Visiting the Alamo

Yesterday was a long day. We drove 500 miles from El Paso to little ole San Antonio, Texas. Frankly the biggest thrill of the day yesterday was the motel we stayed at had make-'em-yer-danged-self waffles shaped like the State of Texas. Mighty good eaten they wuz too pard'ner.

We stopped for lunch in the tiny & charming little town of Ozono TX. It had a cute little plaza (not that small really), a big beautiful courthouse and a statue of pioneers in front.  Around 4PM we pulled into San Antonio. A quite pretty city, I am told it is culturally rich as well.

We booked a room a couple of blocks from that long famed bastion of Texas, the Alamo.

The Not as Huge as one might expect, Alamo

The following day, we were up early for our tour of the Alamo. We walked over and soon gained entry to the Texas stronghold. I wasn't allowed to take photos inside, because I really didn't want any of the Texas Rangers (two of which are shown on the right in the photo above) to have to wrestle me to the ground for my camera. The Alamo interior is a bit dark, and as tall as the height of the building. There stand numerous free standing showcases full of interesting artifacts, such as deeds, paperwork and a fair number of weaponry.

It took about 20 minutes to satisfy my curiosity on the Alamo itself. Hum... come to think on it, it took only 3 minutes for me to satisfy my irrational need for an Alamo National Historic site stamp for my  National Parks Passbook. Am not totally sure the Alamo is even a part of the National Park system, but hey, they have their own way of doing things in Texas.

So, what's my best fact about the Alamo?  That the Alamo is Spanish for 'Cottonwood tree'. A peaceful name for a site whose history is indeed, plenty violent.

Diorama of the famous Battle that took place between February 23 and March 6, of 1836.

Another view of the Alamo

The Alamo grounds

Ancient tree on the Alamo grounds

Where you buy boat passage

After our tour of the Alamo and its grounds, we got directions from a nice lady in the gift shop and headed for a boat ride to tour little ole' San Antonio. Now, read carefully, these are the directions we got from the lady:  "Y'all walk to the Mall, then take the escalator down to the tour boats".

Take the escalator DOWN to the boats? Huh?

Turns out we did just that.The photo to the right shows what the river (the green stuff on the bottom of the photo) looks like from the mall. The city of San Antonio is elevated high above ground level so when you are at the Alamo you have no idea initially that you are walking in the clouds, so to speak.

The little boat tour takes passengers and their guide along the 'River Walk' which is famous for its points of history, shops, restaurants and at night, it's bright sparkly lights. It's a great walk for tourists, but I'd rather ride, thankyouverymuch.

A San Antonio tour boat showing off the steps

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

The surprising bit about the boat river tour was when I got aboard, I was expecting to see natural riverbanks, flocks of wild waterfowl and gentle reeds blowing in the wind. What one sees on the boat trip is a cement contained waterway lined by the aforementioned restaurants and shops. Mind, that's not a bad thing, but it wasn't what I expected. What I did expect... well, actually what I expected and prepared for, I got - Yellow-crowned Night Herons! The southern water birds were high up in the trees over the riverway, and I was ready with my zoom lens and got a few pictures. It as a fun & relaxing little water run, but don't take my word for it, see for yourself.

A Touch of Paint, and Petrification

A strange land form along Route 66, New Mexico

Have been on the road in the southwest, headed eastward. I'm traveling with an friend who used to work with me in Project Recycle for the State. She asked if I'd like to join her trying out volunteering at a YMCA at a mystery destination in an Eastern state. I thought, 'Hey, I'm retired, why the heck not, right?'
So, we left Sacramento, drove south and now we've already entered Arizona, and exited it, 'stage right' so to speak. Today we are in New Mexico, but only for the day as we whiz on through it. Not really taking time for doing much but stopping to gas up and/or eat.

A New Mexican Mesa

Other than a very few 'out the window' shots along the New Mexican Highway, there was only one other photo op. I noticed freeway signs touting "Painted Desert National Park". I thought, 'If that park is just off the freeway, we're going to stop there."   It was only a mile or so from the freeway ramp, so we checked out the visitor center.

Here's my 'we were there' shot

 Interestingly enough, some places are so full of cool things, that they each deserve a park of their own. Hence, the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert, share a Visitor Center but are each a separate park in their own right.

The Petrified Forest and Painted Desert Visitor Center

I'm always intrigued by the pottery of the New Mexican region. The unique  design often puts 20th and 21st Century artwork to shame, at least in my opinion.

Hopi Indian Kachinas and Squash Blossom necklaces on display, represent the Southwest's original artwork and beliefs.













I collected the National Park ink stamps for the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Parks. Sad news is we didn't take the time to actually walk or even take the auto tour for either park. So, in honor of the occasion, I invented a concept - Cheat Visit. A cheat Visit means I got a park stamp, but didn't actually tour the park. Until I properly tour these two parks, the ink stamps will have 'Cheat Visit' penciled in under them. I do believe this quick stop in New Mexico represents the first time I've done such a thing. I hope I don't have to do it again in the future.

The day ended in the not-exactly-sleepy-or-little town of El Paso Texas. We thought we had driven into the town of El Paso, and I looked to the south of the freeway and saw what looked like a Brazilian slum. Turns out it was actually a Mexican city. Always shocks me to see how drastically things can differ when an imaginary land bisects a single land mass: USA on one side, and Mexico on the other. As we drove on we realized El Paso is a huge city, rather overrun with shops and stores and it sprawls a bit. We'll spend the night here tonight, then continue due east, and on across the BIG state of Texas.

Bumper Crop!

That lovely smudge of Wildflowers in the foothills

So, was innocently crossing my current home state with a friend, Ila, and we made a sharp eastward turn just north of the 'Grapevine' which is a mountain you need to cross over if headed for southern California. Instead of the grapevine we drove through the tiny town of Arvin. Just as we headed out of town, I spotted a smudge of color in the distant foothills. What the... could those be..? WILDFLOWERS! WHOOO HOOOO!

White Popcorn flowers, blue Lupins and a hearty dose of golden Fiddleneck

I was so excited at the sight of the billowing pools of flowers I was an embarrassment to myself, sputtering, "Wow! Holy Crap! Oh my god! I can't believe it!" over and over until really, someone ought to have slapped me. Really though, how could I face that kind of display and not do my best to verbalize my joy?

Pastel Pastures

On arriving at the base of the foothills, at the start of the wildflowers, we were not alone. There were cars on the byway, and people climbed out of their cars, cameras in hand, ready to commemorate the day and get their flower fix. A few families had picnic  blankets on good spots to the outside of the pasture fencing so they didn't harm any of the wildflowers. What a nice view to enjoy while downing a family meal.

A little more lupins here, only a splash of Fiddleneck

Some areas had blotches of pinkish-purple  made up of yet-another of my claimed 'favorites', Owl Clover. Maybe that's because it seems to include two of my joys - birds and wildflowers. Is it possible to count a dozen varieties among one's flower favorites or is that cheating?

The pinkish/purple hues are the Owl Clover as shown close-up in the photo below

 pinkish purple Owl's Clover

This was the best show of wildflowers I've seen since 2009. I don't know if this is a great year for the Arvin region, or if it gets this kind of display most years. I'm hoping this is a preview of things to come in Bear Valley which is closer to my neck of the woods, north of Clear Lake County. I can't wait to go wildflower exploring in the coming few months.