Days 11 and 12: Austin, TX → Del Rio, TX → Terlingua, TX
We had a wonderful visit with family in Austin, TX, where we got to see my sister-in-law, her boys, and their beautiful families. And I met my newest grand nephew Jude. It was a quick visit, but wonderful. I had the best hour in the van showing my two-year-old grand nephews the van. They wanted to know what everything was and how it worked. It was so special. I didn’t have my phone on me, so no photos. But it was so stinking cute and a wonderful memory.
(Lisa… how did I miss getting a photo of you!?!)
From Austin, we headed west through sprawling Texas Hill Country on a gorgeous drive towards the border town of Del Rio, TX. (You always hear about how dreadful it is to drive across Texas, but this more southern route is really lovely.) I free camped at the Amistad National Recreation Area on a beautiful site with an expansive view. In my rush to get to a particular camping area before nightfall, I didn’t stop to take pictures along the way, missing photos of the massive desert reservoir.
Continuing westward, I stumbled across a variety of curious sites along the way and a charming little hotel and cafe in Marathon, TX. It had been a windy morning, but nothing unusual. I went into the cafe for a smoothie and came out 15 minutes later to a full-blown dust storm. I paused a bit to consider whether it was safe to continue, but decided to inch onward with dust, tumbleweeds, and 60mph gusts pummeling the van. Thinking this was normal Texas, I later discovered that this was a historic storm. The van held up well, but we’d be trying to get sand out of the van for weeks.
