Day 27 - Del Rio to Brackettville

Only thirty miles to Brackettville, but still riding into those headwinds. Luckily it's flat today.

Sad to leave the Whispering Palms Motel. Very nice and easy on the budget too. The Owner, Bob, was raised in Nairobi, his family was brought there from India by the British to build the railroad. He owns several Motels and a business providing computer assistance to travel agencies. Nice man. Left under a light rain. We stopped for a real breakfast and by the time we were done the rain had stopped.

The landscape sure did change today, west of Del Rio was all desert all the time. East of Del Rio it's much greener, much to Michele's delight. I'm starting to think she doesn't care much for the desert. I'll miss it though.

Nothing of note to report. We had a nice lunch at another if those Texas roadside picnic areas. Dried sausage, cheese and dark rye. Apples for dessert. While eating we saw several birds including a Bullocks Oriole and a scarlet flycatcher ( I think that's right). We also saw a scissor tail flycatcher, J&M had seen several, but this was the first I saw too. Fun, I need to pull out my copy of "The Sibley guide to Birds" and take up bird watching. I tried once before, but lost interest. Maybe it'll stick this time. I'll get some pointers from my traveling companions. Andrew seems to be quite the birder as well.

We ended up camping at Fort Clark. It appears to be a decommissioned military base converted to some sort of gated community with a campground, RV park, motel and houses. Odd, but we have a very nice place to camp. Cold water shower, brrrr.

Andrew made jalapeño poppers and J&M fried spicy sausage and served them with a tomato, cucumber and avocado salad. Probably the best Texas meal to date. Washed it down with Shiner Bock.

After dinner Andrew noticed fireflies, sure enough, there they were and we spent about half an hour watching them flit about. I remember catching fireflies once when I was young, but I can't remember where that was. Mom/Dad - maybe you remember.

Camping may be a little sketchy tonight. Possibility of thunderstorms, but as I type this the skies are clear. Very windy though. Rain will be a problem, because Andrew is sleeping without a tent. If it starts to rain I told him he can take refuge in mine. Hope it doesn't come to that.