Tuesday, July 8, 2008

This morning we awoke to rain and were a little worried that we would not be able to go to Mexico as planned. But, it cleared up a bit so we headed out. We parked near the border and then took a taxi across the Rio Grande. Acuna is just over the border from Del Rio. Hidalgo Street is where it is all happening. Lots of little shops selling Mexican pottery, glass and more. About every other storefront was a dentist. Going over the border to go to the dentist is a very popular thing to do here. We enjoyed a nice meal at Crosby's. It is a famous old restaurant immortalized in songs by George Strait and ZZ Top. Erik had a $12 T-Bone steak. I had a taco platter. The rain really helped to cool things off which was welcome as we traveled today. After making our way back over to the US, we headed West again. The Big Bend region of Texas is really beautiful. Colorful mountains and canyons and the most amazing sky. We enjoyed strolling through the art colony of Marathon. What a neat little town in the middle of nowhere. We visited the Paisano hotel in Marfa. This hotel has hosted presidents and actors. It was the home to James Dean, and Elizabeth Taylor during the filming of Giant. Marfa was the site of two Oscar winning movies this year, "No Country for Old Men" and "There will be Blood." We had hoped to camp in Marfa and go out to see the mysterious Marfa Lights. But, it was pretty cloudy so we kept heading West. Near Valentine, we came upon an interesting piece of art. It was a storefront building that looked like a Prada Shoe Store. This was really in the middle of nowhere. The whole site was like a big cache, where people left their business cards anchored by a rock. As we headed down the road, we saw amazing sky, a drug blimp, a road runner and a tarantula! We made it to Van Horn and decided to call it a night. We went to eat at a colorful restaurant called Chuy's that boasted of being in the John Madden Hall of Fame. (Not sure what that meant, but the food was good and they even had wireless. ) Besides the many sports related pennants hanging from the walls, there was a mural on the wall of Chuy's being blessed by Jesus. So, I guess that Chuy's was not only blessed by John Madden, but also by Jesus Christ. After we finished eating, we found a hotel for the evening. I've been trying to catch up on my writing since I was wiped out last night.