Texas..

So in the previous blog post I said we left Louisiana on a high after our swamp tour...well that high didn't last too long as we drove on the I 10, in blinding rain..speeding at 145kms an hour, but being overtaken be EVERYONE...and having to leave a MAXIMUM 2 metre gap between cars, as people would just push in...and of course not use their indicators...then have to slam their brakes on to avoid hitting the car in front....so we would slam our brakes on to avoid hitting them.  It was the worse driving experience we have had in the US in our 18 months here. Enough of that.
We arrived in Texas on dusk.....

and had arranged another couchsurf in Houston, Texas. We arrived there around 10pm, to be met by Missy and Dave...a couple around our age, who were so hospitable...sharing great stories with us...particularly the the possum story. Dave is originally from Louisiana and one day found a possum in his back yard who looked a bit sick....so he rang the Animal Rescue people to come and get it, and someone came to his yard and caught the possum.  The animal rescue person checked it out and said "this possum aint sick..he's been hit by a car....he'll still taste good" and took it away!  No doubt turning in into a delicious meal!
The next day we headed to the "Texan Hills' area..not quite like the "hills" in Colorado though.  We made our way to Fredericksburg where Stu had organised another couch-surfing, and even though the guy was travelling throughout Vietnam, he said it wouldn't be a problem to stay at his place and to ring this number.  So we did and it turned out to be a hotel this guy owned...so we had a free hotel room for the night...aircon, wifi, own bathroom...amazing.  We spent a few hours the next day in the National Museum of the Pacific War, which even I found interesting, before making our way west across Texas.

We got to Del Rio which had a huge reservoir, which was nice to see after many hours of low scrub, brown country.

This was also very close to the Mexican border and we were stopped by Border Patrol, where 5 guys came out of a building and 2 sniffer dogs and checked the car and our passports.  There were also gravel roads either side of the highway and for the next 400kms or so we saw numerous Border Patrol cars driving up and down these roads searching for illegal immigrants.

That night we stayed in a cheap little hotel in a very small town called Sanderson, on the highway.  We were greeted by the Indian manager who proceeded to shower us with Indian snack foods to take with us on our travels. Here is the view from our hotel room. We chose to stay in Sanderson as our next stop was Big Bend NP and it was only a few hours to get there the next day.

The next day we drove to Big Bend...a National Park we had not heard of, so we had no idea what to expect.

We stopped in at the Visitors Centre and realised we wouldn't do the park any justice if we tried to see it all in the limited time we had.  This place was stunning! It was about 40C - 45C...a fierce heat, no shade, hot winds...but AMAZING! We went for a walk to a gorge..about a 2km round trip...I forgot my hat (stupid) and lordy be it was hot.  In fact, so hot, the vultures started circling us....thinking we were fair game!

Big Bend NP was one of the best NP's we have been to in the US, and they have some amazing NP's here.  The fact that it is such a long way from anywhere it is not as popular, so we felt very privileged to be there and we virtually had the place to ourselves (coz it was so hot!)..and because it was so hot, we drank plenty of water, which then makes you want to use a toilet.  You'd think after 1 year of teaching in a Spanish speaking school Stu would have learnt which toilet to use by now!!

There was a lot of history here...the most recent being ranchers that moved out around 50 - 60 years ago.....

and the scenery (I say it again)..was breathtaking.

We stopped at the Rio Grande, where Stu had a quick dip to cool off...

despite the water level being very low....

 Stu went for a walk further in to the Rio Grande canyon...climbing up and down in the heat.....we met a guy wearing jeans, big belt buckle, cowboy shirt and cowdy hat who was taking photos near the water.  He really looked the quintessential"Texan" and when we asked if he was going to do the walk into the canyon, he said "I'm from New York...this it too hot for me!!"  He certainly didn't look like a New Yorker!

We didn't see much wildlife..too hot for anything to be out in that weather (other than some crazy Aussies), but there were plenty of these gorgeous lizards....with their amazing colours...

and this little critter...no idea what it is.

We eventually left the park around 4pm, as the colours were slowly changing....

heading towards the Ghost Town of Terlingua....

and finally finishing up at Alpine, Texas, where we had arranged another couchsurf..this time with 2 young doctors...John and Katie and their nephew John.  Another great evening chatting with them, particularly Little John...what a kid..and he was only 11 years old!

Big Bend NP was fantastic...we're so glad we made the effort to drive down there..if you ever get the chance....visit it.  Absolutely breathtaking scenery.And just before we crossed into New Mexico...Guadalupe Mountains National Park.