Del Rio, Texas

An Unexpected Delight

Big Bend was high on our list to visit. It is the most under visited National Park in the country. The reason – it is not easy to get there. There are no major airports nearby and it is in the most south west corner of Texas. The only thing separating it from Mexico is the Rio Grande River. From South Padre Island, the drive was 12 hours (on google, which means about 14 for us). No way could we do that in just one day, so we added a little stop in a town called Del Rio. Since we couldn’t get in to Big Bend until a Monday, we decided to make a weekend of it and I am so glad we did.

Driving to Del Rio was like driving through an alien world. First, we had to cross through Border Patrol – we never crossed the border, but I guess it is there since we were so close. We had spotted a few oil fields prior to this long drive, but there were so many more on the way. Oil field, after oil field. When we entered Texas near Houston, we were still in the piney woods. South Padre showed us prairies and marshes. All of these landscapes were common to us. But as we drove towards Del Rio, the landscape changed first to plains and then plateaus and eventually desert. It was so strange. We saw large cacti, fewer and fewer trees and more shrubs. Everything turned brown but then out of nowhere a field of green farmland would pop up. We tried to figure out what was being farmed, but it was tricky. Everything was small and green – and the other side of the road was just brown. My brain kept going back to teaching sustainability – how long can we use the few resources of water in this area? It most definitely is providing a decent economy, probably food and allowing society to live a certain way, but when will the water run out?

Anyway, we stayed at a little Mom and Pop RV spot called the Broke Mill. Very cute, clean and appropriate for our 3 night stop. The trek to Del Rio took about 7 hours. We were exhausted when we arrived. Typically, I try to have an easy meal ready, but there was no chance this day. Luckily, there was a Domino’s nearby and we were all ready for our favorite old orders from back on Kent Island. While we waited, the kids tried to swim in the unheated swimming pool. This is the same pool that was under 2 feet of snow just a week before. How do you think that worked? I don’t even have a picture because they were in and out so fast!

The next morning we decided to go into town to check it out. At this point, we hadn’t been to any true ghost towns, and Del Rio is not considered one. But you could have fooled us. There was no one and nothing on the streets. Nearly every storefront was closed and boarded up. We strolled down the street and eventually came to a little place called the “Whitehead Museum.” It was full of local history and had a little “town” built inside that showed how Judge Roy Bean would have held court – basically while sipping bourbon and holding a gun. It also had small, odd collections of things donated by locals, like a crazily large assortment of Christmas Manger pieces. It was interesting enough to be entertaining until we got hungry. We were lucky enough to find a little place called Mesquite Creek, where we grabbed a bite to eat. It was surprisingly good and I also got to do some shopping. Then we found the oldest winery in Texas and sat outside with the kids while we played games and sipped our drinks. On the way back (while searching for a water refill station) we found a tiny Mexican Bakery and stocked up on lots of sweet treats.

The Broke Mill RV park we stayed at had carved out a little path and all of us enjoyed the “rugged” mountain biking. Ben and I enjoyed our morning coffee by the fire, walks with Roxy and we also took a quick trip to Lake Amistad National Monument. It was unexpected and beautiful. We learned a lot about the desert landscape while visiting. Del Rio was a great short visit, but we found lots to do and truly enjoyed the stop. What we realized about Del Rio is that it is not at all a ghost town, but a town on the verge. There is a lot of charm and lots of room to grow. I hope it becomes successful while keeping its charm.

We left for Big Bend on a Monday morning. We drove past the Pecos Bridge. All along we had been on the Pecos trail and were unaware of it. Kiddos stole my phone and took selfies while we drove. We had to detour for gas in a tiny town called Marathon. They had a map on the wall near the restrooms that asked you to pin your home town. People from all over the country had done so – even someone from Kent Island, so we did not add to it that day. The site of it was amazing….but I forgot to snap a picture. It made us realize that even though Big Bend was under visited, people from all over the world still made it there. We left the gas station (just a little nervous the roof would hit the low hanging electric wires) and continued our drive. We were in for a treat with Big Bend and couldn’t wait to discover a land like no other we had seen before.