Tarantulas, Roadrunners, and So Much More

Since we left Pensacola, FL up to the Houston, TX area, (about 3 weeks or so) we have been following the Gulf and the Gulf landscape. Mostly shoreline vacation areas and small and rural towns inland a bit along 2 and 4 lane highways that parallel the Gulf. We have intentionally avoided interstate highways such as Route 10 to go at a slower pace and to see what was out here beyond the highway worlds that accompany interstates.

The trip west from Houston (where we first left the Gulf) to San Antonio, again along the 2 and 4 lane state road 90, was transitional. The Gulf was behind us, but we were not yet in what Laura and I envisioned ‘the real Texas’ to be. Lots of suburbs and the city of San Antonio, while certainly a city with a strong Hispanic presence and southwestern feel, could have been mistaken, if you squinted some, as another large US city.

Well, yesterday we spent the night in Amistad National Park along the US/Mexican border and the Rio Grande. (We had driven the day before about 100 miles due west from San Antonio – to the border town area of Del Rio, TX.) As is often the case, we went for an evening walk after dinner in our campsite in the park. It had been a warm day, low 80s, dusk was setting in, and the temperatures dropped into the 70s. Our campsite was deserted and beautiful – it looked like we parked right along an African Savannah and elephants would stroll by at any minute – none did!

Laura saw it first while we were walking. Black. About the circumference of a baseball. With lots of legs and a bit hairy. Yes, it was a tarantula walking in the gravel road ahead of us, about 8 feet away. And, it seemed right at home. Welcome to the west we thought – among other things, including a bit nervousness at the sight! There was more to be seen as we saw 5 or 6 more on the way back to the van, albeit a more cautious walk than before we saw the first spider. Then a couple more in the morning. Did we mention the many deer and rabbit that were running through the campsite?

As we drove away in the morning, just as you might imagine it to be, there was a roadrunner bird, sitting in the middle of the road. As we approached in the van, it did indeed run across the road, not fly!

We then spent one of our longer days in the van in a while – about 5 hours total driving, about 150 miles due west, including lots of stops. The land continued to dry out until we were fully in an arid, desert-like area. The elevation started to rise until we got to and stayed at 4000 feet or more – even 5000 feet at times, most of our time up to this point has been spent at or around sea level! Towns, if you could call them that, some as small as one gas station and a few houses, were 20-40 miles apart. And every creek or river bed (except the Pecos River, large river similar to the Rio Grande) were completely dry. Ranches were all to be seen and a very occasional car, truck, or RV on the road. We had found the west and this was the Texas we had imagined!

So, it was not a surprise when Laura suggested while we drove today that we play Lucinda Williams’ album West – one of her favorites and rather fitting – these are the last two stanzas, from the song West, last song on the album:

Who knows what the future holds
Or where the cards may fall
But if you don’t come out west and see
You’ll never know at all

Come out west and see
The best that it could be
I know you won’t stay permanently
But come out west and see