We got up Sunday morning and went to church in Alpine for Palm Sunday. The 8 am mass was in Spanish, and included the reading of Christ's passion. The Spanish was pleasant to hear, and easy to understand.
Interestingly, in Alpine we read that up until 1954, there were three high schools, one for colored, one for Mexicans, and one for whites. After Brown vs. Board of Education, they shut down the colored school, and the coloreds and the Mexicans went to the Centennial H.S. It was not until 1969 that all the races went to the same high school.
After doing some cleanup of the truck and 5th wheel, we headed south towards Big Bend. There was not much traffic, mostly motorcycles attending a antique motorcycle rally. At a gas station in Study Butte, we chatted with a couple riding a 1954 Harley; we had seen them in the campground earlier. The drive south was beautiful, with the desert wildflowers and Ocotillo in bloom. The scenery is spectacular.
After a stop in the visitor center, we arrived in Cottonwood Campground, on the Rio Grande river, early enough to get a semi-shady spot. The potable water supply there is limited, so Richard tediously put water in the 5th wheel, while Marianne held our campsite. It was hot, upper 80s, so we mostly sat in the shade and had a cool one, and worried a bit about our cat, who seemed very hot. As the sun went down, we did some birding, and both saw a Vermillion Flycatcher, strikingly red, and a Golden-Fronted Woodpecker, a new bird for both of us.
With the heat, we had a cold dinner.
We are glad to be settled down in a place to stay for a few days. Tomorrow we hope to start early to take advantage of the cool morning weather.
Richard and Marianne
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