San Antonio and Canyon Lake.

We went to San Antonio the other day. I didn't know it, but it's the 10th largest city in the U. S.! It's a huge city, but it has a beautiful downtown core. Lots of statues, artwork, monuments, etc. This is a "Live Oak" that is 134 years old! It was planted as a dare to prove that an adult tree could be transplanted. According to the record, the main problem was clearance under wires and down streets. It has spread out so much that now the branches have to be supported or they'd break off. I don't know what this tree was, but it was about 15' tall, and just starting to bloom. It would be awesome to have seen in full bloom. These flowers are about 6 to 8" long and open up to pie plate size. They have bus or carriage tours of the downtown.

We went to the Alamo (what else, we're in San Antonio). If you grew up with Davy Crockett and Danial Boone, your idea of the Alamo is somewhat different than what you see when you get there. It was a huge fort. Now the city has grown up around it and all that's left is part of the fort wall and the church. Still it's amazing that it has survived, and when you go through it and look at the displays, it's really interesting.

In the courtyard this guy was telling the story of the battle/siege of the Alamo. Behind him are the six flags that have flown over Texas throughout it's history. Spain (1519-1685; 1690-1821) France (1685-1690) Mexico (1821-1836) Republic of Texas (1836-1845) Confederate States of America (1861-1865) United States of America (1845-1861; 1865- ). The first "Six Flags" theme park was in Dallas, and that's where the name came from. Cool, eh?

We went down to the river walk. It is mostly one level down from street level and is fed by several fountains and man-made waterfalls. It is really nice. I can't imagine the mess and dislocation that must have been involved while building it. There are tons of entrance stairs down to the river . The architecture is amazing. It was an eclectic mix of old and new. The city of San Antonio has built something that they can really be proud of.

We went to Buckhorn's Saloon for lunch. it's a bar, restaurant and two museums all in one. It's the oldest saloon in San Antonio (well over 150 years old). They have one of the largest collections of stuffed animals and mounted animal heads. All in all, a really cool day!

Yesterday We drove up to Canyon Lake and then followed River Road into San Marcos. Man, you'd never know that you were 20 miles from countryside like that on I-35 unless you detoured over and drove it. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any pictures as the road was really narrow and twisty with several spots where you were slowed down to 20mph. But it was georgous. It's about 20 miles of tubing and rafting and kayaking in the summer and must be horrendously busy in the summer. There were a couple of RV spots along the way, but I'm not too sure I'd want to try to drag our trailer along that road.