It was snowing this morning as we left Marathon. It was just starting to stick, so we were happy to be leaving to the south and downhill. We were out of the snowfall by the time we hit the park boundary. I should note that before we left, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast at Marcie's Kitchen, a small cafe on the property of the restored 40's era motel that also served as the campground at which we stayed last night. Marcie prepares home-cooked breakfast items from both sides of the border.

We had a nice drive through the park, although the weather limited visibility to a few miles and I suspect we missed some spectacular mountain scenery. We found a nice site here in the Rio Grande Village campground (map), staked it out with our cones, and spent the next couple hours at the coin laundry, which also happens to be the general store, and, in fact, the only "facility" of any sort here in the "village." The only things here are the 100-site park service campground (no hookups) at which we are staying, a 25-site full hookup campground operated by a concessionaire (who also runs the store), and a small ranger station/visitor center. There is no lodging or food service, so anyone thinking along the lines of, say, Yosemite Village may be in for a surprise.

We did take a walk along the scenic nature trail that skirts the river. From a rocky overlook can be seen the now nearly defunct village of Boquillas de Carmen, Mexico, killed off by post-9/11 border paranoia (article). It is a shame that we will not be able to cross the river here.

We've booked this site for two nights. If the weather cooperates tomorrow, we'll unload the motorcycles and explore the park. I expect we will move Odyssey to the more remote Castolon area on Thursday.