1. Lake Amistad - part of it in U.S. and part in Mexico. For much of the trip today we have been traveling along the Mexico border. Lake Amistad is an man made reservoir that is situated in both Mexico and the U.S. Very special to see that amount of water after hours of arid desert.
2. The Mountain Ranges - in my mind I had Texas as just flat, I have been in the "Hill Country" around Austin, Texas but my one time only memory of traveling west through Texas all I remembered was flat ribbon of road that never ended. For most of the day today we have been traveling along ranges that at times seem to be all around the train. This is an extension of the Rockies. There have some incredible formations and shapes. It was a delightful surprise and much appreciated that there are all these fun shapes and sizes that keep popping up through the train windows.
3. Antelope - yes I got to see antelope, well I have found out that they are actually Pronghorns and were in incredible decline due to hunting but are slowly making a comeback. Of course after my new found friend Chris talked last night about seeing the antelope, I was beset with an "earworm" of Home, Home on the Range so just click on the link and you too can hear Gene Autry singing that song from my youth!
4. Arroyos - there are some incredible nature made canals and little valleys and cuts through the land made by the rushing water. They pop up on the landscape unexpectedly and provide such a different view some are very very deep. I remember when I was riding in Texas on the motorcycle and we would see one of those deep ravines I would have a moment of terror thinking about the incredible force of the water that runs along the arroyos. It is much better to be seeing them from the train window.
5. Creosote bushes - these bushes (click the link to get a picture of them) provide some incredible green on the desert floor. It is spring in the desert too and these bushes are so vibrant and they are just beginning to flower, you can't hardly see that from the train but there are some where you get a yellow reflection in the sun and those are the sweet little flowers.
6. Daniel and Coco - they were my lunch companions today. They flew from Germany to New Orleans and have been traveling by train. It was another fun, far ranging conversation. We saw a large group of horses, some cattle and a wayward bull that was just walking along side the tracks. There were also a few antelope, aka Pronghorns, that were dashing through the bush. Coco was most interested and excited to see the Saguaro Cactus . She was disappointed when I said that I didn't think we would see that type of cactus before it was dark today. She instantly was sad, but I assured her that in there time in Arizona she would see many, many Saguaro's. They are majestic and it would be nice to see them now. But as I type we are in an of very flat desert floor, the ranges seem very far away and it will be a long time before the Saguaro's show up! Especially because we are at a full stop waiting for a freight train to pass us by, then one hour and five minutes to El Paso.
7. Flowering palm trees - this is another bonus of a spring trip, every know and then I see a flowering palm. I don't know if they are really palms, but the flowers are beautiful and it is really good to see big white flowers in this mostly brown scenery.
8. Traveling along the Mexican Border - much of the time as we have been traveling along the border we have not see a fence. But about an hour east of El Paso, out of my side of the train you see what looks like a large black line, that illusion of the line is "the wall" and two miles south of the fence is Mexico. I read a very interesting article about Texans living on the other side of the fence. Like many things the rhetoric from D. Trump Republican President is a lot different than the upfront view at a local level. All along the border you see little huts and barrels that are used by those who cross over, there have been several border patrol trucks driving along side the train. It is beyond comprehension that anyone wants to put even more resources into constructing walls rather than try to address the plight of people fleeing their countries. You look at this terrain and the magnitude of the size between any places where there is water or shelter and it is incredible to imagine surviving these attempts to enter the United States.
9. The Sunset Limited - everything is not completely "hunky dory" on a train ride. You must suspend the notion of time, or more accurately "being on time" They are sometimes close but there are a lot of delays. Amtrak does not own the tracks so they are at the mercy of the freight trains, weather conditions, water, other trains, etc etc etc. But in spite of that (we are about 3 1/2 hours late right now or somewhere around there, I won't ask until after supper!) I love the train, I love looking at the scenery and the rolling feeling as we speed along the tracks. I am looking forward to sunset tonight I think that it will be beautiful. I like the opportunity to get to know other people and have time to visit. I get a silly little feeling every time I walk through a train car and press the pad to open the door and there is this gap as you step onto the other car. I like my little "roomette" there is time and space to just enjoy the ride, take a nap (which I did this afternoon) and just relax. When I am on the train, I want to plan another time to be on the train. Just know I am passing rows and rows and rows of some kind of planted trees I have no idea what they are, they are just budding out they go on as far as I can see out my window. I don't know what they do or why they are there. You get those kind of moments on the train. You are not going down the highway you are on backside. I am not going to just paint a rosy picture. I will be glad to be dropped off in Maricopa, Arizona sometime tonight. But I know that I will be planning another train trip soon!
10. Blogging - it has been fun and a sweet ritual to sit with my laptop each day and let words come on the page. Somewhere along the way I put in pictures and then started to do links. I like finding a link that gives another kind of glimpse about what I thinking, feeling or seeing. I like finding music that goes along with the daily blog. I like knowing that one thing I have to make time for tomorrow is to blog. I don't think too much about it until I actually sit down to type. I like knowing that a few people are reading and that some of you are enjoying following me along my way. Somewhere in today's blog we have gained an hour, and I think we will gain another before I get off the train. We are getting closer to El Paso, then not too far until we are in New Mexico. So this is my last blog in Texas, don't know when I will be back again but it has been a good trip. Now onto Arizona and the beginning of next part of unfolding that will happen along my spring fling!
2. The Mountain Ranges - in my mind I had Texas as just flat, I have been in the "Hill Country" around Austin, Texas but my one time only memory of traveling west through Texas all I remembered was flat ribbon of road that never ended. For most of the day today we have been traveling along ranges that at times seem to be all around the train. This is an extension of the Rockies. There have some incredible formations and shapes. It was a delightful surprise and much appreciated that there are all these fun shapes and sizes that keep popping up through the train windows.
3. Antelope - yes I got to see antelope, well I have found out that they are actually Pronghorns and were in incredible decline due to hunting but are slowly making a comeback. Of course after my new found friend Chris talked last night about seeing the antelope, I was beset with an "earworm" of Home, Home on the Range so just click on the link and you too can hear Gene Autry singing that song from my youth!
4. Arroyos - there are some incredible nature made canals and little valleys and cuts through the land made by the rushing water. They pop up on the landscape unexpectedly and provide such a different view some are very very deep. I remember when I was riding in Texas on the motorcycle and we would see one of those deep ravines I would have a moment of terror thinking about the incredible force of the water that runs along the arroyos. It is much better to be seeing them from the train window.
5. Creosote bushes - these bushes (click the link to get a picture of them) provide some incredible green on the desert floor. It is spring in the desert too and these bushes are so vibrant and they are just beginning to flower, you can't hardly see that from the train but there are some where you get a yellow reflection in the sun and those are the sweet little flowers.
6. Daniel and Coco - they were my lunch companions today. They flew from Germany to New Orleans and have been traveling by train. It was another fun, far ranging conversation. We saw a large group of horses, some cattle and a wayward bull that was just walking along side the tracks. There were also a few antelope, aka Pronghorns, that were dashing through the bush. Coco was most interested and excited to see the Saguaro Cactus . She was disappointed when I said that I didn't think we would see that type of cactus before it was dark today. She instantly was sad, but I assured her that in there time in Arizona she would see many, many Saguaro's. They are majestic and it would be nice to see them now. But as I type we are in an of very flat desert floor, the ranges seem very far away and it will be a long time before the Saguaro's show up! Especially because we are at a full stop waiting for a freight train to pass us by, then one hour and five minutes to El Paso.
7. Flowering palm trees - this is another bonus of a spring trip, every know and then I see a flowering palm. I don't know if they are really palms, but the flowers are beautiful and it is really good to see big white flowers in this mostly brown scenery.
8. Traveling along the Mexican Border - much of the time as we have been traveling along the border we have not see a fence. But about an hour east of El Paso, out of my side of the train you see what looks like a large black line, that illusion of the line is "the wall" and two miles south of the fence is Mexico. I read a very interesting article about Texans living on the other side of the fence. Like many things the rhetoric from D. Trump Republican President is a lot different than the upfront view at a local level. All along the border you see little huts and barrels that are used by those who cross over, there have been several border patrol trucks driving along side the train. It is beyond comprehension that anyone wants to put even more resources into constructing walls rather than try to address the plight of people fleeing their countries. You look at this terrain and the magnitude of the size between any places where there is water or shelter and it is incredible to imagine surviving these attempts to enter the United States.
9. The Sunset Limited - everything is not completely "hunky dory" on a train ride. You must suspend the notion of time, or more accurately "being on time" They are sometimes close but there are a lot of delays. Amtrak does not own the tracks so they are at the mercy of the freight trains, weather conditions, water, other trains, etc etc etc. But in spite of that (we are about 3 1/2 hours late right now or somewhere around there, I won't ask until after supper!) I love the train, I love looking at the scenery and the rolling feeling as we speed along the tracks. I am looking forward to sunset tonight I think that it will be beautiful. I like the opportunity to get to know other people and have time to visit. I get a silly little feeling every time I walk through a train car and press the pad to open the door and there is this gap as you step onto the other car. I like my little "roomette" there is time and space to just enjoy the ride, take a nap (which I did this afternoon) and just relax. When I am on the train, I want to plan another time to be on the train. Just know I am passing rows and rows and rows of some kind of planted trees I have no idea what they are, they are just budding out they go on as far as I can see out my window. I don't know what they do or why they are there. You get those kind of moments on the train. You are not going down the highway you are on backside. I am not going to just paint a rosy picture. I will be glad to be dropped off in Maricopa, Arizona sometime tonight. But I know that I will be planning another train trip soon!
10. Blogging - it has been fun and a sweet ritual to sit with my laptop each day and let words come on the page. Somewhere along the way I put in pictures and then started to do links. I like finding a link that gives another kind of glimpse about what I thinking, feeling or seeing. I like finding music that goes along with the daily blog. I like knowing that one thing I have to make time for tomorrow is to blog. I don't think too much about it until I actually sit down to type. I like knowing that a few people are reading and that some of you are enjoying following me along my way. Somewhere in today's blog we have gained an hour, and I think we will gain another before I get off the train. We are getting closer to El Paso, then not too far until we are in New Mexico. So this is my last blog in Texas, don't know when I will be back again but it has been a good trip. Now onto Arizona and the beginning of next part of unfolding that will happen along my spring fling!
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