More Adventures in Uvalde

 April 2024

Hi Blog!

We spent our first week in Uvalde by ourselves preparing for the Great American Solar Eclipse. Even with all the shopping, we still managed to get out and about -- even enjoying a chance meeting with Matt McConaughey, in his hometown, in the process!

We really enjoyed our time at the Chalk Bluff River Resort. Below is the view from our campsite. Ruby loved her morning and evening walks. The hot Texas sun was too much for her during the day.

On Wednesday, April 3rd, we were joined by Ginny and Eric LaJuene. They almost didn't make it when their motorhome starter gave out in Fort Stockton. Luckily, they found a mobile tech who was willing to install a replacement. It was after 8:00 p.m. when they got to camp, so we saved our walkabout for Thursday morning.

The Nueces River is 315 miles long  It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. Nueces is Spanish for nuts. Early settlers named the river after the numerous pecan trees along its banks.

Here Eric is talking to one of the neighbors. Exotic animals, especially those from Africa, are very popular with Texas ranchers. It was said that some of the old guys who started this whole industry had been to Africa and hunted over there. They saw that the climate and terrain were very similar to the Texas Hill Country and South Texas, and they figured those animals would flourish over here. Today, it is a big business with game ranches all over southern Texas.

As the day warmed up, we retired to the shade for a little craft beer and Chuck Luck.

We all took a road trip to Eagle Pass Friday morning to stock up on fresh tortillas from the Piedras Negras Tortilla Factory. In addition to fresh tortilla and tortilla chips, we picked up a couple pounds of barbacoa, made from slow cooked beef braised in an incredible blend of adobo, lime, cumin, garlic, and oregano. 

While we were waiting in line to pick up our goodies, we met the owner of the local radio stations in Eagle Pass and Uvalde. She gave us a great recommendation for lunch, Parrilla de San Miguel.

After filling ourselves with flautas, fajita and guacamole, we felt a short walk would be in order before driving back to Uvalde. We stopped at Fort Duncan on the Rio Grande. The Fort is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and seven of the original buildings have been restored including the headquarters, now serving as a museum. The museum features exhibits on the history of the fort and the over one hundred and fifty year relationship between the fort’s military presence and the community of surrounding Eagle Pass.

To take advantage of the crowds coming to town for the Solar Eclipse, Uvalde re-scheduled its Honey Festival for April 5th and 6th. On Saturday, April 6th, we drove into downtown Uvalde to attend the Bee Breakfast.

In the wake of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde in 2022, twenty-one portrait artists have transformed Uvalde’s downtown, painting buildings in bright colors and smiling faces to create 21 murals. The murals, which are a part of the “Healing Uvalde Mural Project,” honor the lives of the 19 children and two teachers who were killed on May 24, 2022.

While the main focus of the bee breakfast is to spread information about bees, this year the speakers included two additional scientists. One was a NASA Solar Scientist who talked about the sun and what they hoped to study during the eclipse. The other was an entomologist who was setting up sound recording devices to study how bees and bugs react to the total eclipse. We spoke with the entomologist after the breakfast and got some good tips on our new pollinator garden.

After breakfast, there were a series of performers scheduled for the main stage. We stopped to watch Sahawe Dancers, a local scout troup  from Uvalde. The Sahawe Dancers are a unique performing group. For more than sixty years the Sahawe program has combined Scouting projects, indiginous stories, leadership development, and performance. Their performance is the product of hundreds of hours of planning,  preparation, craftwork, and rehearsal, as the youth learn valuable life skills such as leadership, teamwork, dedication, and cooperation. It is also an incredible aerobic activity.

The youngest member of the troup was a little shy. Big brother tried to encourage her, but it was just a little too much too soon.

The square was lined with dozens of vendors. Kathy couldn't resist the Fresas con Crema! Fresh ripe strawberries smothered in cool crema!

Later that night, our friends Jane and Kim arrived in Camp Wood. We decided to join them for dinner at the local BBQ joint.

Sunday, April 7th was a day of preparation. All around camp camera tripods and telescope stands were set up. After Jane and Kim finished their preparations, they drove down to Chalk Bluff for a barbacoa taco lunch.

The afternoon was spent playing Chuck Luck and worrying about the weather. We finished the day with a campfire burger bash complete with s'mores!

As Jane and Kim returned to Camp Wood, we noticed a little ducky on the Jeep complete with British Flag!

Our two friends had spotted the ducks on the dashboard of our Jeep and had taken the time to find a new duck, add a pen-and-ink Union Jack to his costume, and presented it to us as a token of British-American friendship (well, actually, our own friendship, but you get the idea).  

 

We thought this boded well for our joint project to watch and photograph the eclipse on Monday, April 8, and we all retired to our respective abodes to dream about and plan for the eclipse the next day.