Onwards to San Antonio

The morning was spent in Fredeicksburg - as the name implies a very German orientated tourist town just over an hour out of San Antonio.  The shops here are a pardise for those seeking touristy goods, glassware and the like. The town is very orderly and clean - obviously there is a focus on the tourist trade, with cafes, restauants and bars lining the Main Street. Lots of window shopping, but no major purchases here.

The trip to San Antonio was uneventful.  The roads are excellent, and the city of San Antonio is well served by major freeways - a whole nest of them near the city centre.  Our GPS system managed to untangle the network, and we made it to the San Antonio KOA and set up camp.

This is the nicest campground that we have been in so far.  It is full of mature trees which shade the sites from the harsh Texan sun, and is quite close to walkways along the creek.  We managed to spot some owls in one of the trees in the park, and watched as the mother owl taught her three babies to fly from one tree to the other.  We think it may have been the first flight for them, as they were more than a little wobbly, and the landings on the branches often resulted in upside down and clumsy manoeuvres.

After a restful night we headed into the downtown area of San Antonio on the number 24 bus. Yes - we caught public transport. For $1.20 each we got a half hour bus ride right into the tourist area.  And what a tourist area it is.  San Antonio has the number one tourist attraction in Texas - a beautifully constructed River Walk - kilometres of the original river where the banks have been reinfoced with concrete making what appears to be channels and these banks have concrete walkways along their entire length, allowing shops, restaurants, malls and all manor of buildings to be built right up to the walkway.  The river is home to hundreds of ducks which co-exist with the thousands of tourists who flock here, and there are punts which circulate on the river, taking passengers on a scenic tour of the river area.  It is truly amazing, and we spent many hours wandering and sightseeing.  A lovely lunch beside the river was also part of the day.

We also visited The Alamo - the scene of one of the USA's most historic battles when the Texan troops were outnumbered and overrun by the Mexican raiders in 1836.  Like our Anzac Day, it commemorates a heavy defeat but honours the courage and tenacity of the soldiers against massive odds.  It obviously means more to Americans than to us, but we can certainly identify with the emotion and spirit.

We also visited the Tower of the Americas - a 750ft tall observation tower built for the 1968 Worlds Fair held here.  We took the elevator to the top and enjoyed full 360 degree views of this city of almost 2 million.

The bus ride home was more interesting than the one in the morning - we were on the commuter bus, and the time spent waiting at the bus stop was fascinating, as people watching became the main game.  We broke our trip to stop at a supermarket for provisions, and caught the next bus back to the RV park.  Getting around here is really easy, and the local people are so friendly and helpful. They all love our accent, though we keep telling them we don't have an accent - they do !

We spent a few hours chatting in the evening with our neighbours who live in Lafayette, Louisiana - just a couple of hundred miles away.  It is amazing how similar we are in our outlooks even though we were brought up and live on different sides of the planet.

Tomorrow is Friday, and we will move on in the morning - not sure where to yet.  Galveston was high on the list, but there does not appear to be much there, and Austin has been suggested.  The main thing is that we have to keep moving or we will run out of time to see the things we really want to see ahead - New Orleans and Memphis.

Cheers,.