Saturday February 2, 2008

We both woke up this morning a bit weary and sore from our weird sleeping arrangement and vowed to remedy it today. We dragged the mattress out of the tent and hauled it down to the restroom where we plugged it in to charge it. We stayed around camp most of the day - just took a short hike behind our site to the Rio Grande (about 1/4 of a mile). We saw a few grebes on an inlet and some turtles sunning themselves. The river here is very shallow and someone could easily cross into Mexico or vice versa here although of course it is illegal to cross here so we stayed on our side. There were a few places along the path where Mexicans left wares to purchase - rocks, braided bracelets, walking sticks, metal wire shaped scorpions - and a jar to put the money in if you were to buy. However, since the fine for purchasing goods from illegals is $5000, we were not tempted. We got back to camp and had a dinner of garlic shrimp and rice and then tried the mattress again. This time it filled up about 1/3 of the way after charging all day. We decided we would call Bean's in the morning as there is obviously something wrong with the pump. We went down to the local Ranger Station and watch a movie on the Big Bend - it was very good, but the room was small and it was hot in there. The temperature during the day was 80. It does get down into the 30's at night though, so we are thankful for our flannel sheets and comforter. We read for a while and then fell asleep only to be awaken by the loud braying of wild burros. We haven't seen any yet, but have saw their scat on our walk.