Good German food. Wonderful bronze statuary and paintings. Lots of historical buildings.
There are many bed and breakfast too. It is a fun little town. Very quiet today since its mid week but many places open so a good day to check it out. It would be a good place for a get away weekend with shops, cafes, parks and walks and some fun Christmas decorations. They have one of those German turning decorations; the ones usually driven by candle heat, only this one is probably 20 feet tall. They are setting up their outdoor ice skating rink and putting up Christmas wreathes and lights all around still-blooming roses. It is an odd sight and odd to smell flowers while looking at evergreen. We saw Christmas trees made from many sets of elk antlers too. Anyone want a string of shotgun shell lights for their tree? They’ve got ‘em.

Guess that means we will have to come back. We will one day. Not in the summer though. The sun bakes down in this desert even in November enough to “force” lazy afternoons to escape the heat. Great birding place too. I need to try here again when I am a little better at it.

Met a couple who are both retired special ed teachers and now starting to travel the country. Swapping adventure stories is a great way to pass the time while watching the clothes spin. As it turns out, we have actually been crossing paths with them along the way as we have moved south through New Mexico and Texas.

The borders may be closed but free enterprise still lives on. We hiked a ways into Boquillas Canyon to see up close more fine examples of the work that the river does. It is a narrow cut that is more than 1500 ft high and is pretty amazing. We encountered some Mexican locals who still feel that the border is a little more porous than the official folks seem to indicate. They were hawking their wears to all who would listen. One fellow, Victor, was singing for donations. We didn’t contribute nor buy but it did add another facet to the experience. They were really not too pushy. Illegal yes, but not pushy.

Both ends of the Park have beautiful narrow gorges cut by the Rio Grande though massive mesas and mountains. It is hard to believe as we look at the Rio Grande today and it is just a stream. Obviously sometimes it is much more plus they say it caries a lot of abrasive material so is a great canyon creator. Definitely beautiful work that it does.

We went of a Ranger guided Birder hike this morning. I have been trying to figure it out on my own but am not getting any better at it. I still just flip through the book looking for a picture that matches what I think I saw. Very frustrating. He gave great hints on how to categorize and pare down the number of pics to sift through each time. Lots of time spent discussing how they fly, bill shapes, and habitat preferences and stuff like that. At the time is seemed to make things simpler. I will let you know if that holds to be true for me!

They keep saying it’s not a wild pig but it sure looks like one. We saw them at a mini zoo at a State park in Carlsbad. They can weigh up to 60 pounds and they get into everything. We actually have what we have always known as a bear box in the camp site because the Javelinas can open coolers and eat through everything. Neat huh? We have not seen them here yet but lots of hoof prints throughout the campground.

No, there are not big border problems here. Mom, don’t worry. I asked. They do say not to pick up hitchhikers, don’t give water to strangers along the road, and be sure to keep your vehicles locked up when you are away from them. Kinda like the warnings we see every time we pass a prison somewhere! Anyway, we have settled in at the Rio Grande Camp Ground and it is very nice. Only about 20% full but they say Thanksgiving through Spring Break are their busiest times. Seems odd to us Northerners.

South on 54 then 90 to Big Bend National Park. This Chihuahuan Desert is remote and huge. We met 9 vehicles in 50+ miles. As we get closer to the Park, there are more mountains and now they are both the Permian reef type and volcanic. Pretty cool. Still lots of cactus though.