Back to being a Del Rioan...

When I went to visit Barney on his last visit to Del Rio I was surprised to see how many new businesses have popped up on the way to the lake. I usually only come this way when he or my other friends come to town or when I am headed to Terlingua.

If you are a blog reader you know that I have missed the Chili Cook-off for two years in a row.  I have now gone back to being a Del Rioan...what do you mean by that Belinda?  People that live in  Houston think nothing of driving an hour or more to go to their place of work, visit friends, shopping or going to a Rockets game as most Houstonian's daily commute can be two hours or more.

I live in Southern Val Verde County, the lake and its campgrounds are in the Northwestern part of the county about a 20-minute drive,  In Houston, such a short drive is almost laughable. In Del Rio, it is considered a long drive, I guess that is why I have missed all this new flurry of business activity.

On Highway 90-West where there is a Y on the road, one leads to Sanderson and another to Sonora on Highway 277. There used to be a store and RV campground that closed a couple of years back and at least the RV park is now opened and appears to be at capacity.

Today I enjoyed the ride and took my time. My first stop was Diablo East Marina.

Even saw a Nature Trail that I am sure Barney has explored many times but with the recently elevated temperatures, I would be afraid to do as rattlesnakes are probably sunning themselves.

Steep slope at the start of the trail...

Back in the early days of my trips to the Cook-off when there was no cell phone service or readily available Internet (no Smartphones then) in Terlingua, I was often asked where the dump station for Amistad National Recreation Area was located.

I had to admit that I had no idea. I think I have asked Barney this question several times in the past but with my CRS I always forgot. They have installed new signs so I was finally able to locate it today.

You can fill up with potable water free of charge.

They have a nice fish cleaning station...

It was a beautiful sunny day in the '70s...was glad I took advantage of the weather...as a cold front is due here Tuesday evening.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Riding around Del Rio

I was curious to see how many people were camping at the Amistad Recreational Area on this long 4th of July weekend, so off we went. The motels we passed on the way appeared full.

The first thing I noticed even before we got to the city limits, was the increased law enforcement presence and it was that way all the way to and from the lake. My first stop was at Diablo East Marina, was disappointed at seeing the low water levels but that did not keep people away, the parking lot was full. It must be fun to have a boat and take it for a spin. Would you believe I have never been on a boat at Lake Amistad?

Headed to my favorite campground Governors Landing and it was almost full, there were only two or three campsites available.  Most tents I saw were the regular nylon ones and with the gusty winds, I bet some will not make it through the weekend.

Governors Landing has a separate area for day use and it was packed to capacity.  I could not even find an available parking space so I could stop and take a couple of pictures.

Decided to head to San Pedro campground to photograph the Billy Bob tree and perhaps get him to leave a comment or at the very least get him to make a blog post...are you listening, Billy Bob? I am sure I am not the only one that misses you :-(

What would be my surprise but to find that the campground was closed!  Don't ask me why...I don't buy the local paper...so I have no idea.

We went to several area parks along San Felipe Creek and people were out in droves.  They were bar-b-qing, swimming, tubing, listening to music and generally having a good time.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Pretty in Lavender

Yesterday morning when I looked out the kitchen window, my eyes were treated to a beautiful display of lavender. Overnight the purple sage had bloomed with the recent rains.

For those not familiar with purple sage, it grows wild in West Texas.

Everywhere you go in Del Rio you will see them blooming in full splendor.

Decided to head out Highway 90-West going towards Lake Amistad and it was a visual treat.

Went to Diablo East Marina and you could almost overlook the low lake levels with the various shades of lavender everywhere you turned.

It has been a while since we have had such pretty blooms.  The fact that there has hardly been any wind has helped preserve them.

If you have a chance and live within driving distance, come and check them out...you wont be disappointed.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua and Purple Sage Dreams :)

A drive to Lake Amistad

It occurred to me that the last time I went to the lake and to the various campgrounds was back in November 2013 when I came back from Terlingua and almost ran off with Billy Bob...remember?  If you don't you can read about it here http://terlinguadreams.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-am-running-off-with-billy-bob.html

Yesterday I was curious to see how many people had come down for the Easter weekend so asked mother to come with me...she rolled her eyes and reluctantly came along.  Decided to check out Diablo East Marina first and the parking lot was pretty full with license plates from various states as well as Mexico.  Even a Border Patrol boat was in the water...pretty neat gig I would say.

For those new to blogging you can click on almost any blogs pictures (with a few exceptions) and the images will be enlarged.

Border Patrol

Idaho 

State of Chihuahua in Mexico

New Mexico

Next stop was my favorite campground at Amistad...Governors Landing.  As I was waiting to cross Highway 90 West I could see a truck heading east going at a very high rate of speed.  I don't know how he managed to turn at that speed as he was also hauling a big trailer and a boat.  I thought that was against the law in Texas.  Was even more surprised that he turned to go to Governors Landing as there is no way he was going to be able to fit all three things in the small campsites.

These cute dogs did not even bark at me.

I was sure glad this following campground did not have a car parked in front of it...as the speeding truck almost ran into me head-on but I was able to pull in here.  A Park Ranger vehicle then came up behind me and stopped them.

Went down to the picnic area but not too many people were here.  Saw a couple carrying their fishing gear and walk to the shoreline where more people were fishing.

Mexican State of Nuevo Leon

The lake levels looked low but it must be deep enough as there were a lot of boats out there.

 Many of the cactus were already in bloom.

Why is it that my mother dozes off but when I turn into San Pedro Campground she wakes up?  She absolutely hates this place!

Billy Bob tree

Barney of Old Fat Man Adventure Fame http://ofmadventures.blogspot.com/  was here a couple of weeks back and wrote of how dry everything was...hardly no shrubbery...he wasn't lying.  Only thing you see green is the darn mesquite trees...even the Billy Bob tree was looking sad.

Mesquite tree

There were only two places taken, the first one at the entrance by two tent campers and the second by the guy that I almost ran into head-on back at Governors Landing.  He did not seem to be in a good mood and was yelling either at his wife or maybe it was his daughter. In the Billy Bob picture you can see his camp in the background.

For Barney and Ed that have stayed at Broken Mill RV Park in the past...the place was full.  Either the Winter Texans have not left yet or a lot of people came down for Easter...or possibly both.

If you are interested in coming to Lake Amistad you will find plenty of room at San Pedro Campground...just stay away from the speeding guy.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Answering Readers e-mails

Received an e-mail from one of my readers asking if Governors Landing was run by the City or State since it was still opened last week when I did a post on the purple sage http://terlinguadreams.blogspot.com/2013/10/purple-sage-governors-landing.html

They also wanted to know if Diablo East Marina remained opened.  I was unable to check it out yesterday as I only got as far as San Pedro Campground.  However, the answer is that all installations at the Amistad Reservoir are run by the Federal Government.

Swung by Diablo East Marina and was greeted by a nice young Park Ranger who proceeded to tell me why the Marina was closed but offered to let me in if I owned a boat or was visiting someone there. Since the answer was negative, I thanked him kindly and proceeded to Governors Landing though he had already informed me it was closed as well.

 I have never seen my favorite campground closed so I went for the photo op.

Yeap, it was closed :-(

If anyone has any questions please leave me a comment or e-mail me at terlinguadreams@gmail.com

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Beautiful Afternoon at Lake Amistad

You might recall last week we went to test drive mom's mini van to Lake Amistad. Today we did the same to dad's old car.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon.

At first I thought my eyes were deceiving me and when I asked mom she said she was about to ask me the same thing. The water was a spectacular blue, it looked like someone had dyed it like they do some rivers on Saint Patrick's Day.  The sky was equally blue and it made for a good photo op...if you had a good quality camera...which of course I do not :-(

Drove to my favorite campground, Governors Landing and four RV's were camped there.

Then we went to Diablo East Marina and found it was buzzing with activity...

Have I mentioned that I do not buy our local newspaper?  No need to, I found the answer for all the activity at the Exxon gas station by the Lake.  If you are ever in this area I highly recommend them, they have clean restrooms and a friendly staff.  This is also the only gas station in town with FREE air and water.

It made me very happy to find out that they still hold fishing tournaments at the Lake and that they have a large turnout.  So come visit us at Lake Amistad, even with low lake levels there are plenty of fish to be had :-)

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.