Monday, December 7, 2009

Down South...Day Eight...Monday, December 7, 2009...San Antonio to Del Rio




Wow...I had the BEST breakfast this morning at Mi Tierra in San Antonio. This was, maybe, my fourth or fifth visit over the years...last time was twenty years ago or so. Scrambled eggs with crispy tortilla strips and chorizo...all covered with ranchero sauce and melted cheese. Plus...a "comped" taco of my favorite...machaca...dried shredded beef...wow!!!
After breakfast, it was on to Bolner's Meat Market...an awesome "shrine" to bovine perfection. I immediately established a great rapport with the butcher...inquiring as to the meaning of the term "primal box cuts"...you can look it up. He cut two 2" rib eye steaks from a magnificent piece of 90-day (that's right, THREE months) dry-aged prime Texas beef...then "frenched" the bones and cryo-vac'd them for me...awesome. I may be freezing my ass off in Big Bend National Park, but I WILL be eating well!
Then...on the road...out on U.S. 90 from San Antonio to Del Rio. Route 90 is my favorite stretch of road in the whole U.S.A....desert, mountains, canyons, cool rock formations. This will be the third time that I have had the privilege of driving this highway. I'll have some great photos tomorrow because the best stretch of this road is west of Del Rio.
Also feeling a bit nostalgic today...I have relatives out here. Yes, that's right, there are "Thee's" out here in west Texas. My grandfather on my father's side emigrated to the U.S. with a brother. My grandfather stayed in Philadelphia while his brother moved to Texas...Alpine, Texas to be precise. So...I feel some degree of kinship with this area of the country.
Great music from my iPod on the trip today...Aaron Copeland's Suites from Billy the Kid and Rodeo...Big Country by Big Country (80's!)...and "Stars and Topsoil" by the Cocteau Twins (one of those obscure, but excellent, 80's groups...you have GOT to hear "Pandora" from that album!!!).
I got to Del Rio around 3:00PM, checked in to the La Quinta Inn (cheap!) and headed straight for Ciudad Acuna in Mexico (via taxi, of course). I bought a year's supply of Nasacort and Singulair for a third of what it would have cost at home. Then...on to Manuel's for dinner (shrimp in ranchero sauce...yum!). Rolling the dice, I had a Margarita with ice, the fresh salsa, and a Caesar salad...other than tossing my food or drink in the dirt, I can't imagine anything more likely to result in serious intestinal distress (it's 4 1/2 hours later, by the way, and I'm feeling pretty good...knock on wood...ha, ha, ha).
Tomorrow, I'll be up early for the 240 mile or so drive to Big Bend National Park...four or five days of tent camping (weather permitting).
Life is good! More later...

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