Day 22 - Boquillas de Carmen and hot springs

When we travel we should expect the unexpected... it may turn out to be a good thing.
The plan was to go soaking in a hot-spring, south west of the park. We were ready to pay for the entrance since the government shutdown has 'temporarily' ended yesterday.
We get to the gate and the closure sign is still up so the park is again free today. Driving in front of us is a ranger service car. Maybe they are still calling back the troops. Maybe they need a couple of days to access the damage inflicted by the notorious tourists. Maybe they need a day to clean up all the toilet paper left around sites...
We travel miles through the green chihuahua desert passing prickly pear forests, ocotillos and creosote.
We end up at the sign to Boquillas de Carmen. Such a cute name! We go to the Boquillas Crossing to Mexico but it is still closed, because of the  shutdown since it was deemed to be a non-essential border.

So we proceed to check out the town of Boquillas de Carmen from a view point. We see the colorful rooftops. There is Mexico!

We parked the car and there is the Rio Grande in all its glory. The border of Mexico runs along the middle of the river, no walls or obstructions of any sort. On a rock there were some knickknacks made by the locals from the other side. I really like the roadrunners.

Then we hear some people calling us to come down. There was a table in the middle of the river with people drinking beer and a guitar player singing, US on one side, Mexico on the other. It was the 'Sand Bar'...get it? 😂

They were serving Tecate beer, margaritas and tacos. A lady was cooking on a table on the other shore. There was a boat that for a fee would take you to the other side.

I talked to the guitar player for a while. They said that the government shutdown border closure had impaired  tourism for this small town and also their only source of gas and groceries. The closest town for them in Mexico was 160 miles away. This was more convenient. There were trying to help them out.

It was a party! We stayed for the beer and for the tacos. I went to the shore. They told me I was ok with the law as long as I had my feet stayed in the water. I followed the rules. I don't think there was anybody there who cared to stop them.

We left to reach our real destination: the hot springs.

There was a small trail along the river that ended up in remnant of what it must have been thermal bath. The water was Jacuzzi warm. The river was flowing by. 

pintoglyphs

petroglyphs

birds nests

hot springs by the Rio Grande

I got so warm, I had to go on the river to cool off. The water was cold but not like the ocean. I floated down on the rapids and stopped at a landing that had a trail leading back to the springs. I did it several times. I kept thinking 'I am swimming in the Rio Grande!'

We stayed until the stars came out. We kept talking to the same people we had met at the Sand Bar. I love Texas and the Texans, and I haven't seen half of it.

We ended up having dinner at Terlingua, a ghost town with two of our new friends. We closed down the restaurant. We promised to meet again in Austin.