Traveling North in Texas-Falcon Dam to Hondo

Rio Grande Overlook on US83
March 25, 2009
We had a nice slow morning, coffee, puzzles and reading. The day got lighter, but the sun didn’t peek out. We headed out to Falcon Dam and drove out to the center. Each country has its own little electric plant. The water is high in the lake with trees sticking out of the water; ducks are enjoying the cover. At the center of the bridge there are two pillars, flags and a view of the water. We turned around there and went back. We still had to stop and get our vehicle checked over and Will had to show his ID, his new passport card. The card has all the information of the passport, but is the size of your license. Handy ID. The road is lined with Mexican Olive trees and they are in bloom now. We spotted a few scissor-tailed fly catchers, a mocking bird, doves, a caracara (Mexican Eagle), and…a coyote!

At the scenic overlook outside San Ygnacio we met a couple from Quebec and chatted about sites and stops of travelers. Kathy shared some Hawaiian chocolates with them and we said our goodbyes with hopes of meeting up once again in Luckenbach.

The morning has remained cloud covered; a good day for driving. North of town we stopped at another overlook where below was the Rio Grande River and a field flooded across in Mexico. Pelicans were standing on the landbar in the field.

Laredo is a big sprawled out city. We hit the Walmart; saw our Quebec friends and continued on our way north on US83 leaving the Rio Grande behind us. Lots of distribution centers and trucks going all directions.

The new visitor center at the crossroads of US83 and I35 is done is southwest style; tiles, arches, and very much like a mission church. We did a little wifi and moved onto the interstate and made our way to Luckenbach. In Moore we took 3352 that turned into Creek 1301; it was sort of paved and the sides were recently whacked clean.

Then we got on to Creek 1515 and on to CR749 following our GPS; wonder if we will end up in a field! The road is mostly rocks and dirt now. We saw several scissor-tail flycatchers; they are so funny to watch fly. There were cardinals and LBBs (little brown birds) too. We ended up on a three-digit road, 462-paved. That road took us into the hill country. We turned onto a real road 173 and made our way toward Bandera. We found a rest area with a view and made dinner and played New World as the sunset and darkness surrounded us. We finished our game with our headlights on. Then we cleaned up dishes and watched some Star Gate episodes before crawling into our bed.