Target of the day was Del Rio, TX – close to the border and trying to stay as south as possible to get nice weather. The trip was mostly uneventful and I decided to pass San Antonio, since the whole ride was close to 400km.
I stopped at a Pizza Hut in Uvalde, , a little more than 100km from Del Rio, for lunch at around 1pm. I think that was the only time during this trip that I ate at Pizza Hut. Due to the mistake of a guy in the kitchen, the waitress brought some garlic bread that I hadn’t asked for and told me they’re for free. I barely only ate half of the pizza and kept the rest, along with the bread, for my dinner.
The part between Uvalde and Del Rio was starting to look like much more desert-like than the rest of the daily trip and the temperature was pleasantly higher than usual – right to my taste. Private ranches were alternating along the road, spread on large pieces of land.
I reached Del Rio around 3pm and since it was still early, I looked for campgrounds around and decided for the one in Seminole Canyon State Park. It was supposed to be clean and offered Wifi for a very good price (around 20 bucks, if I remember well) despite being in the middle of nowhere… The last 60km to reach the campground were offering nice landscapes and views toward Mexico (apparently on the other side of some mountains). I also stopped at a custom control point on the road, which took less than 10 seconds. I showed my passport, the guard asked me where I was coming from and told me to go – that was it.
After paying my fee at the campground’s office, I rode the final few hundred meters to the spot I was assigned – at the top of a hill. The view was amazing and the silence was remarkable, despite a couple dozen RVs on the site. I unpacked my tent and stuff, right before sunset, and took a few nice pictures.
A couple on a Harley Davidson with a stereo playing loudly came to the spot close to mine, where an RV was parked, and proceeded to move the big bike into the back of the RV. As they settled for dinner and started a fire with some logs they had, I thought I should try and get some wood from the campground office and quickly rode my bike there, but the office was already closed. Back to my spot, I walked to the couple and asked if I could buy some wood from them. The guy just gave me a few logs for free, which was largely enough for me. I started my own fire in the designated spot and proceeded to blog a bit, but the wifi was quite weak and I quickly desisted to use it after a few failed browsing attempts.
Unfortunately, the Canyon had to be visited with a guide, and I had to leave early the next day to reach my next stop, El Paso, so a visit in the morning was not an option. Too bad… So with not much to do in the middle of the desert, I decided to sleep early.
