Two Weeks in Del Rio, Where is the Sun?

When we arrived here at American Campground two weeks ago it was beautiful, 77 degrees and sunny.  That evening was the last we have seen of the sun, save for the time when it was visible through some thin clouds.

Other than that glimpse, it has been cloudy, cool(down to 23 one night), and rainy!  It has been dry here in Texas this summer, so I dont complain too much, but this isnt the weather we signed up for!

The first night we were here, we went to two of our favorite places; Rudy's Barbeque for some great barbeque, and then it was a stop on our way home at Lorina's Cantina for some adult beverages and an opportunity for Ann to sing some karaoke.  As was the case last year, there was a pretty good crowd, with several good singers, and it quite a bit of fun till about midnight when the DJ usually lets a few of the locals sing continuously, but by that time, it is time to go anyway.  We didnt go there last night(December 17), but we may go on Thursday night for a final time before we head west on the day after Christmas.

Other than the one night out, we havent really done a whole lot while we are here, as the weather is pretty much a downer.  Ann pretty much works from 8:00 AM until 4:30 everyday Monday through Friday.  Her regular recliner has become uncomfortable on her back, so she has moved to the passenger seat of the motorhome as her "office" chair, and has her "work" computer on the computer tray.

She still uses the recliner that came with the motorhome as her "non-work" chair.  She has her personal computer on a TV tray on one side.

And part of her Janet Evanovich library on the other side.  I also noticed that the liquor stash shows up in this pic as well. 

On the way down here, and since we have been here Ann has read many of the Janet Evanovich books that are part of an 18 book series.  Her efforts include having purchased a three part book before we left, checking out some from the public library in Del Rio, reading some online with the e-reader on her computer, and then buying the rest that are available from Amazon.  I am sure by the time we leave here, she will have read all that are available.  Then it is on to new reading material!

One of the things that we have noticed since we have traveled, is that no state take recycling as serious as they do in Iowa.  Since we are used to recycling, Ann found the local recycling center, and we made a trip over there the other evening with our cans, paper, cardboard, and bottles.

Friday December 16, we had a potluck in the community center.  Not ever knowing what to bring, I decided that we should bring a dish that one of the people brought last year that went over pretty well, and Ann made some peanut butter blossoms.  Here is a pic of the cookies, and the brussel sprouts, that have bacon, red onion, red wine, brown sugar, and cranberries added.  I am not a big fan of brussel sprouts, but they taste pretty good in this recipe.

As is usual at most potlucks, there is way more food than people.  Only a small portion of the brussel sprouts remained, and we left the rest of the cookies at the community center for our morning coffee that convenes at 9:30AM every morning.  The first day I went over for coffee, most of the same guys were there, and it just seemed I hadnt missed a day from when we left last December.

Seems like food is taking over this post, but that is the way it goes.  Last night(December 17) Ann made a delicious dinner of Chicken Cordon Bleu, rice pilaf, and lima beans.  It looked so nice, I had to take a pic.  It looks like I set the silverware on the table. :) 

After sitting around the motorhome for two weeks, except for the first night we were here, and a few trips to town for groceries, and some other errands, we decided to take a road trip today, if for no other reason just to get out and do something.  We put together a plan to make a circle of the area.  We started out in Del Rio, traveled  to Eagle Pass, and then a circuitous route to Uvalde, then back to Del Rio.





We left this morning and drove to Eagle Pass.  It is a city of about 20 some thousand people.  I must say that after driving around the town looking for a place to eat, it seemed more like we were in Mexico, and not the USA.

The number of signs that were in Spanish was surprising.  I guess I dont know why I expected any different.

We had the GPS set on an Applebees, but when we got there it was now Captain Charlies Seafood Restaurant and Bar.  It was not what we expected, but we thought we would give it a try. We had a good chat with the server, he was born in North Dakota, but his Dad got a job with the Border Patrol, and he got transferred to Eagle Pass.  Our server was going to follow in his Dad's footsteps, and become a border patrol agent as well. I told him I thought he made a good choice, as it seems to be as a secure a job anyone could hope for in this economy.

As usual in restaurants in this part of country, they start you out with chips and salsa.  The salsa was good, but not too hot, when they brought our appetizer of stuffed crab, the sauce that came with it, was awesome!  Plenty spicy, produced some sweat on the forehead, but not too hot for our Iowa pallet.

The stuffed crab.

Ann eating the stuffed crab.

For our entrees, we both had fish; Ann had bass, I had red snapper, very tasty!

After finishing our lunch, we headed out of town going north east in a round about way to Uvalde.  We hadnt gone too far when we came across an immigration check point.  These places are all over the Southwest, I am not sure they ever catch anyone, but more likely, just make if more difficult for human, and drug smugglers.  The officers are usually polite, and just asked us if we were both American citizens, and why we were in Eagle Pass.  We answered that we were both American citizens, and that we are lucky enough to be able to get out of Iowa in the winter, and were just visiting Eagle Pass.

The rest of our trip was uneventful.  So much of this part of Texas looks a lot a like.  There is some farmland, a couple of cattle ranches, but most of the countryside is scrub brush.  There are lots of ranches in this area, but all you see of most of them is the sign over the road that leads to the ranch.  We past by many of them, but did stop and get a pic of this one.  It was one of the nicer ones; most are just metal frames with the ranch name in metal as well.

We arrived back in Del Rio about 4:00PM, but couldnt pass by DQ without stopping.  Banana split for me, and hot fudge and peanuts for Ann.  No pics, as they disappeared quickly.

Once back at the motorhome, Ann had planned to do laundry, but because the office was closed, she wasnt able to get change, so I guess we will have something to do tomorrow.

It is 9:30PM now, after having some popcorn while I am updating the blog, Ann is watching Survivor.  Tomorrow starts our last week here, we shall see what it brings.

Paul