Texas—Big Bend Country 2007 Del Rio to Big Bend National Park

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	We—Norm, Pat, and Jeff Hellmers—left Valparaiso early on Sunday, March 25, 2007. We flew via American Airlines non-stop from Chicago's O'Hare Airport to San Antonio. We picked up a rental SUV (Ford Expedition) and headed west via US 90. The oasis-like vegetation of San Antonio quickly changed to scrub. Towns were few and far between. The 155 miles we drove to Del Rio on our first day were a fascinating introduction to west Texas.
	On arriving in Del Rio, we checked into our bed-and-breakfast, the Villa Del Rio, a sprawling, 19th-century mansion.
	The Villa Del Rio, officially known as the Mason-Foster House, was begun in the 1880s by New Yorker James H. Mason, but its current size and lavish interior were the work of Judge John J. Foster, a Del Rio attorney and civic leader. In the 1960s, artist-designer Jay J. Johnson restored the home, eventually converting it to a bed-and-breakfast. The history of the house can be found here. The stairway leads to the upstairs bedrooms. Pat and Norm stayed in the Peacock Suite, while Jeff slept in the Magnolia Room.
	After settling into our rooms, we drove to the US-Mexico border, where we then walked across the bridge to Ciudad Acuña. (We were advised that taking a rental car into Mexico was not recommended.) Here Pat is putting the 75-cent pedestrian toll into the turnstile. Auto traffic coming into the US was backed up for miles. The walk to Acuña was less than two miles.
	Being a Sunday evening, downtown Acuña was quiet, with most shops being closed. Pat and Norm pause on our walking tour.
	Some of the vendors were still in operation in the town square, most selling food of some kind.
	We bought fresh mango and watermelon from this vendor, which we ate while walking around the square.
	The city square in Ciudad Acuña was surrounded by trees with white-painted trunks (usually intended to dissuade beetles). The square was filled with monuments of various kinds and old men chatting and enjoying the end of the day.
	After a fine Mexican dinner at Manuel's Restaurant, we walked back over the bridge to the US, crossing the Rio Grande mid-span. (In Mexico, the river is known as the Rio Bravo del Norte.) It threatened to rain the entire evening, but held off until the middle of the night.
	On the morning of Day 2 (Tuesday, March 26th), we took an early morning driving tour of Del Rio, returning to the Villa Del Rio for a classic B&B breakfast: fruit plate, crepes, a huge slab of ham, juice, and coffee. We happened to be the only guests.
	After breakfast, we headed west on US 90, stopping at Amistad National Recreation Area. Here, the Rio Grande is backed up by a six-mile long dam, creating a lake that extends 74 miles up the river. Amistad means "friendship." The recreation area is water-oriented, but a few roads lead to viewpoints. We took our rented SUV on the rough gravel road on a peninsula named Diablo East (left).
	Not far west on US 90 is Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Area. Here the state of Texas preserves pictographs found in the rock shelters of the Lower Pecos River country. The park was also rich in bird and plant life. Here Pat shows off her new Pentax binoculars next to a huge agave, or century plant.
	Conducted tours to see the pictographs in the rock shelters were not available the day we were there, but we enjoyed the park nonetheless. The pictographs are located in the shadows under the overhanging rock ledge.
	Our trip proved to be at a great time of the year. Rains the previous week and warming spring temperatures brought out an incredible variety of flowers, such as these claret cup cactus blossoms.
	Just beyond Seminole Canyon, we stopped for lunch at the point where the Pecos River flows into the Rio Grande. The US 90 bridge, at 273 feet above the Pecos, is the highest highway bridge in Texas.
	Lunch was in a picnic shelter overlooking the Pecos River. Back in Del Rio, we had stopped at the H-E-B grocery store and bought a variety of chips and cheese dips, cookies, fruit, and that essential as we headed for the desert—lots of water.
	After crossing the Pecos River, we made a brief stop at the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center at Langtry. Here we saw Roy Bean's original "Jersey Lilly," his combination saloon/ court room. Bean was a Justice of the Peace and called himself "The Law West of the Pecos."
	We continued west on US 90, in and out of thunderstorms. There was very little traffic. Most of the long-distance east-west travel in this part of Texas has shifted north to I-10.
	By late afternoon, we had driven about 200 miles, arriving in the tiny town of Marathon, Texas, where we checked into the Gage Hotel. The Gage opened in 1927, and served the ranchers and miners in that area. After years of neglect, the hotel was restored in the 1990s. A brief history of the hotel can be found here.
	As part of the hotel's renovations, the grounds were expanded, creating lovely courtyards, just off of US 90.
	An addition, Los Portales, was constructed in 1992. Each room has a unique doorway, all imported from Mexico.
	The rooms in the Gage Hotel are individually decorated, using Spanish and western motifs. We stayed at the Gage, which is 39 miles north of the entrance to Big Bend National Park, since the limited accommodations in the park were already full. The Gage was an excellent hotel that we'd recommend highly.
	We had dinner at the Gage Hotel's Cafe Cenizo, an outstanding restaurant. Pat and Norm shared: artic char, potatoes with lobster, and asparagus. Jeff had (left) pumpkin and sweet potato stuffed acorn squash, grilled vegetables, and spicy pecan dried cranberry cream. With the meal we had a Texas chardonnay. Probably our best meal of the trip!

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