A visit to San Antonio

One of the main reasons we wanted to stay near San Antonio was so we could go to the Alamo. We have heard the story of the Texans who fought and died here since we were kids and was looking forward to finding out what was truth and what was Hollywood. Surprisingly, the events were depicted quite accurately in the movies we've seen. A story of 200 men who all died fighting over 2000 Mexican soldiers doesn't need much embellishment.

Although most of the fort has been built over in the years since the battle, the main areas involved in the fight are still there. A creek flows through the fort and supplied all their water but in preparation for the battle, it was thought that there may be a siege so a well was dug to make sure water would be available. This is the well they dug. The wall with the arched door was called the long barracks and was where most of the Texans  retreated as they were overwhelmed. Mexicans set up cannon and shot them to bits. Over 160 died there.

The Alamo was originally built by monks and used as a religious compound to convert the natives. During the battle, Texans who retreated into the chapel were killed by cannon fire as well. About 20 died here.

This was one of the cannon used in the battle. They had originally been captured from the Mexicans and when the Mexicans overran the fort they turned the cannon on the Texans.

The grounds are well looked after and beautifully landscaped, not like the dusty yard it was during the battle. About 20 men surrendered after the battle, including Davey Crockett. They were all executed by the Mexicans then stripped and piled up and burned.

Somewhere we had gotten the idea that there wasn't much left of the original Alamo site, just a wall or two and the facade of the chapel. Its much more complete than that. A number of movies have been made here and the visitors centre had artifacts from the original battle as well as props from the movies. Lots to look at.

The Alamo is in the centre of downtown San Antonio. Flowing through the centre of town is the San Antonio River. Over 100 years ago they started to build walkways and parks along the rivers shores. There are miles of beautiful walkways along the river as well as canals such as this one which runs right through the Hyatt hotel. 

In the centre of town the river makes a big loop which is a beautiful walk with flower gardens and cafes. The map beside me shows the miles of river which is part of the river walk.

Every once in awhile there is a foot bridge that lets you get to the other side. Water taxis are available if you wish to sit and enjoy the view. Its hard to imagine this is right downtown.

There are miles of walkways with lovely flower gardens and huge trees.

Once we got away from the downtown area we expected the trail to peter out, but we did first. We walked a few miles and the scenery stayed beautiful.

Once in awhile we can across a grotto like this where small streams entered the main river.

We didn't feel like a $15.00 tourist burger so we left the river walk and found this plaza where we stopped for lunch and had Mexican. Gave us enough gas to power our way back.

Of all the cities we've been, this has to have the best and loveliest downtown area. If you're ever near San Antonio allow time to walk along the River Walk. You'll love it. We sure did.

A few days at San Antonio

After leaving Santa Fe, we left the skiff of snow behind and enjoyed a sunny drive to Las Cruces New Mexico. We stayed here 2 years ago so not much new to report, but you can check our blog from then to learn about Billy the Kid and other Las Cruces info. The little bit of snow in Santa Fe was enough to cover the back of Harvey with muddy spray so I took time to clean it pretty.

Our next leg takes us through El Paso which is on the Rio Grande river. That means Mexicans may try to sneak across the river so on the only road out of town, there is a permanent inspection station. I'm not sure why but the cars were examined and a dog walked around each of them but the motorhomes were waved through without inspection. Maybe I could make some extra cash filling up with illegal immigrants.

This is our campsite in Fort Stockton Texas. Not many amenities here. We did get some wind and sand for entertainment. That grassy stuff on the ground isn't actually grass, its some evil plant with burrs covered with thorns. If you step just right, the thorns go right through your crocs and you know it. I was a bit worried that they might give me a flat tire; they're that bad. Anyway, you learn quickly to stay off the plants.

Fort Stockton has one of the nicest visitor centres we've seen. You have to admit, thats a cool road runner. All festive and all.

This is part of the entrance to the visitors centre. Isn't that something? Its such a small town that the visitors centre is probably the biggest feature in town.

The main reason that Fort Stockton exists is because of the fort which was built here to protect settlers who were moving west and unhappy Indians would try to persuade them to go back, usually by massacring them. The fort is still there so we had a walk around. Seeing the barracks and the jail was all and good but the most interesting thing we found was this wagon. Knowing I'm a John Wayne groupie helps explain why I'm tickled to find this treasure. I mean, he may have sat in it, wow!

Next stop is Boerne Texas. You will note we don't quite have the place to ourselves like we did in Fort Stockton. I'm assuming that everyone stayed there once, just like us, and wouldn't go back to be terrorized by ambushing burrs. None of them buggers here so we're going to start taking walks again.

Got tired of walking around the campground so we went for a drive. The town of Fredericksburg was a great place to spend a couple of hours. Its just like St. Jacobs (if you know where that is), all touristy and trinket shops. Founded by Germans as well. Admiral Chester Nimitz, who commanded the Pacific fleet during the second world war was born here and the largest Pacific War museum is here. The top of the museum is built to look like the top of a war ship.

If you are a fan of country music and are over 30 years old, you probably have heard of the song "Luckenbach Texas" by Waylan Jennings in 1977, when outlaw country was king. Google it, its really cool. Anyway, we had to go there; it was just a few miles away.

There actually is a place by that name. A general store, a dance hall and a blacksmith shop is the total extent of the place. Oh yeah, 3 different bars. Its a magnet for would be outlaws and was loaded with bikers and their girls. Had to have a beer to get in the zone. Now there's an outlaw.

Well, after one bloody light beer this outlaw went looking for the toilets. All I can say is, I'm just glad I didn't have to sit down to get relief. Rustic and well used. Well, I've been to Luckenbach Texas and couldn't find Waylon and Willie and the boys, but it was fun anyways.

Santa Fe

Its nice to get away from Colorado and the cold and snow. Santa Fe is the second oldest city in the US and the oldest state capital. It was founded 20 years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. By the Spanish. In the town square is this plaque showing its the start of the Santa Fe trail. Where else would the Santa Fe trail start?

 An hours drive from Santa Fe sits the town of Los Alamos which as we all know is where the secret research went on to develop the atomic bomb. It was called the Manhattan Project. This museum is one of the buildings used as living quarters for some of the scientists.

 Around this small lake sat most of the research buildings in which the development took place. The buildings have been torn down and replaced with a park.

This was a school where rich eastern kids came to learn about the outdoors and healthy activities. It was taken over by the government in 1943 and used as living quarters for the single scientists. Its now a hotel and museum.

Los Alamos sits high atop a mesa and can only be accessed by 2 roads, both of which were restricted during the war. It would have been very hard to sneak in to find out what was going on there. This is where the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were created.

This is what a mesa looks like. You can see how hard it would be to sneak in. There are now over 2100 different facilities owned by the Dept of Energy around Los Alamos. They mainly look after nuclear security and develop and safeguard Americas nuclear deterrent force.

About an hour west of Los Alamos is the Valles Caldera. This is an 89000 acre crater caused by volcanic forces. At one time it was a huge bulge in the earth caused by the upward pressure of volcanic lava. When the pressure got too high, the edges of the bulge split open allowing the lava to escape. The bulge then dropped over 3000 feet forming the flat bowl area in the picture. The hills around are formed from the lava which escaped at the edges. Can you imagine the violence of such an activity?

50 miles away from the caledra we found this overlook with the Rio Grande river in the valley. Also found this  stag horn Cholla which we haven't seen since leaving the west 2 years ago. Like an old friend; but still nasty. The rocks around me are lava rocks thrown up by the collapse of the caldera, 50 miles away, some explosion, huh?

Well, time to head on to our next adventure, but not before a bit of snow overnight just to make us happy to be heading south to Las Cruces New Mexico.

Colorado Springs

 Just west of Colorado Springs is a park called Garden of the Gods which is considered, at least by the locals, to be the most beautiful municipal park in America.

 Its a beautiful drive through the park with natural rock formations around every turn. I took a chance that an earthquake wouldn't hit while I stood holding the rock in place.

 There were so many unique formations that I couldn't decide what to shoot so I just took pictures of grammie. She's unique.

 In the background is Pikes Peak which you may have heard of. We never got a picture of the top because of the clouds, but I hear its quite high.

 Its hard to get a feel for the beauty in a picture but this is an amazing place. The red rock gives a great contrast to the regular rocks and soil.

Apparently, these rocks were formed by sedimentation and became sandstone under great pressure and have now been exposed by erosion. Isn't geology fascinating?

 Just down the road is an ancient Indian community of homes built into the cliffs. It has been dated to about 1100AD and other than steps and railings, hasn't been touched or repaired.

 Its called the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and was the home of the Anasazi who have disappeared over time.

 Even the timbers in the floors are original. The area is so dry and the cliff above protects the dwellings so no rot or erosion has happened.

Those openings in the wall weren't windows, but the doors. They are about 1.5 feet wide and 2 feet tall so everyone crawled through them to get in or out. Removable ladders were used to get to the upper floors. The average room was about 6 feet by 8 feet and held a family of four. The building behind grammie was 3 stories high with a family living in a room behind each door opening. The wood poles supported the floor for the rooms above.

 They grew corn which was their main food. There were a few rooms like this where the corn was stored and the women knelt in front of these grinders with a flat rock and ground the corn by crushing with the rock.

It is believed that the Pueblo Indians are descendants of the Anasazi because of the similarity between the cliff dwellings and the more modern pueblo homes. This is the museum and is built in the pueblo style. There are no ground floor entrances and ladders are needed to get to the rooftop openings. Except for the museum entrances of course. In the museum it shows how the logs are used to support the floors and how those small rooms could hold that many people. Fascinating place.

Next Stop Colorado Springs

Time to leave and head to our next stop. When I came out to get ready to travel I saw that the hill behind us had a fire last night. Never heard a thing.

It was such a long drive to our next campground that we stopped half way and spent the night at a Flying J truck stop. Its not the most restful place because the trucks leave their engines running overnight but we still managed to get some rest.

We've managed to have great weather so far so weren't too excited about big black clouds as we entered Colorado. Maybe they'll pass.

The day turned out warm and sunny so I decided to clean off the road spray from the car. It gets real dirty behind the motorhome, so I have to do this every once in a while.

I'm glad I did my outside work yesterday because this is what we woke up to. I guess this is what those black clouds were trying to tell us.

It is beautiful though isn't it? Forecast is for below freezing for the rest of our stay. We knew we were taking a risk by travelling through this part of the country this time of year, but we can handle it. I hope.