Many people have recommended to us that we visit San Antonio. So today, we set our sights in that direction. We left Corpus Christi at 8:30 AM and 55 degrees (brrr) and headed inland. We drove through miles and miles of flat country…cattle ranches and farms. Most of the crops have already been harvested, leaving neat furrows of black soil, so rich that many fields were covered with a yellow/green haze where grass and weeds grow while the soil waits for the next season of crop planting. Hay fields have been cut and baled into large round cylinders, and lined up waiting for transfer to barns where they will provide food for the cattle during the winter months. And much of the land was just a mix of light and dark green shrubs and live oak trees dotting the highway.

We saw a few oil well pumps, doing their rhythmic dance, filling tanks by the roadside. But what we saw in abundance were tall metallic natural gas rigs beside round white holding tanks, and an occasional nearby chimney with flames leaping from the top. For all of my research, I have not been able to identify the purpose for the burning of the gas. Seems like a waste to me. Perhaps it is a safety issue. Who knows. In any event, many land owners in these parts are probably getting rich.

Interestingly, there have been few cars on the roads we traveled yesterday and today. Not sure if it is because it was the weekend or if we are simply out in the middle of God's country, but the fact is that traffic issues were non-existent. We pretty much had the roads to ourselves in many areas. Each day I love Texas a little bit more.

We arrived in San Antonio before noon and we decided to drive around the city and see the sights and locate the River Walk that we have heard so much about. The buildings are a very interesting mix of old and modern with churches and government buildings, hotels and office buildings. Some of the architecture was quite beautiful, but not what I expected. I was thinking southwestern, but I guess we are not that far west at this point.

We found the Alamo nestled in the northern part of the city. Not having done any research, I was expecting it to be located outside of the city on a large piece of land, but I was wrong. It is right amidst the high-rises of San Antonio. I will say, however, that they have preserved it with reverence in such a way that the city buildings do not infringe on it’s existence. It has a block unto itself. And the property has a stone wall which surrounds the back yard which is a garden of lush plants and trees, protected from the outside, in a world of it’s own. I toured the inside of the Alamo and the gardens and took photos of what was, almost 200 years ago, manned by two of my childhood heroes, Davy Crocket and Daniel Boone. The building is made of a rough stone of pinkish tan, and appears to me to be of a Spanish style. The inside is all stone with a stone floor. It is rather small and dark, lit only by 2 large rustic chandeliers that hang from the ceiling. I took one photo before I was instructed to refrain from using my camera.

After touring more of the city we settled into our hotel for the night. We spent the next two hours planning the next leg of our trip which became a challenge as we are venturing out to sparsely populated areas with limited hotel accommodations. Tomorrow, we will be driving to Austin and back by way of a scenic highway through what promises to be beautiful country. Then, to the west.