From our seat on the Sunset Limited, Views of the Texas Pecos Trail region

Today, we continue our journey on Amtrak's Sunset Limited, and the views we saw from our seat aboard the train.  We boarded the train in Alpine in early afternoon, which meant we traveled past some of the Texas Pecos Trail's scenic attractions in the waning (beautiful) light of the day. 

View from the Pecos River Bridge

We didn't miss anything, because the crew made announcements about each of these spots in plenty of time to fish cameras out of our luggage.  Our first photo opportunity in our neighboring Texas Pecos Trail was the Pecos River Bridge...check this page for photos of the bridge and a summary of its interesting history.  There's another neat photo of it here.

Lake Amistad at sunset

 Our next photo opportunity was Lake Amistad at sunset!  This is a national recreation area administered by the National Park Service.  Their website describes the area this way: 
"Amistad NRA is the United States portion of International Amistad Reservoir, formed on the Rio Grande along the border of the US and Mexico. Amistad is known for excellent water-based recreation, camping and is surrounded by a landscape rich in prehistoric rock art, a vibrant border culture, along with a wide variety of plant and animal life."

Near Del Rio, the Rio Grande and beyond that, Mexico!

As the train rolled towards Del Rio, the Rio Grande came into view.  One of the things we like about train travel is the opportunity to see homes and ranches and farms not normally seen from the road.  In addition to the sights here; we saw lots of goats, cattle and horses; dogs frolicking in an orchard after dinner; a large family barbecue and party with balloons hung in every tree in the yard! 

In our Texas Mountain Trail region, you can board the train in El Paso or Alpine, and travel the Sunset Limited or Texas Eagle lines.