From El Paso to San Antonio

Thursday 16^th  June 2011

Early start - 4am to catch the 6.55 bus to San Antonio.

Last night's sammies were great. Cooked to perfection by chef Mike.


Bus heads through desert country typical of what we have seen in the west so far. Many of the towns are dusty and appear run down. We are heading parallel to the Mexican border.

Not far out of El Paso the bus stops at a Border Protection check point. Armed Officers board the bus and check our papers and do a cursory search of the vehicle. As far as we know we haven’t crossed the border into Mexico so this must be a prevention stop. They appear to be looking for illegal immigrants and drugs. A sedan in front has been pulled out of the line and its occupants stand to one side while a detector dog runs over the car. We see the dog react to a bag and the officers start emptying the contents unceremoniously onto the road. We drive off before we can witness the results of this search.

About half way through the journey, all seems to be going well until the bus breaks down (overheats) and coasts to a standstill on the side of the road some hours from the nearest town (we’re in the desert). It is 2.30 in the afternoon and about 37 degrees outside.





Fortunately it has broken down about 100 metres from an overpass (rural arterial roads here are fantastic – you never stop at lights, they have overpasses everywhere). 


The overpass provides us with shade while we wait.

We feel like a group of illegal immigrants trying to get into the country – and trucks and cars honk their horns at us as they pass by.

The driver informs us it’s going to take 4 hrs to get another bus out from San Antonio so we need to be prepared for a long wait. 

Not real welcome news, especially for the parents with kids on board. Anyway, we make the best of it and start to get to know our fellow passengers a little better.

Much humour as one guy informs everyone of his plans to sue the company (he’s recorded all the details and starts taking pictures of us all under the overpass as witnesses and potentially co-complainants (we think he’s planning a class action).

In 2 hrs the bus has cooled down enough for us to start off again so we are back on the road again. As we prepare to leave a ute (pick-up) arrives with cold water for the passengers  (this has been dispatched by Greyhound). A chain gang is formed to ferry the water to the back of the bus.

Finally heading east we start to see a change in the vegetation (greener, more dense vegetation with occasional trees). Up until now been mainly salt bush type shrubs similar to what you’d see In the north of South Australia.     At the same time as we go east the towns (Junction, Ozona) appear more prosperous, tidy and neat.

 

We arrived at San Antonio at 9.35 pm, several hours later than sheduled (and there is a time change too) We take the first motel closest to the bus station (in the city – downtown as they call it here). It’s the La Villita Inn on St Marys St. Nothing flash but close to where we want to be.

 

It’s hot and humid in San Antonio and we are told that will continue as we go east. We need to find a bar near the hotel for a cold drink but everything seems closed. We end up at a San Antonio outdoor film festival event. 

 

No photos unfortunately. One of the few times we walked out without the camera.

 

Quite unique. Big blow up screen, A double sided bar in the middle of an area resembling a large house block. Lots of tables and chairs and people enjoying a drink, food and the superb weather watching some sort of documentary film.

 

Lets order.....a local beer and a margarita. Just what we need after a hard day on the road.

 

And tomorrow we explore San Antonio.