He eats his spinach

As we have often said - every town is know for something or claims to be the "Capital" of something. When we entered Crystal City yesterday we were greeted with a sign declaring that Crystal City is the "Spinach Capital of the World".  As we were driving through town this morning on our way to Del Rio we passed Popeye Park. That's a strange name for a park, we thought. Then, in the center of town was a huge covered statue of Popeye the Sailor Man. With a slap of the forehead we realized that Popeye sings the ditty -

               I'm Popeye the sailor man
               I eats my spinach right out of the can

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye

There's Popeye, bulging forearms and all.

Outside of town are the spinach fields.

We didn't have too far to go today, only about 110 miles, but the terrain changed a bit.

Definitely hills in the background; not just flat.

The brush gave way to more "scrub".

Lots of windmills - an iconic image of Texas.

As we got closer to Del Rio there was more agriculture.

Fields of seedlings covered in plastic.

Del Rio is the home to Laughlin Air Force Base.

It's right on the edge of town.

We came into Del Rio on Highway #90 but were directed to take the bypass loop because the RV park was on the other side of town. Del Rio is town of 23,000 and it needs a bypass?  All I can think is that some elected official is bringing home the bacon to his district. The bypass is about ten miles long and there were maybe 10 cars that passed us going in the other direction.

The name of the RV Park where we are staying tonight is Broke Mill RV Park. Mike told us that when he bought the park 4 years ago there were 3 broken wind-mills on the property; hence the name. This one is at the entrance and is outlined in lights that are real pretty at night.

This is Mike, the owner, and that is his saddle and two additional old hats. He told us that this part of Texas is the sheep and goat raising area. We asked if this is south Texas or west Texas. Mike says that we are right on the line - some say Del Rio is in west Texas, others say east.

These are some arrowheads that he has found "during his life". They are on display in the office - along with the saddle.

Out behind the RV park is a hiking/running trail, 1.5 miles, that we walked.

Belt and suspenders in Del Rio. When we asked Mike why there were two fences to separate the property, he said that it is a lot of work to remove a fence so if someone puts up a new fence they often just leave the old one in place.

It's kind of pretty that way.

These large ant hills were all along the trail. The soil is kind of large chunky rocks but the ants burrow down and excavate the rock into these small, uniform pebbles.

The only bright yellow flower that we found along the trail. Most of the shrubs are ceniza and guajillo, says Mike.

I think the RV park is located in an old orchard. There are lots of these flowering peach trees throughout the park.