Big Bend NP to Brownsville, TX (Nov 30-Dec 4)

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Nov 30 we left BBNP going north to Marathon,and then southwest to Sanderson for the night. Dec 1 we continued on past Langtry and on to Del Rio for 2 nights. On Dec 3 our route took us through Eagle Pass and on to Laredo. Dec 4 our trip went through Roma and on to Pharr, where we had a motel room reserved for a week. We traveled out of Pharr throughout that week to several wonderful nearby birding areas. The next stop for us was another week's stay just down the road at Brownsville. This is the largest city you can go to in south Texas....it is basically the tip of Texas. Here again we traveled about throughout the week visiting wildlife and bird refuges. Brownsville is where this blog ends and the few pictures that I have attached are from the trip as I have outlined above. The majority of our time during this blog time-frame was spent watching and photographing birds. I will make a blog entry that is totally on some of the interesting birds and wildlife we have seen down here.

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Photos

Courtroom & bar of Judge Roy Bean
At one time West Texas was a lawless and wild area. After Judge Roy Bean was brought in, everything changed. Although his brand of justice was a bit different, it was most effective. This is his actual courtroom, bar, and poolroom. Next to it is his house.

Pecos River
Just before it joins the smallish Rio Grande River. Lots of water is taken from these waterways for use in this very arid part of Texas

Looking into Mexico over the Rio Grande
We were in Roma on a large deck proivided by the World Birding Center when I took this picture. To the right of me is the border patrol "hi-rise lift". to the left this the international bridge. From here we could watch the Mexicans on the other side of the river enjoying their Sunday fishing.

Rio Grande and Mexico
Here we see one of the international bridges between the US and Mexico. This one is at Roma, TX.

Hi-tech border patrol at Roma
We could watch this protable cubicle raise and lower with its border patrol guard. It looked like it had some pretty fancy equipment on it to catch anyone silly enough to want to cross the Rio just below us.

"The wall" and our faithful guards
This fence is situated about 1 1/2 miles from the Rio/border. I talked to 2 of these very young National Guardsmen. They said they would much rather be here than in Afganistan. They showed me ladders (they had to break them up) they would take from the Mexicans that would try to get over this fence illegally. They seemed to enjoy their job.

Universitiy of Texas at Brownsville
A beautiful campus with lots of grass, palm trees, and waterways

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Loved the Roma, Texas photo
You are capturing the essence of America in your blogs. Great job.