10.18.19 Big Bend

Texas Road Trip 2019
Marfa - Big Bend Ranch State Park - Big Bend National Park
Each day, so far, in Texas I have driven through migras (border patrol) station, on different roads, miles from the border. Officers inspect the car visually, ask if we are US citizens and let us pass. As we drove 100+ miles along the Rio Grande, the concept of a border wall spanning the length of our contiguous countries seemed absurd, especially through the vast areas of mountains and Chihuahuan Desert. I There were numerous spots where I could have thrown a rock across the river. In Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend, one man walked across to sit in the verdant brush and view the beautiful canyon from the Mexican side.
On another topic, the herbal aroma of the desert is intoxicating and I have discovered a new liquor to, if not replace the mescal I came to enjoy in Oaxaca, at least add options to night time sipping ... Sotol, which is roasted similarly to the agave root for mescal, but had a grassier and refreshing taste. The plants themselves form forests with the similarly towering Spanish Bayonet yuccas and Ocotillos.