Dean &
Ginny's excellent adventures... Main
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Texas--04/11:
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Part 1
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Part 6
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Our campsite was at the end of the loop of about
30 water-only sites. Not much traffic. Each morning we'd
take our morning cups of coffee or tea and hike down about a quarter of
a mile to a bluff overlooking the river. This is upriver from
the picnic area and public access.
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Very peaceful. Then we'd jump on our bikes
and go down to the river--fun going down...
but a hard ride back up to the camping areas.
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We've loved the huge bald cypress trees that clung
to the river banks. They weren't terribly tall, probably
because they'd been broken off in stiff winds or in high floods
through the narrow valley.
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<< Here's the
river on a typical weekday. That's Dean down there
fishing.
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After the weekend, the clean-up crew swept
in. I wonder if this turkey vulture is getting ready to be
roasted
or if it can read the "No fires" notice.
 
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A thistle and a carrot relative arrange themselves
together and a Texas thistle stands alone.
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On the way back up the hill from the river, I
noticed some pink over in a rocky field. These tiny cacti that
were only three or four inches tall. We had a good time photographing
them.
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They are called lace hedgehog cacti (Echinocereus reichenbachii)
and occur in a relatively restricted area in parts of Texas and northward
into Colorado.
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Oh, and the much more common prickly pear cactus was also
blooming. There is a traditional homestead in this park, too.
Tours of the house and a private area below the house are given on
Saturday mornings--we weren't going to be there then. After four
days, we headed down to San Antonio. This was our last Texas state
park. We'd paid $60 for a park pass back at Goose Island State Park
at the beginning of the trip which paid for itself twice over. It
had been a great tour--what a wonderful and diverse set of
parks.
We'd been to San Antonio at Christmas
time in 2009, and this time we'd be there right before Easter.
Also this time we were going to meet up with Dori and Aaron who'd planned
a trip to San Antonio and then to a dude ranch for five days. We
didn't find out until later that we could arrange a rendezvous. Fun.
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We camped at Lackland Air Force Base just
outside of town. The next day we drove to the bus terminal near
the base and took a bus into town with our five-year bus passes
that we got last time. Dori and Aaron wouldn't be here until the
next day, but we wanted to find their hotel.
We took photos of the court house and a voluptuous
blind justice. Looking to our left there was the Drury
hotel. We cased it out. This building used to be a
bank and has been restored to its original grandeur. Dean used to own
a car like this (a 1931 Ford Model A sedan) only his was black.
We loved the stained glass
windows and the large brass murals that said "Thrift builds
our nation tomorrow."
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Then we headed down to the river walk.
The last time we were here, the river walk was decorated for
Christmas; this time the spring flowers were everywhere. We enjoyed
a nice dinner at the Republic of Texas restaurant. This is a
different type of bird watching--the birds were watching us to see
if we drop a crumb for them.
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The next day we came back into town and met Dori
and Aaron in their hotel room. This is the view from their
balcony and being Good Friday, they watched a Passion play
performance in the church's plaza. It was over by the time
we got there. A dizzying look directly down, showed the
people on the river walk.
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We headed down an took a walk along the
river walk and saw this youth orchestra of 100% guitars practicing
in the river walk theater--they sounded pretty good from what we
heard.
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Many venues along the river walk use water falls, ponds, or other
water features. Below right, an ornate historical theater
structure has been appended to a huge modern structure.
 
After our walk, we went back to the hotel and up to the pool level
where you could see the whole city at a glance.
Then we went out for drinks and then a nice dinner. Fun to
meet up with the kids out of state where we were all guests.
So glad it worked out.
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After San Antonio, we hurried home--two long driving days.
Only stopping in Mississippi at a military base for the night. We
cheered when we hit the Pensacola welcome center with its Blue Angel
fighter jet on a stick. Only six more hours of driving from
here.
We put approximately 250 miles on our bikes, hiked many miles in the
wilderness and in towns, saw lots of birds including several new
ones that we'd never seen before, and enjoyed our tour of the fantastic
state parks of Texas. But it's good to be home!
Now we await Dean and Ginny's
next excellent adventure!
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