235 Big Bend National Park, and Marathon to Uvaldi

Wednesday 25th September 2013
Miles today  269   Total  22,886

We left Alpine this morning, and I have to say it was a struggle to get going.  We have changed our route slightly, due to a recommendation and headed back to Marfa to go to the Big Bend Park, apparently the roads that way are more exciting for bikes.  Just not the first 80 miles.....

Another day at the office...

It added about another 70 miles onto our total.   The road basically went through miles and miles of nothing, however we did see this chap.

Have we been transported to Peru already ??

Elephant rock.

We came across a small town called Prosidio and found this little cantina in a side street.  It was one of the best meals we have had in a long time.  Proper skillet, mash, and vegetables.

From there we carried on towards the park and the scenery just went on and on. We were driving along the US side of the Rio Grande, the border between the USA and Mexico.

The Rio Grand. All to the left is Mexico.

The distant mountains are in Mexico.

An Ocotillo cactus.

We came across a small town that had been converted into a golf resort (the whole town) and whoever owned it spent a lot of money. It was an oasis in the desert. Needless to say we had to stop for a beer.

One of the hundreds of butterflies in the Golf resort.

Then it was on towards Big Bend National Park.

The park itself was pretty spectacular too. A great relief from ther desert.

We had thought about staying in the park, there is a motel, but decided to head on to a place called Marathon.  We only found the one hotel, but it was quite beautiful.  The room had a very Mexican flavour and there were beautiful grounds and the restaurant had an inner and an outside area.  We sat outside and it was very romantic, aaahh!
 (Ray: "Romantic" - that's not a word that gets used very often when I'm around).

Thursday 26th September 2013  
Miles Today 245  Total  23,131

We met up with some German bikers who had stayed at the hotel with us, they were going our way and we played cat and mouse for about 130 miles. There was nothing else to do or see. We passed 2 abandoned towns with no fuel or place for breakfast and when we did find one we all piled in. It was a great little place, basic and friendly with the cafe dog being called Johny Reb (a common southern slang name despite the fact that he was a Northern Boston Terrier - Go figure). It was then back in the saddle.......

There really is nothing out here. Imagine driving from London to Birmingham and not seeing an occupied house (aside from the few remaining in the 2 ghost towns).  Add to that the searing heat of 35C (95F) and dead straight roads. It was hard work. We thought the northern plains were boring, they were nothing compared to this.

The highlight of the day. The view from the only bridge with water under it.

After 170 miles we arrived at a large town called Del Rio and decided to find a bar to quench our thirst and have a rest. Do you think we could find one. Nope. Not a chance, we just carried on until the days trip meter read 245. 

In the last two days we have been stopped 3 times by border patrol officers and asked for our passports. Not that we have a problem with that at all, they were very polite and friendly, unlike the port officers we have had to contend with. They have a serious problem with Mexicans swimming/walking across the Rio Grande and entering the US illegally. There are border guards absolutely everywhere.
We finally rested up in Uvaldi, a quiet little town, tomorrow we hit San Antonio.