Cross'n Texas (I Remembered the Alamo)
Posted: Sunday, January 10, 2010
by Jack H. Schick
If you're crossing the country on Interstate 10, when you leave Louisiana and hit Orange, Texas you're threatened by a big sign: "El Paso 877 Miles". No matter how far you've already driven, it's breathtaking. It's heart wrenching. How can that be? That's further than New York to Chicago, or Philly to Jacksonville! Unless you've scheduled a stop somewhere in between you'll probably push the speed limit and hunker down. Your mood will do nothing but get worse over the next 14 or so hours. By the time you're crossing that last 200 miles of Pecos Country you won't be able to appreciate the scenery any more, and will probably have developed an attitude about Texas.
It's only about 315 miles from the Louisiana border to San Antonio (the width of Pennsylvania), so I shot for there the next time. It's a nice, big town. They have that River Walk park, and of course, everybody remembers the Alamo. I had to go there (it doesn't look anything like in the movie). What surprised me the most is that 'San Antone' -I've been there enough times that they let me call it that now- is actually in the woods. I expected to see sage brush and dusty ranches. It was a good place to stop.
I decided to take Rte 90 out of there, instead. It heads straight west, up out of the valley toward the Hill and River Country (they call every thing "Country" in Texas, because most of those areas are big enough to be small countries). Rte 90 is mostly a two lane road. It passes through a forested country laced with creeks. A railroad grade with neat old iron bridges parallels the highway. There's an historic marker about every 10 miles as part of various "Texas Trails" you can follow. I stopped to buy some produce from a couple Mexican/Americans at a road side stand.
Uvalde is a sort of bustling little burg. It's one of the gateways to the Hill and River Country, which they say is the 'vacation center' of Texas. There are raft and boat rides down the lazy rivers. The Rios Frio, Sabinal and Nueces flow down wooded valleys rimmed by rocky tree covered ridges. The river banks are lined by gigantic cypress trees. The largest tree in Texas is on the Rio Frio. The cypress' trunk must be over 20 feet across. There is a bat cave where you can hang out and see them swarm out at dusk. There are camps and hunting preserves. I really liked it there.
It's an hour and a half or so from Uvalde to the Rio Grande. The scenery begins to change quickly, from the woodsy river country to a flatter, drier scrub and brush landscape. Half way to Mexico I found one of my favorite spots of all- Alamo Village. It does look just like in the movie, because that's where they filmed it. John Wayne had the place built. It's the only place in the world with a replica of the fort the way it looked at the time of the battle in 1836. They also constructed a "San Antonio de Bexar" western village.
At Alamo Village you can traipse around in the fort, climb up on the walls. You can don your coonskin and pretend to be The Duke or Billy Bob. Down in town there are retired folks who dress up in period garb and role-play all day. There are museums about The Duke and with Texas and movie making memorabilia. There are gift shops and a cantina where you can get lunch. The sheriff (his guns are real, but not loaded), and I strolled the streets talking about all the films that were shot there. It is a wonderful fantasy world, sort of out in the middle of no where. I didn't want to leave.
Continuing on west on Rte 90 you'll pass Amistad Reservoir (where I hear the fishing is great), and soon come to Pecos Bridge. It spans the Pecos River Canyon. Until they put the bridge in there was no way to cross the canyon for a hundred miles. The Rio Grande is several miles to the south. The hills you see are in Mexico. Sheer rock cliffs, a couple hundred feet tall line the river as it meanders through the vacant, arid scrub land. An Indian might make his way down, swim the river and climb back out, but a cowboy on a horse was going no further. I like to lean on the railing at the observation pavilion and day dream for a little while.
A few miles down the road is the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center. It's a must stop. There is a great Texas desert nature walk area (I watched a road runner snatch a lizard and jump up into a yucca to eat it). The saloon/court house of "the only law west of the Pecos" is still there and looks exactly like it did when Roy was presiding. He didn't actually hang a lot of people. He'd confiscate their horse, their hat and their boots and order 'em to get outta town or he would hang 'em. It's only about 150 miles up to Fort Stockton, with nothing in between. While you're there, don't miss the Lilly Langtry Opry House. The Judge had some sort of weird fixation for her.
From there you've got a hundred miles of the stark Stockton Plateau to cross. It's not really an ugly country, just barren and empty. It has a rugged, primitive beauty. You can't help but pity those outlaws that Judge Bean sent out there with no shoes or hat. I might rather just get hung and have it over with quick. Smack in the middle of it you come to Sanderson.
Sanderson is my 'fantasy haven'. You drop down into a little creek valley and nestled in along some steep bluffs is a comfortable little town. When I'm having a tough day at work, or at home or with life in general I'll frequently rant "That's it! I'm headed for Sanderson, Texas and you'll never see me again!" There's maybe 1000 people in the whole county and about 800 of them are in Sanderson. It's an hour to Fort Stockton, an hour to Alpine and about two hours back to Del Rio. The last time I had lunch at the cafe there (her Philly cheese steak sandwich was a valiant try), the waitress/cook/owner told me they had had their biggest high school graduating class ever that year-17of 'em. Ah...yes! Get me a Stetson and a pair of boots. I'm headed for Sanderson and you'll never see me again!
Alpine is kind of a substantial town. It's the gateway to Big Bend National Park and the Davis Mountains are a short drive north. The Davis Mountains seem out of place. The forest covered up-lands are surrounded by the west Texas desert. It's very pretty. Fort Davis is an interesting historical site. Big Bend has fantastic, rugged mountains and breathtaking views of the Rio Grande. If you make the 80 mile drive down to the Park, don't miss Terlingua. Turn right at Study Butte (that's "Stoody Butte" to you dudes). Terlingua has a 19th century adobe ghost town and a marvelous Old Mexico cemetery. I'm told you can still find aging hippies living in VW micro buses down there, too.
Hey, from Alpine it's only about 200 miles to El Paso, almost there. The last time I crossed the broad Valentine flats I heeded the High Wind Area signs. At one point I saw seven dust devils on the ground at one time. Some of them were a couple hundred feet tall. They might look neat and harmless, but they'll sand blast you to death, turn over your car and rip the roofs off buildings. If one is headed your direction, get out of the way!
My attitude and mood is usually pretty good when I get back on I-10 at Van Horn. It's about 740 miles back to Louisiana and maybe another 1000 on into L.A. I've only got another 140 miles of Texas, and, actually I'm sort of sorry to leave it behind. Maybe I'll go that way next time, too.
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Top-level comments on this article: (9 total)I try to visit the Big Bend National Park and Terlingua almost yearly - great place to see nesting P eregrines.Thanks for reading!
My hubby is from East Texas - he has a favorite Texas joke - "what is the best part about the middle of Texas? Any which way you go you are leaving it" We lived there for awhile when dating and after we married. Have many wonderful relatives and friends still living there. We LOVE Colorado and sweater weather - DRY, thank you! Yes, have spent days driving in Texas myself. Marijo
Hi Jack, Thanks for sharing your journey. This was a fun and informative. It sounds like a beautiful place to visit. We love to drive, 16 hours straight through for us in not unusual. I look forward to reading more of your journies. Glad you joined us here on Searchwarp.We're long range drivers too. Since we travel with dogs we can't just pull over at any motel. Our two longest runs (2 drivers), are Denver to Philly and (misc reasons), Palm Springs to Tahoe to Reno to Philly, non stop!! CRAZY-yes
Very fun to read. Use of humor kept me engaged. Good job! It was as if I was traveling with you and also enjoying the scenery and burbs. Nice engaging style!!Thanks for reading
I gave this article the highest ratings because it deserved them all.Very fun to read. Use of humor kept me engaged. Good job! It was as if I was traveling with you and also enjoying the scenery and "burbs". Nice engaging style!!Thanks for reading!!
This was a very entertaining article.Thanks for reading!
Jack, I'm quite familiar w/I10 east of New Orleans/Baton Rouge...but know nothing about it to the wild wild west.Thanks for reading. It's a loooong way from Jacksonville to L.A.NO WAY! yeah it is isn't it? I've always wanted to take a motorcycle on that ride. maybe some day.
Hey Jack,I'm a road-tripper myself and applaud you for so accurately summarizing the trip across Texas. Great job hitting all the high points! I've been living in Texas for going on 25 years and have had several occasions to take that I10 West drive out of San Antonio. I don't think I've seen anything like the vast emptiness of it anywhere else. I always think there must be land out there that still hasn't had a person walk on it. Thanks for bringing back good memories!Of course, my described trip is Rte 90 out of San Antonio to Del Rio, to Alpine and back to I-10. Thanks for reading!Yes, there is more going on along that route, that is a fact! :)
hi Jack, Transporting drugs along that rout is very nerveracking. Ive delivered alot of coke and marajuana along that highway, and there is alot ot see. Most of it was looked at in my rear view mirror, while hoping cops wont pull me over! btw Im just kidding. Your narative makes me want to experience that drive. THXGThanks for reading, Geoff
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