Hades

We made dinner in the van last night (thank you, Chef Boyardee) and then John and I played scrabble in the camper.  He won of course.  We went to bed early and he slept in the pop top bed and I slept below with the girls. We all slept soundly. 

We woke up around 5:00 before sunrise and saw the moon and the stars.  We had no artificial lighting anywhere near us. It was stunning.  Then we watched the pink sunrise reflected off the mountains across the river in Mexico.  It was a great night of camping. 

And the best news is Lilly didn't wet the bed last night!  I was so proud of her, and we celebrate even the smallest of victories with her.  She is a special needs pooch.

We headed out of the park early before it got hot and encountered several of these:

BIG hairy tarantulas! They looked a lot more menacing in person.  They were impressive.

Here's one last view of the park as we left. 

The drive today was long, flat, and HOT.  It got to be 90 degrees in the back of the van with windows wide open so John sat in the back with the girls most of the day and gave them water to drink and splashed them with water to keep them cool.  I drove.

After leaving the park the landscape flattened considerably. The tallest objects we saw today were old fashioned windmills, and many were still working pumping water I guess.

We paralleled the Mexican border for quite a bit and had to pass through several border control checkpoints.  I'll try to take a picture of one tomorrow.  Entering a checkpoint one passes a phalanx of cameras and sensors, and by the time you make it to the stop the agents know your car, number of occupants, license number, religion, political affiliation, sexual preferences.  Dogs walk around sniffing your car too.  Given that Vanna's previous owner left his rolling papers and bits of weed (seeds and stems) in the car I'm surprised the dogs didn't point us out for a drug search.

The small towns we passed through today were mostly uninspiring, with lots of gas stations, strip malls, and fast food joints. We had to settle for Church's chicken for lunch.  

As a gesture of international goodwill maybe the US should consider giving this stretch of Texas back to Mexico.  I don't think we would miss it.   We could throw in Ted Cruz, W, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, and some Tea Partiers to boot, but that might make Mexico refuse the gift.

Tonight we are spending the night in air conditioned luxury in the Drury Hotel on the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

Tomorrow we head to Corpus Christi and Padre Island. We are hoping for better scenery and, more importantly, some cool Gulf breezes.