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Winter trip 2026 - Day 8: Desert Driving

Last night was our last final night in the park. Originally we had planned on one more day, but with the heat and sun our hiking was pretty limited after noon each day. 
We had a really cool view of the sunrise and then packed up. I decided to start walking out and told Joe to just catch up with me. This trail was even tough on foot. 
Outside of the park, but before the first town, we went through a border patrol checkpoint. We have a strict rule of only doing one illegal thing at a time so we weren't really worried about getting stopped. One person appeared to be working, he asked if we are US citizens, we said yes, and he sent us on our way without even looking at our faces. 
We headed east on highway 90, which basically follows the Rio Grande until the river turns south near Del Rio. Lots of border patrol, goats, and disappearing towns through this stretch. We spotted what we both assumed was a blimp, without really thinking why anyone would be flying one way out here. Turned out to it was a surveillance balloon.
We passed through another border checkpoint, much more activity at this one and lots more questions about where we've been and where we were going until he realized we were in a camper and not a cargo van full of hidden people.

I booked a spot in an RV park just outside of San Antonio. We wanted to be as close to the city as possible for the next day. We got checked in and then left to run some errands. There was all insane amount of traffic in this area.  We made another grocery stop at H-E-B (pronounce each letter, like "itchy bee") and Auto Zone for a van part. Stopped for fuel at Costco and I went in and got a calzone and pizza while Joe replaced the transfer case seal in the parking lot. 
We don't really stay at RV parks like this, but this was a fine place for one night. I think most of the people there were staying long term. They had clean enough bathrooms, showers that we desperately needed, and free washers and dryers so we knocked out a load of laundry while we ate and planned out our next few stops.

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