Go West - Go West Young Man 2

     As we headed out West on the morning of, if memory serves me correctly, July 6, 2006, my daughter, her husband and their daughter headed east to Jacksonville Florida. Our trip west was to be a temporary excursion, all we had with us were two suitcases and two bikes hanging in the rack on the back of the car, their trip east was a permanent move, so they moved not only themselves, but furniture, two dogs, a cat and everything else. The comparison is made because it gives scale to Texas when compared to the other lower 48 states; it is 912 miles from our driveway here in Houston to theirs in Jacksonville Florida, which means crossing 3 other states. Following I10 from our driveway to El Paso is 777 miles.
     We didn't follow I10 except on the segment from Houston to San Antonio, and at the junction of I10 and Hwy 90 it was decided that since, as far as we knew, there were no warrants out for our arrest anywhere, no posse following us, and no schedule to keep as we had two or more weeks to complete our journey of the missions of far West Texas, New Mexico, etc, it was decided to take the leisurely route along Hwy. 90.
The only place we had to be at days end was the hotel in Fort Stockton. This route, Houston to Ft. Stockton, covered about 570 miles. It is only when one is in that part of Texas the scale of distance really become apparent and for a while it looked that we had perhaps bit off more than we could chew. In other words, in order not to drive as if the posse' was chasing us, and enjoy the sights, perhaps we should have made a "shorter" plan for day 1.
     Because of this a decision was made, which is still regretted, not to stop when we saw the billboards somewhere near Bracketville that said "The Alamo Movie Set" from the days of John Wayne http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc8/brackettville1.htm. Looking at the time of day and the distance still to be covered we decided to press on. It is now on the books for a future excursion. For the canoe / kayak enthusiast among you, a great number of rivers are crossed this day, some obviously with more water than others; The Brazos, the Guadalupe, the Colorado (Texas), Rio Hondo, etc. until one reaches the city of Del Rio, which of course is named after the river: The Rio Grande or as they say on the other side of the border Rio Bravo del Norte.
     Just N/W of Del Rio one drives across the Amistad Reservoir and into the Big Bend Country. There is one more important river to cross, the mighty Pecos River. The Pecos River gorge is impressive from the lookout on Hwy. 90 and a stop was made to take in the spectacular view. The pictures speak for themselves. The view is from the east bank of the river. Here are some links for those that may be interested in canoeing the river at some point in the future http://best-river-adventures.com/canoeing-the-pecos-river, http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasRivers/PecosRiver/Canoe/CanoeingPecosRiver.htm, http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?616. If you do decide to paddle the Pecos have fun but please be properly prepared, it is very hot and very desolate.