Walking To Mexico

Wednesday, April 20th – Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas to Ciudad Acuna, Mexico and back – Day 69 

 Big day. We started with the view from our campsite. Our first taste of real desert; even though we found out later it was a desert savannah biome. We had cacti around our campsite and mountains in the distance. It was beautiful. 

 Our first stop was Amistad National Recreational area. We picked up Junior Rangers booklets from the visitor centre and got some suggestions for hikes, drives and swims. We went on a scenic drive to an outlook and decided to stop for a picnic. Amistad is a huge, man-made lake with limestone rock rising high on each side. The drought in the area has led it to be 60 (or so) feet below normal. The kids wanted to walk down the rocks to the water, and we did what always happens in these situations, we went swimming. It was cold but very refreshing. We had lunch, finished junior ranger booklets and awarded some badges. 

 Gen was especially keen to visit Mexico on this trip. We looked into crossing the border in several places but websites warned us about kidnapping, car jacking, etc, etc. We were also informed that if we drove to Mexico, we would need to purchase new insurance at the border, ours was only valid for the US and Canada. The crossing between Del Rio and Ciudad Acuna, near Seminole Canyon, was relatively safe. Even the Rangers at the park went there for cheap dental work. To get around insurance, we parked at a duty-free store on the US side. 

We didn’t know what to expect but we were told lots of people walked into Mexico, so we started walking. A $0.75 bridge charge was all that stood between us and Mexico. The walk was about a mile to cross the bridge over the Rio Grande. We saw some white tail deer in a field we passed. At the border, we showed our passports and got our visitor paperwork and walked into Acuna. 

 The first street was filled with dental services and gift shops. We spent some time buying souvenirs in a small shop and received a recommendation for a restaurant. Unfortunately, it was closed so we got another recommendation and walked a block or two to another restaurant. The meal for Gen and myself was a full fish with a side of seafood soup accompanied by a Margarita and a beer/Clamato mix. The kids got fish fingers. It was delicious. The kids were on their most barely adequate behaviour but we got through the meal without breaking anything. 

 After that we wandered around the main square and the local church. We were told that most other sights were far away. The day was getting late already so we decided to walk back towards the border. A few more shops along the way and we were back getting our passports stamped. To get back across the bridge we needed to walk around the whole walled off border processing area and through a walkway on the other side. The kids were hot and done with walking but we still had a mile to get back across the Rio Grande and through American customs. A whole lot of carrying children later, we arrived back at our car. 

 To extend the night further, we stopped for laundry and groceries in Del Rio. I watched the Raptors almost win a playoff game and finally headed back to our camper.