Beware of Dog
Avenging Angel
The endless road to Marfa, Tx
A rock hunter's dream!
It has been a few days since I visited my blog site. I have taken hundreds of pictures but just didn't have a lot of words to go with them. As mentioned on Jan 30th, we were in Marathon, Tx - stayed two nights and were able to do some really nice bike rides around the back roads. We left Marathon heading south into the Big Bend National Park. We were not sure if we would stay in the park or just drive through. As it turned out we drove through and ended up in Presidio, Texas by accident. We had planned on staying just outside of the national park in a little blip on the road called Lajitas. We must have gone right on by so continued to enjoy the beautiful mountains throughout the area and stopped at a little RV park in Presidio called Loma Paloma. People there were great. Not a huge number of campers there but they have formed a comfortable little community and reach out to newcomers. We rode our bikes to the city of Presidio the day after we arrived. It was a 12 mile ride but so nice and flat! I put my panniers (saddle bags) on my bike and we rode in to pick up some groceries. The next morning we were invited to ride into Mexico with a couple who were driving one of the other campers to a dentist in Mexico. The border was only 6 miles away from our camp site and reported to be one of the safest crossings all along the border. We took them up with the offer and rode over and got the experience of going through the inspection at the border. Oginaga is the border town on the other side of Presidio and, according to Richard, unlike most border towns which usually cater to American tourists. This one was more like an interior village without the tourist feeling. In fact I think we were the only non-Mexicans in the town. We only stayed an hour or so but now I can say "I have been to Mexico" I learned later that day that there had been some beheadings only a day or so before that were connected to the ongoing drug wars on the border! Glad I did not know that ahead of our trip. That afternoon a huge storm blew in. It only lasted maybe 15 minutes but it seemed like hours. Richard was outside taking pictures of the storm coming in and I was in the camper. When the wind hit it felt like the camper was going to turn over! I was on my way out of the camper as Richard rushed in soaked to the bone. Minutes later it was over but it took my heart a bit longer to slow down. After the storm the air smelled so clean, fresh and green. We went for a hike up a river bed (wash) as there is no water in the bed at this time. I went looking for rocks. I have loved looking for fossils and other minerals for years and I brought back quite a few that day. The next day we left and headed for Van Horn, Texas. We stopped on the highway at a "Rock Shop". No one appeared to be present, but there was a trailer set way back on a little road. As I walked into the rock display about 9 dogs ran out barking at me. I was unconcerned simply because I am not afraid of dogs. That may change. There were about 6 puppies in the bunch and a few older dogs, one which was the papa of the puppies I think. He kept barking and nipping at me but I just lowered myself to the ground and the puppies crawled all over me and the older male stopped barking and walked away, The trouble began when I put some money under a milk crate to pay for a rock I wanted to take with me. The male attacked and bit me in the calf! I was more surprised then afraid but realized I had to back away as he would keep biting at me if I turned my back. Meanwhile, Richard was watching all of this from the safety of the camper. He has a healthy respect for dogs because of his many cross country bike trips and having dogs run out at him while he was riding. When the male bit me he did come out and yell at the dog and the dog backed off. I backed into the camper with my prize and checked out my leg. The dog broke the skin but I think I will live. To be fair, there was a small sign that said "Beware of THE dog. Not sure which dog they meant as there were so many. I think I could have made off with one of the puppies and they would never have noticed. I was tempted!
We continued on to Van Horn and stayed one night in a really nice RV park. We pushed on further today into New Mexico and are just outside a little town called Columbus. We are in a Pancho Villa State Park and will probably stay here a couple of nights so we can check the area out on our bikes tomorrow. As has been the rule, none of the RV parks or state parks have been crowded. Not sure if it is the economy or just the time of the season. We have never been turned away because a park is full. At this area we are about half way through the bottom of New Mexico and will head next to Rock Hound State Park where there are areas to pick rocks. We will have to deviate a bit out of our driving west pattern but we are not on any schedule or time clock which is so great and I am finally getting used to slowing down a bit. As I write, the sun is just going down and the sky is aflame with color. While listening to NPR today, we heard that there is quite the storm brewing in the DC area. It seems so bizarre to even think of snow right now. I thought I would miss snow --- I don't!!!
The mountains, the dessert are so beautiful. As I have stated before, it is a stark beauty but you simply need to look more deeply and you can see the dessert come alive and what I once thought of as barren is teeming with life.
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