luigi, right after he fell in the Rio Grande and bacame part of one of Jon's Tall Tales

Luigi and Jon went fishing in the Rio Grande. The banks were so slippery that Luigi slipped in and was rescued by one of the donkeys on the Mexico side of the River. Or he rescued one of the donkeys. Or Jon rescued both the donkey and Luigi simultaneously. I can’t quite remember, but it was just the first in a series of Jon’s Tall Tales that will have to be recorded for future posterity.

Jon, Danielle, and Luigi at Picture Window View - Big Bend National Park, Texas

Big Bend National Park has a fantastic hot spring located right on the Rio Grande that is one of the nicest I’ve ever been to. I never realized that Luigi was such a hippy that he would go nekkid in hot springs! We went to the hot spring at night so we could enjoy the stars, but the walk back to the car was beyond spooky. All the signs in the park told us that Javelinas are nasty little beasts that hide in the briars just waiting for us to turn our back so they can fly through the air and attack us with their sharp little teeth. Luigi, Danielle, and I were walking the half mile or so back through the woods and we started to wonder where Jon ran off to. All of the sudden, this massive, terrible, black, fearsome creature came snorting and grunting out of the woods. We all screamed like little girls and took off running for the car. We jumped into the truck and slammed down the door locks. About 5 or 10 minutes later, Jon came casually wandering up. We told him how close he was to danger and he shrugged it off. So brave!

Handicapped people need lottery tickets too!

One of the things Texas is famous for

Authentic Reward signs in Crosby's - Ciudad Acuna, Mexico:

The bar where Desperado was filmed

Los Pequenos Mariachis

Danielle in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico

When we reached Del Rio, we hired a cab and headed into Mexico. The border town, Cuidad Acuna, was not very happening at the time, as they were gearing up for spring break. We did meet a goat farmer from Texas there (who looked like he was straight out of "Walker - Texas Ranger"), and he was kind enough to invite us to stay at his goat farm for the night. I was thrilled because I foubnd out that he makes cheese with his goat's milk and it is a dream of mine to do the same. I picked his brain about everything from mating goats to the part that donkeys play on the goat farm. Turns out that one billy can impregnate 50 nannies in one day and donkeys can maintain order on a goat farm by preventing the goats from running away and fending off the coyotes.

Dana playing the Accordion in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico

(Behind me are Jon and The Goat Farmer)

The Goat Ranch

The donkey that minds the goats

Drive-thru convenience store

Luigi - chillin' with a book and some pickles and cheese

(His shirt says "Javelinas love people - They taste like chicken!)

I found something edible!

I bought a book that I'm pretty excited about in Terlingua. It is a North American field guide book for wild edibles and you wouldn't believe how many of the plants you see all the time are edible. The book is arranged by season and I'm attempting memorize spring right now. All the pictures are in color. The book includes instructions for how to cook the various plants, and all the poisonous look-alikes. Now, when I go on a walk, I bring back samples and usually one of them will be edible.

Danielle, Jon, and Luigi on The Riverwalk - San Antonio Texas

On Danielle and Luigi's last day, we walked through San Antonio, Texas. The river walk was beautiful. The city was fairly overcrowded with some convention going on, as well as all the just-joined-up military kids with their families and a ton of mini cheerleaders; 9-12 year olds with more make-up than I've ever worn in my whole life, all dolled up and headed for some giant cheerleading competition. We tried to eat lunch, but every restaurant had such a huge line that we ended up going back to the camper and making tacos.