Mar. 26: San Antonio Camp and Sites

Yesterday, we packed up and headed for San Antonio. Made a quick stop (about 2 hours) at Camping World to get our converter replaced. Miles and miles of mesquite and cactus. Not too bad a sight because the mesquite gives the area lots of green, now that they've all leafed out; and the cactus are blooming. Not yet in full bloom so I took some pictures before we left the valley (and included some yellow blooming tree) because I felt the further north we went the less they would be in bloom.

As we got closer to San Antonio, I noticed that the trees were growing taller and there was more pasture and farm land. There were lots of crops in the valley, but not along the highway. Then came the rolling hills. Not sure we're far enough north and west to be in hill country, but this is definitely more than we're used to. East and south Texas is pretty flat.

Our camp ground, Dixie Kampground, is small and desolate. Probably the worst one we've stayed in. They have us in a row of campers that I'm sure are all weekly or monthly residents. The rest are workers who live here. One trailer, not much bigger than ours, had 6 doors on each side of it with steps going up to each. Can't image living in that small of an area. Larry said that they were probably railroad or carnival workers. Lots of empty lots. But this was the cheapest one we could find in the area and we'll only be here a week. Probably will be in town most of the days.

My daisies finally bit the dust. Too high of temperatures in Mission and several days of 40 to 50 mph winds didn't help. Larry seemed to think I should have watered them a little more frequently. So here are my new flowers. Zinnias and petunias - pretty had to kill - but we'll see.

In San Antonio - you ride the bus. It's the only way to get around. Unlike Wichita, the buses here are actually used. They are full and they drive fast. They have a schedule and by God they're staying on it. The bus comes right by the driveway to the camp ground so we were there at 10:15 am to wait for the 10:38 am bus. Right on time, we were boarding and heading into downtown. Not a half mile down the road we made our first stop at the KOA and loaded up with more winter Texans heading into town too. One grey haired old black gentleman (sounds like a song) got on with a huge black bag of aluminium cans. He had a hard time getting down the isle but I think he'd done this before.

We got off at Dillards in downtown San Antonio and walked one block and we were in the Alamo Plaza. I think we got there around 11:00 and it was 12:30 before be got to the front of the Alamo. We spent a hour and a half wondering the grounds and listening to bands from Ottawa and Earlsville, Illinois. The grounds have tons of beautiful flowers and wonderful landscaping. Snap Dragons, Impatients, Petunias, Violets of every color and several blooming trees that I didn't have a clue what they were. There was an oak tree that was planted in 1912 and was my favorite thing to photograph. Unfortunately, I couldn't get far enough away because of all the walls of the Alamo Mission. It's hard to not take the typical Alamo picture because you can really only see if from the very front. Everytime I turned around, I was trying to take pictures into the sun and I'm not patient enough to wait around until the sun is just right.

The Alamo, originally named Mission San Antonio de Valero, served as home to missionaries and their Indian converts for nearly 70 years. Construction began on the present site in 1724. In the early 1800's, the Spanish military stationed a calvary unit at the former mission. The soldiers referred to the old mission as the Alamo (Spanish for "cottonwood") in honor of their hometown Alamo de Parras, Coahuila. The post's commander established the first recorded hospital in Texas here at the Alamo.

There was a lot leading up to Texas wanting it's independence from Mexico but I won't bore you with that history now - some of it was taxes - which I think we all understand. Some of it was just plain wanting independence from Mexico and wanting to be a part of the USA - which was the American way as we explored the west.

Both Texans and Tejanos prepared to defend the Alamo together on Feb. 23, 1836 when General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's army showed up. Nearly 200 men tried to hold the fortress against very high odds. After 13 days, Colonel William Travis, having already sent out numerous messengers with requests for help, drew a line on the ground and asked any man willing to stay and fight, to step over - all except one did. The Alamo was the key to the defense of Texas and they were ready to give their lives rather than surrender their position. On March 6, 1836 the Alamo was once again attacked at dawn and by sunset it was all over. This is the place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. For this reason, the Alamo remains hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty.

And, there were survivors. One black slave, women and children, and several old men were allowed to go free.

I looked at the list of those who gave their lives here and was amazed at the number of Irish. There were also English, Scottish, Germans, and one from Denmark. Lots of Tennessee and Kentucky volunteers there too. I think there was someone from almost every state that was formed at that time - not so many from the far northeast. A truly remarkable place and a great part of our history.

And then there is the beautiful Riverwalk. I am the type of person who is constantly framing pictures in my mind whether I have a camera on me or not. The Riverwalk was just one big huge photographers dream. Everytime I turned around there was another great shot. And the great thing about a digital camera is that I can take tons of pictures and bring them back to the computer to delete the ones I don't want. About the only two I deleted was the picture I took of Larry and the one he took of me holding my margarita because of the expressions on our faces - we looked like we weren't having fun and I knew that wasn't right.



We ate at the Republic of Texas and had chicken enchiladas with cheese and red sauce. Then found a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and, as you would expect, a Haagen Dazs store. Yeah, I came home and crashed into my sugar low.

This last picture of a tree that is considered the oldest tree in the area. I can't remember if it was an oak or cypress and I can't tell by looking. According to the story, Santa Anna placed snipers in that tree to shoot at any Texans who tried to get to the river for water. Now it is at a corner of the river walk.

Tomorrow, we're doing the 4 trolley cars that run around the city. On the city bus once again to downtown and then buy an all day pass for the trollies. And, then Friday we booked a really fun tour. Be sure to catch that blog because it will be something so different you either won't believe we did it or you'll be wanting to do it yourselves. I'm just wondering how I'll transport my camera - that may have been a giveaway.