Texas...A Whole Lot of Nothing.

Just like Seinfeld made a humorous TV show about, well, nothing, Texas makes a pretty good state to visit out of lots of nothing. There are miles and miles of nothing in Texas. We’ve seen many of them. Acres and acres of barren scrub land, and giant fields of mud. But we’ve also come across a surprising amount of things that were unexpectedly worth seeing, and it has really raised our opinion of Texas tremendously.

Patty mentioned Palo Duro Canyon in the last blog, but the most recent buried treasure we’ve uncovered is the Padre Island National Seashore, just beyond Corpus Christi. We hadn’t planned to come as far south as Corpus, but we’re sure glad we did. Padre Island is spectacular, the longest undeveloped barrier island in the world, quiet, beautiful and every bit as dramatic as Cape Cod, the Florida Keys and other sandy paradises. Who knew. And it’s in Texas. We took beach walks, listened to Park Rangers talk about its uniqueness in nature and just soaked up the tranquility. An unexpected find on our Texas exploration.

I've jumped ahead...before Corpus, on our way out of Austin we took in some authentic Texas BBQ at a place called Salt Lick. Mmmm good. Heading south to San Antonio, we stopped in a small town named Gruene to see the oldest dance hall in Texas and listen to some live honky tonk music. The town itself is old and unspoiled, although the tourist culture was in full swing, with plenty of trash and trinkets available for purchase. Although we weren’t wearing authentic western apparel, we sat and enjoyed the music a while and felt part of the local scene.

Then came San Antonio, which claims to be the seventh largest city in the US. Besides the Alamo National Historic Site and the famed Riverwalk shopping/dining area, we were pleasantly surprised by the historic beauty of the San Jose Mission on the outskirts of San Antonio. San Jose, like the Alamo, was a Spanish mission established originally to convert the heathen natives to Catholicism. But unlike the Alamo which was engulfed by the growing city of San Antonio, San Jose remained intact and well preserved, beautifully representing the period. Another Texas treasure.

Finally Corpus, which has some Palm Beach style mansions along the ocean, some good Mexican food, a couple of decent museums and the aforementioned Padre Island, which is the real gem there. We hated to leave Padre, even after staying an extra day. Luckily a storm was raging the day we left, which made it easier to depart. Even in the storm, it was beautiful.

We’re making our way along the southern border with Mexico near the Rio Grande River, watching the border patrol on full alert for illegals crossing into the US. It’s a very different world than we’re used to, but fascinating. We’re headed into Big Bend National Park next, where we’ll be removed from civilization for a few days. No campground hookups, no cell phone or internet access. No Starbucks. Just more of what Mother Nature offers up in the way of natural beauty.

We’re in the middle of making our reservations for next spring in the many National Parks across the west. You aren’t allowed to make reservations for camping in most of them more than six months in advance, and they fill up fast. We're being careful not to miss out on getting into the best ones, like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. So we’ve marked our calendars and are on the phone at the appointed time and day to get our desired camping dates. So far, so good.

We’ll probably finish up Texas next fall when we make our way to the southeast and stop through Houston, Galveston and some other eastern Texas towns. It’s a big state, but we’ll cover it eventually. Lots to see in the meantime. Only three weeks until Christmas! Bob