tour2004pg12

The Adventure 2004 Part 7

I know it has been a while since we have posted an update to our travels and adventure. Suffice it to say, we have been busy traveling, researching, visiting family and having a grand time.

March 24, 2004

Travel from Donna Texas to San Antonio, Texas

We happened upon a night of free camping and a free tour of San Antonio for two, if we would stay at a specific campground. We wanted to stop in San Antonio, so we were happy to take advantage of a couple of freebies.

The days drive was rather uneventful, that is a good thing. We set up camp and got organized for the next day’s tour.

March 25, 2004

San Antonio Tour

Had a great bus driver, and we found out the freebie tours would have cost us $104.00 if we had to pay. WOWIE.

First stop, the Riverwalk. This is a must when you are in San Antonio, it is colorful, fun, interesting, charming.

A ride on one of the river boats is a must, and informative. In some places the "river" is only 3 feet deep.

This piece of art is actually on the outside wall of a building along the Riverwalk. It is entirely made from stone. (I believe the stone all came from Mexico.) This is only a section of the work.

After our ride on the Riverwalk boats we view a Imax movie on the Alamo. It is said that the real truth of the story of the Alamo is not known, but that historians feel this version of the story is about the closest to the truth. It was a very well done production which we enjoyed viewing.

Next was lunch, at a rather expensive buffet, but the food was excellent, gourmet!

After lunch we walked over to the Alamo. We were there during the time they were setting up for the premier of the new “Hollywood” Alamo movie, the bus driver swears he talked to Billy Bob Thorton in the hotel. We had visited the Alamo on our first visit to San Antonio about 6 or 7 years ago, however, we really enjoyed our revisit, and took in data that we either have forgotten since the first visit or missed on the first visit.

The Alamo, as a matter of interest, something I am not sure we understood or remembered, the fighting actually took place in front of this building, in the grassy area.

We were then taken to several other “Missions” in the area, there are 5, we saw three Missions today.

Above is the San Jose' Mission, founded ca 1720.

This outside wall was painted. This section of paint remains. The guide explained the walls were painted bright colors to attract the local residents, who would become interested in the painting, come to satisfy their curiosity, and hopefully would be converted to Christianity

These stairs are crafted from oak. They were built about the time the Mission was built, and are still used today by the priests to enter the church. They are so old and dry that they almost appear to be petrified, almost look like concrete stairs, not wood.

Above, this painted wall was inside the Mission, and has been carefully cleaned.

March 26, 2004

We take a day to just “be” at the campground, paying attention to the dogs and contemplating the next stop on our tour, Fort Worth-Dallas.

March 27, 2004

A day of travel, rather uneventful, except for a little trouble finding fuel. The expressway has service drives on both sides for miles and miles, that form of construction seems to be very popular in Texas. By the time we would see a gas station there was no way to get off and fill up, unless we drove around several miles first south, then north, as the service drives are one way roads. Finally Al got off the expressway, drove around till we found a station and then pulled in, he was going here and there, ended up parked at an angle to the pumps, taking up a great deal of the parking area, but no one seemed to mind, and we got our fuel. It does not sound like a big deal now, but if you had been there, and seen the traffic and the situation, it would be funny. We laughed then, laugh now.

Around Austin Texas the bluebonnets were in full bloom. The blue bonnet is the state flower of Texas (according to something I saw somewhere) and reminds me of a large grape hyacynth. The medians on the expressway were filled with them, a sea of blue. There were also some lovely yellow flowers blooming (have NO idea what they were) and something that at 60 MPH, looked red, possibly a painted Indian flower (sorry if I have that name wrong), which I believe is a flower that resembles a black eyed susan, only the petals are red/orange. The three flowers together, red, blue and a few yellow made for a few oooohs and ahhhhs, on our travels around Austin.

The area north of Austin is filled with ranches, very very very large ranches. We also drive past Waco, which reminds us of a very sad time in American history (we watched the tragedy of Waco from our hotel room in Hawaii while there on our 25th wedding anniversary trip.)

We have a nice campground in Arlington, we had instant phone service, cable tv, the facilities were clean and neat.

March 28, 29, 30, 31, and April 1st, 2004

We spend a wonderful week visiting with Carol’s cousins, the Dardens and the Remleys. Not braggin, but I really have a nice batch of distant cousins. It was so much fun meeting them after sharing family research with them for several years. Thank you all for your great hospitality!

We leave Texas on April 2, two months to the day after arriving here. We had a grand time here, and are sad to leave.

This page was brought to you at 3 in the morning, via AOL. Could not get the cell phone to load the program and photos. Ya just never know how you will be able to access the internet while traveling in a RV.

To installment 8, of the Adventure of 2004