Del Rio

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We got up and packed the van to be back on the road by around 8:30AM, today we headed for the Texas/Mexico border town of Del Rio. We first drove to San Antonio and stopped to have a look through the Alamo. We wondered around but most of us weren’t very interested, we took some photos and browsed through the museum then went to have a look in the shops. We were still looking for clothes to wear in Vegas and feeling a little desperate because no one had found anything useful. I did find a suit today which looked quite good but it was just slightly too big and anything else was way too expensive so I didn’t bother. I walked around the shopping centre with Dave and we stopped to get some lunch in Subway before it was time to meet back at the Alamo. Only half the group were here waiting until we eventually found out the other half were waiting at the van.

We drove to the campsite and arrived there before the other trek group so instead of putting up our tents we put our sleeping mats on the picnic tables which were sheltered. This campsite was shocking, it was really run down and the disgusting bathrooms were unisex. The other trek group soon arrived and realised they had to put up their tents in the long insect ridden grass. We all got ready and called a couple of maxi taxis to take us to the Mexican border because tonight, we were having dinner and drinks in Mexico. We paid out 75 cents and went through the turnstile to cross the bridge into Mexico. The town was pretty dead except for people coming up to us trying to sell us crap. We first headed to a bar and met the other trek group for $1 Coronas, can you believe that? Coronas for only $1 it was great. It was a strange place though when we turned to see them showing porn on the television.

We finished up our drinks and went to look for somewhere to eat. This place was really tacky, having flashing neon signs and cheap crappy merchandise. It was also really run down and dirty so we were hoping that wherever we did end up eating we wouldn’t get sick. We ended up going to this quiet place, Jon made sure they could handle cooking for all of us and they assured us they could. We sat on three tables, our trek group were split in half while everyone from the other trek group sat on one table. We ordered some drinks, cheap Coronas are fantastic and eventually ordered some food. Both trek groups sat in this restaurant for over 2 hours with no sign of our meal, we were so pissed. We had also tried to order more drinks but they never came. Dave, Hannah, Jon and I passed the time gambling on the dinner table. Finally dinner slowly started coming out but most of the meals were stone cold, if at edible at all.

During the long wait for dinner, Ben wanted to leave and walk around on his own for whatever reason, we assumed he wanted to return to the bar showing porn. Jon tried to convince him how dangerous it was walking around but he went anyway, the rest of us were getting sick of caring. We refused to pay the full amount for dinner and they gave us 15% off, we were still furious, I’m not even sure the other trek group got any food at all. We finally left this pathetic excuse for a restaurant and headed for the bars. The other trek group were returning to the campsite because Tyson (Tour leader) drove, Hannah and Amy went with them. We stopped by the Corona Club, this was the bar where the movie ‘Desperado’ was filmed. Being a fan of that movie I thought it was great having a drink here and looking at all the memorabilia. Dave and Jon organised a friendly pool competition and we left to find a bar with pool tables. We eventually found one and began to play, we put the duke box on and ordered drinks for everyone. We were there till the early hours of the morning when we started getting tired, we left and made back for the American border. It was so easy getting into Mexico but we spent around 30 minutes at the border as they checked our passports. We waited, trying to look as sober as we possibly could, not an easy task at this time in the morning. We crossed back into the states and somehow took a taxi back to our campsite. When we arrived, Dave and I went to set off some fireworks down the road while everyone got into bed. When there were no cars coming we quickly set off the fireworks then returned to our picnic tables and went to sleep.

Day 47:
Austin - Del Rio
250 MILES TRAVELLED // 9445 TOTAL
American Campground

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Photos

San Antonio
A stop at The Alamo in San Antonio

San Antonio
The Alamo

San Antonio
Looking around the Alamo

Del Rio
In Mexico we headed for the Corona Club, where 'Desperado' was filmed

Del Rio
Mexican/Texas border, Jon hides behind his home state