Trip to Eagle Pass & Del Rio, Texas

On the Border

                                  Eagle Pass & Del Rio Trip
                                        March 14-16, 2017

 

A little background as to why I wanted to make this trip in the first place.  During World War II my uncle, Jimmy Zalesky, was stationed at the Army Air Corps base in Eagle Pass.  Uncle Jimmy married my Mom’s sister, Elsie, and they were my god parents.  I was born in November 1942 and my parents decided (for some reason) to visit Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Elsie in Eagle Pass when I was less than a year old.  Unfortunately I never asked my Mom or Dad about details of the trip.  So I assume we traveled to Eagle Pass sometime in early 1943. 

My 1956 Texaco road map (pre Interstate highways) shows that we probably took US highway 90 west from Houston to San Antonio, then Uvalde where we would have headed south on US 83 to La Pryor and west on highway 76 to Eagle Pass.  US highway 90 has been replaced with Interstate 10 and there are other changes to highways too.  But while we were in Eagle Pass we all traveled into Piedras Negras, Mexico, for my first international travel.  My guess is that we drove the 1940 Chevrolet coupe I remember growing up with.

 

Also, we hadn’t done any overnight road trips since Rita’s injury two years ago.  She felt up to it so we planned to just be gone two nights and return.  In terms of stress on Rita, it turned out to be a good trip.  It turned out to be a good trip all around.

 

We got away at a reasonable time Tuesday morning and headed west on highway 46 through Boerne to Bandera, which bills itself as the “Cowboy Capital of the World”.  I’m always surprised how much these towns, especially Boerne, have built up over the ten years we have been living here.  Hundreds of new houses have been built and are still being built as well as more businesses in Boerne.  I think the people moving there are a combination of retirees (mostly military) and people who commute to work in San Antonio.  Bandera also is punctuated with lots of big new houses on hill tops. 

 

We had planned to stop in Bandera but it was too early for lunch or to visit the nice Frontier Times Museum so we decided we could do that on a day trip.  We only stopped to take a photo of the impressive Bandera County Courthouse and then pressed on.  The weather Tuesday was about as great as you can get with clear, blue skies and temperatures in the 70s.  We saw bluebonnets as well as other wild flowers along the highways.

 

The drive on backroads to Tarpley and Utopia was very scenic crossing the Sabinal River to the Frio River and south to Uvalde.  This area of the Hill Country has several resorts catering to river rafting vacationers.  It was lunch time and at the recommendation of a young man at a closed restaurant, we stopped at the Sunrise Café in Uvalde.  The atmosphere was stark and unappealing but the food and service was good.  I had tacos and Rita had a taco salad. 

 

The scenery changed from Uvalde southwest along highways 481 and 57 to Eagle Pass.  The landscape was flat and unattractive with plenty of mesquite trees, cactus, and other desert plants.  With regards to eco-regions we were leaving the Edwards Plateau and entering the junction of the Tamaulipan Brush Country and the Chihuahuan Desert Trans-Pecos regions.  We crossed the Nueces River and saw several hawks along the highway and one caracara waiting for road kill. 

 

We arrived in Eagle Pass and noticed that, like a lot of small towns across the country, the outskirts had a new Walmart, motels, McDonalds and other fast food places.  We drove into the old historic part of the town and found the nice Maverick County courthouse and a library that was outstanding.  It appeared that neither the courthouse nor library was used as no people were inside and doors seemed to be locked.  We drove down Main Street in the old city center and a few stores were thriving but catered to the Mexican-American community.  We drove up to the International Bridge crossing into Mexico and turned around.

 

Ten miles north of Eagle Pass on highway 277 we found the local airport where the old Army Airbase used to be located.  I found one person sitting in the office and he said the airport was still in use although I didn’t see any aircraft on the runways.  He confirmed that it used to be the Army Airbase but just a few ruins remained from that time.  After a short while we continued on the highway northwest towards Del Rio.  We were surprised to find dozens of pecan groves and pecan outlets along the highway.

 

It was still early afternoon so we decided we would follow our GPS to the Val Verde winery, the oldest continuous winery in Texas.  The GPS took us through old San Felipe del Rio which eventually merged into the city of Del Rio.  We saw historic Brown Plaza and eventually found the winery.  The winery was founded in 1883 by Italian immigrant Frank Qualia.  From the historical plaque we discovered that he married a Mary Franke and had several children.  Not my ancestor as far as I know but it needs research.  We sampled a couple of wines and bought a couple of bottles before going to our motel and checking in for the evening.

 

We drove into the old historic Del Rio which seemed quieter than Eagle Pass.  We drove to the Mexican border, turned around and went to Cripple Creek Restaurant for a decent meal.  We retired a bit early after a long day.

 

Wednesday we set our alarm in order to get away early.  The weather had changed with overcast skies and much cooler temperatures.  We drove across Lake Amistad through Comstock and to the Seminole Canyon State Park.  Texas is trying to get UNESCO to designate the park as a historical site in order to preserve it better.  There are several pictographs painted on rocks as long ago as 7000 years.  Over 200 sites exist of rock paintings.  I wanted to get to the headquarters building to catch the 10 am tour as that is the only way to see the paintings.

 

We made it in plenty of time.  Rita could not have done the hike as it went down a steep trail into the canyon then up another trail along the walls where the rock paintings were.  She waited for me in the headquarters building.  It was quite windy and cold but luckily I had my windbreaker.  The guide gave a running commentary on the paintings and said we could take all the photos we wanted because they won’t last forever – they are eroding away.  A large crowd of people showed up for the hike.  After an hour and a half we headed further west on highway 90.

 

At the Pecos River we stopped at the overlook to see the highest road bridge in Texas.  Several low water bridges had been wiped out by floods here and the current bridge was built about 1956 after the first bridge built in1923 was wiped out by floods.  Around the bend, and out of sight, is the Pecos Viaduct, a railroad bridge built by Southern Pacific in 1892.  At the time it was the third highest bridge in the world. 

 

We crossed over the Pecos River and drove the short distance to Langtry, home of Judge Roy Bean, Law West of the Pecos.  His old saloon, the Jersey Lilly, where he practiced law, is still standing and has free entrance.  The surroundings have changed since Rita and I first went there about 50 years ago.  A new, modern tourist info center surrounds the old shack and a cactus garden make the area much nicer.  We drove back to Comstock and had a nice lunch at J & P Bar and Grill.

 

Next we drove north on ranch road 163 alongside the Devil’s River and near the Dead Man’s Pass used by forty-niners on their way to California for gold.  Many people lost lives here to the Comanche and stage coach robbers.  The scenery was okay but we rarely saw the actual river which is mostly located on private ranches.  But we saw deer and turkey and at the ghost town of Juno we turned off onto highway 189 through country where we barely saw another truck or car.  No billboards, no homes, no people – just the occasional bull, cow or calf.  Once we reached highway 277 we headed south again to our motel in Del Rio.  That night we had a mediocre Mexican meal at Manuel’s Restaurant. 

 

Thursday we slept in and started our way home driving back north on highway 277 to highway 377 in a northeast direction.  I should mention that the Border Control had a high presence.  Going north from the border about ten miles you have to stop at check points on the side of the highway.  They were always friendly and waved us through without comment – we looked fairly harmless.  In what must be one of the most boring jobs we saw several Border Control jeeps or trucks just parked off the roads and apparently keeping tabs on the surroundings, a single guard by himself or herself. 

 

The town of Carta Valley was devoid of life.  Only a couple of empty houses, one empty gas station and a cemetery exists which makes it a true ghost town.  We pulled into the town of Rocksprings about 11 am and were amazed to see a Thai restaurant where a Thai lady was putting out the Thai flag.  What’s wrong with this picture?  We drove around the Edwards County courthouse and jail and came across the Historic Rocksprings Hotel – that’s its name.  We stopped for a photo then walked inside to take a look.  The owner, a nice man from Houston, showed us around the hotel built in 1916 and then known as the Gilmer Hotel.  The current owner told us a bit of town history.  In April 1927 the town was hit by a major tornado killing 72 people and injuring 205, about half the town’s population.  The town recovered and is the Angora goat capital of the world.  The American Angora Goat Breeder’s Association is centered in Rocksprings and they have all the records of angora goats in America if you need them.  Who says travel isn’t enlightening? 

 

We continued on stopping for a lunch in Junction, Texas and then traveling the only part of our trip on an Interstate highway – about ten miles.  We stopped in Fredericksburg for groceries and rushed home to collapse after a nice trip.