Monday, April 20– The Botanical gardens were amazing. A cactus garden, a local garden, a prehistoric garden and an outstanding Japanese garden with an incredible maze of streams, ponds, tunnels and bridges. Walking through the peaceful and beautiful garden was a great way to start a day and clear our minds.
Headed west again now, out of Austin and into the first hills since Georgia. Rising in elevation, the Rolling hills became brushy desert and prickly pear. Coming into San Antonio, which is a beautiful little city with a very Mexican and historic feel to it. We parked on the south side of the city at a parking meter and walked towards the touristy areas.
The river walk is a must see if you ever are in San Antonio. The rivers runs right through the city, and a walkway was built along the banks. Lined with restaurants, bars, hotels and stores, each offering access via staircases. The life in any hot desert location revolves around water, and the River walk reflects that. At any street corner along the walk you can seek shade and cooler air down beautiful twisting staircases.
The river fest was going to be happening later that night, and the town was preparing for it. Along the walkway, folding chairs were setup for viewing of the water parade that was going to happen soon. We headed up to the street above and walked another two blocks to the Alamo.
Remember the Alamo! If you're Texan this phrase will fill your heart with pride and bring a tear to your eye. For the rest of us, we remember something about it. A battle or something like that back in the frontier days. Jokes aside, the Alamo is excellent. A very beautiful and informative fort. Our only problem was that no dogs were allowed inside. Easy problem to solve, Tyne went in and saw it first while I waited with Daze, then fifteen minutes later I got my turn.
Leaving our last big city for awhile, we stocked up on some groceries and a bottle of rum for a fun night camping sometime ahead. We headed west again, into a beautiful 85 degree afternoon. We passed the town of Kline, which is a dirt road crossing a set of railroad tracks. The towns only inhabitant were two circling buzzards. Two hours later we were coming into Del Rio, which is on the Mexican border. We passed a border checkpoint stopping people coming out of town. We were happy that we didn't have any illegals on board.
Del Rio was a spread out dusty and hot town. We topped off our gas ($12 @ $1.95, filled our water bottles, and continued north-west along the US side of the Rio Grande. It was 545, and we wanted to have a spot picked out by 630. We came into Amastad National Recreation area, which is a damed up lake on the river. We stopped at the closed visitor center, picked up a map of the area and got gawked at by some old Texan ladies. "My, you are a long way from home."
We picked a camping symbol on the map and headed to the spot. It was at the end of a road that went right into the lake. An older couple was coming out of the woods, and jokingly I said to them out the window, "So do y'all know where this road goes? We're thinking about driving another 10 miles." He said that it was a road that used to go across the river, before they dammed it and built the current bridge over the water. He said that twenty years ago, the water was so low that he could drive across the road again, passed flooded foundations where houses once stood.
Taking the advance of this nice older man, we camped at the last site on the water. We were able to park just a few feet from the lake, and it was nice to be able to walk into the water and cool off. It had been over two days since any type of shower, so this was the best I was getting.
We made some pretty disappointing food and tried to relax. Tyne's stomach was really hurting her and the bugs were getting a little annoying, but the night was nice, the skies clear and the stars out. I fell asleep on the blanket with the stars above me.
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