The Alamo and RiverWalk, San Antonio TX

Monday, October 18, 2010

After we left Bill and Kathie we headed toward San Antonio. The drive was uneventful which is always welcomed! The park we landed in was extremely nice. Every spot had a cement pad and a pretty big size grassy area to sit out and have a fire at night or BBQ. I would recommend this park if ever passing through. It is called Carefree RV Park and it is one bus stop away from the River Walk.
Because we arrived there early afternoon, of course we napped.  When we woke up we went into town and had the best Mexican food, ever!  Its a place called Rosario's. It was odd - for me - I have not heard that name since High School. I went to school with a Rosario and it made me wonder where he ended up and how his life is going. He was a really nice guy. Okay, off the reminiscing crap!

It was suggested to us to walk across the street and use the city bus for $1.10 per person. We did. It was a smart move. Once downtown we saw how hard it was to find a parking spot and if you decide to use a parking garage it can cost up to $27.00 for the day.

Once off the bus we headed downstairs to the River Walk. Beautiful! Where we live, we have Miami, and a place called Bay-side, and its nice, but, this place is soooo tastefully done. Of course, there are a lot of restaurants and shops but there is also an outdoor theater where we witnessed our first, and probably our last, accordion festival. HEHEHEHEH! The back up band and girl singer was excellent but we could just not get into the polka. In fear of falling in the river. LOL.

We followed the path leading to the end of the walk (which is 2.3 miles long), to the Alamo. The Alamo is very  compelling. I was built in 1793 and occupied as a military post since the early 1800's. First  the Spanish held control, then the Mexicans, and finally the Texans. Alamo is a Spanish word for Cottonwood. (My favorite tree that my allergies love).

I learned alot of history that I had no idea about. For instance, I knew that Davie Crockett died there but I did not know to what extent he was involved. He was an extremely brave man. There we two other men involved with the Alamo and its demise. The first, and most important, was Commander William Barrett Travis. He was from South  Carolina. He lead the fight and requested back up several times.He was refused. He pleaded (click on the pic of the slate letter to enlarge) for help to the communities of Texas and finally on the 8th day of fighting 200 volunteers showed up.

There were 6500 Mexicans against 189 men in the Alamo. There was no chance, but yet they held onto control for 13 full days. The final letter that Commander Travis wrote the the people is so incredibly touching. He explains his trial and tribulations and then stated that if no help were to arrive he would die in honor and never, ever give up. Never surrender! He was 26 years old.

It was March 6, 1836 when it was all over.

The second guy in line was Davie Crockett. He was the former congressman of Tennessee but believed with all his heart that the Texans needed to become free of Mexico. He was a famed frontiersman and he gave up his life for what he believed.

The 3rd man was Jim Bowie. He was a renowned knife fighter and was used by Travis for upfront confrontations. It is believed that he killed over 46 men using his knife alone.
      

There are several original doors and walls and drawings on walls that remain. They offer an immense amount of  artifacts from the war. It is humbling and very touching to walk where men laid down their lives for freedom. Today, we seem to send men and women across the world to defend our freedom and yet, most of us, still do not appreciate it. It is all too distant. Unless you know someone personally who is in harms way, it becomes just another day in history. I cannot imagine what it was like 300 years ago, and am so thankful that I did not have to .

We pulled out of San Antonio with a new appreciation. We already know how fortunate we are to live the lives that we live, and the freedoms that we have, but The Alamo touched both of us. (Just knowing, from day one, that you do not have a chance in hell, and yet not surrender, is truly heroic).

On a positive note, after the Alamo we went to the Guinness World's Record Museum. It was amusing to say the least. And then on the bus on the way back to our temporary housing unit, we noticed they had a leather bound, sewn in dedication, to Rosa Parks. Yeah for them! 

Thanks for reading and have a good week. We are on our way home and cannot wait to see everyone

Carlsbad Caverns, NM

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, we have been running all day, drinking lots of red wine while hanging out with Bill and Kathy and totally crashing at night! What a great past couple of days  - or maybe it was a week?

 

I think the last I left off was when we met back up with Bill and Kathy in....Albuquerque, where they came and they went. Did I mention that part? They drove all day to meet up with us. They got to the RV park at 7:03pm.  After 7pm you cannot check in. They are extremely strick and you have to wait in line and sleep there in line. You cannot check in until the next morning when they re open the registration. Well, Bill was worn out from driving and all the traffic from the festival, that he left! We saw them for all of 15 minutes! We stayed to finish the balloon festival and they moved on to Carlsbad. We were upset because we saved the spot next to us for 2 full days. But we understood their frustration.

When the festival was over we headed to meet them. It was our turn to drive all day, but it was worth it. They are so much fun to be with. We met up in Carlsbad, NM. From Albuquerque we had to pass through the Guadalupe mountains. They were pretty. I did not realize that El Paso, TX is a border town and when we passed through it - it was crazy!!! the main highway is less than 1/2 mile from Mexico. Very very dangerous city with gangs and kidnappings. We couldnt get out there fast enough. Just outside of El Paso we were searched, again, for illegal immigrants...HA, I laughed out loud when they asked if we had anyone hiding in the back. (Not live ones, I wanted to say so badly).

We were a day behind their schedule so the day we explored the caverns they were back on the road.They did the caverns and the bats the day before us. But the first day together we all went on a hike. It was called Sitting Bull  Falls. It was an easy trail until the boys decided to take us off path. (What a surprise!) We walked though the river and saw snakes and tarantulas and lots of bugs. The boys had a great time, me and Kathy, not so much. Oh, and I fell in the river too! Funny right? NOT!!! I was covered with mosquito larvae and man those baby little things can really suck your blood!!! All over my arms. I looked diseased. We walked by some fossils and Tommy was sure to point out a stink bug to me.

I honestly cant remember exactly how it went but I'm sure we had dinner and wine together. All the days and weeks seem to meld together. Its so hard to believe it has been 5 months. Moab, our first stop seems as if it were 2 yrs ago.


The next day we headed over to the caverns and they hit the road. The caverns were not even close to comparison to the other caves we have explored. These are HUGE!!! We arrived after 2:00 and one part of the cave was closed because it was the end with the bat cave. They start to stir around 2-3pm and you cannot disturb them. They, the National Park Service, is extremely aware of the needs of the bats and are insistent on their rules of no cameras, no cell phone, no talking. They reiterate these rules 4 to 5 times during the show of bats. But that was later on in the day.

The first thing we did when we arrived, was stamp my passport with yet another National Park cancellation. I think I have 18 now. After getting tickets to enter the cave we purchased these 'talking sticks'. It is the best way to do a tour. It looks like a Police Baton with #'s on it. You set your own pace and as you progress  you  come up  to #'s marked on a post. You punch the said # in the stick to hear all about what your standing in front of. The last time we toured like this was in Pearl Harbor. Every museum should have this system.

Once we were all set to go, we took an elevator down into the depths of  the earth 754 feet. Under the surface more than a 75 storied sky scrapper. Can you imagine? What if there was an  Earthquake? We would undoubtedly be buried alive, never to be found! (When are we ever going to learn to stop taking these crazy risks?)

Once inside, its a cool 54 degrees. The ceilings are extreme and the spires, hoodoos and pinnacles are amazing. The walkway is 2.3 miles of pure astonishment. To think you are over 700 feet below the surface and it is so open and so beautiful and so natural, it is hard to grasp in your mind.

I'm sure the pictures will do no justice but I will post them anyway. There is alot of water in this cave, which ultimately creates all the stalactites and stalagmites. The colors are beautiful.

Back up at the surface, we then headed over to an outdoor amphitheater. It is terraced so everyone has a clear view of the natural opening of the cave where the bats enter every morning an leave at night. They have a Ranger that talks to the crowd to educate you all about their bats, and other species that do not live in their cave. She was very informative and was more than happy to answer any questions asked by the audience. And there were plenty. The ranger explained to us that the time the bats vacate the cave is predictable but not 100% accurate,. As the days get shorter the bats leave later. They fly all night, eating mosquitoes and moths and return at sunrise. They truly hang from the ceiling and are so close together that 200 bats can fit in a space that is the size of our Rangers hat, the inside of the hat.

We learned about mating and territories and babies. It was captivating, even though we were talking about bats. They finally flew at 6:55pm. Three hundred thousand of them! YES!!! 300,000!!! It was the coolest thing the way they swirl around and fly off in groups. It looked like a cloud of smoke as they left your sight. They are very little mammals. If you take your 2 thumbs and place them side by side and open/spread your fingers - that is the fully extended size of them. When closed up and hanging for the night they are the width of  your 4 fingers.

We were not permitted to take photos AT ALL! They site you with a fine if caught. They want the bats to come back time after time and for it to be as natural as possible. Its natural alright - they stink!!! We didn't stay for the entire flight because it takes over 2 hrs for all of them to leave the cave and once the sky is dark you can longer see them leaving.

We slept well that night and hit the road again the next morning to once again meet up with Kathy and Bill. This time it was in Junction, TX. They stopped in Sonora to explore more caves while we were traveling. We both stayed one night at this beautiful Pecan Farm RV Park. The next day they headed toward Gruene (pronounced Green), TX for the October fest and we headed to San Antonio.

Thanks for reading and I hope the pictures give you some idea of our adventure.