Next stop the Alamo. This leg of the journey was only 133 miles or two plus hours. Easy except for the roads. I-10 is under construction everywhere and the narrow rough up and down roller coaster jersey barrier roads seem to go on forever. And they are very busy with cars and lots of tractor trailers struggling to some extent like I was to lane shift and avoid people distracted driving. I think it was more like 3.5 hours but not a long day so we got to leave leisurely later than usual and arrived in the daylight! So all good.
I mentioned the horrible roads well I had read about Airstreams losing some of their rivets particularly inside from flexing. That said in over 15000 miles the first trips I never had one pop. This trip so far I count three. I had purchased a rivet gun but didnt think that I would need to drill out what was left behind. Oh well adding to cleaning and maintenance when we get home. I am somewhat off a pro with rivet guns from repairing my first cars and their rust spots in my teenage years! But man Texas roads in many places are just awful. Remember to be careful when opening cabinets as contents may have shifted is not just for airplanes!!
Made it to a very nice KOA Holiday campground and as we pulled in a car in front of us opened the gate with a code I thought. It stayed open as we pulled up and the inevitable question popped into my head do we go for it or will it close on me as we go through. I didnt chance it and called the number on the sign by the gate. The person who answered it said it it pressure sensitive so if we are on or around the opening it wont close. Just didn’t want to own a gate lol. The desk was very nice and assigned us not one but two side by side sites to be sure we had clear views of the sky. They like most KOAs also drive you to your site in a golf cart to be sure you take the RV safe route. Very nice touch they all should do.
We easily set up camp in nice weather and made plans for our trip in to town to see the Alamo and Riverwalk in San Antonio.
The campground as most KOA Holidays seem to be was clean and had great amenities. They served breakfast and supper options and a seating area and function hall. Being married to a great cook we didnt take hem up on that but a nice touch for travelers.
We w headed in to see the Alamo and found a public pay parking lot nearby. The Alamo was very busy surprisingly so but it was a long Veterans weekend day so I guess we shouldnt have been surprised. The Alamo was I thought very impressive and gave us the feel of what it must have been like to be there. The city has grown up around the multi acre site and much of the original defensive walls were taken down but examples of hem are there and the Alamo mission itself and some of the larger outbuildings where the infirmary was etc still remain. I hadnt realized that during the multi day defense of the Alamo many women and children were hiding inside the mission. When the fighting was over and all the Texeiros/Tejanos (native to Texas) and Texians (new to Texas Texans) had ben killed, in an unusual twist General Antonio de Santa Anna decided to not let his troops rape and kill but allowed the women and children to leave along with one adult male slave to tell the story to warn others in Texas who were rebelling to think twice. Inadvertantly it did the opposite creating the rally cry “remember the Alamo”. General Santa Anna had suspended the constitution and taken away any power from the independent states of Mexico of which Texas was one. The Texans didnt initially want to separate from Mexico but with all their rights stripped declared there independence not initially intending to be part of the United States. All the men except for the one slave were killed. David Crockett was so ill from either TB or Malaria and was too weak to fight and was in his sick bed when the Alamo was over run and was bayoneted in his bed. That said they were rumors of him being taken away alive and showing up Elvis style in many other paces (not Vegas) years later. The bodies of the Texans were burned to prevent proper funerals and possibly preventing martyr grave sites.
One of the startling things for me was where the men defending the Alamo came from. Many were from the area but others were Immigrants to the US who had left the eastern US in search of fame, fortune and land. The lines in the picture above go the cities and countries of origin.
Phil Collins the musician has been fascinated his whole life since a child with the story of the Alamo. He said while other succesful musicians bought cars etc he bought Alamo artifacts. He then donated his collection to the Alamo museum.
Too much history and many pictures but if you haven’t seen the Alamo and you are near San Antonio we both thought it was worth the trip.
We decided to get lunch out which we dont usually do so headed to Riverwalk. This is a series of hotels and restaurants etc that line the San Antonio River one level down from street level. Another place to go if you havent. We didnt make the whole river as we had spent quite awhile at the Alamo but really enjoyed what we saw. We had a delicious lunch at the Hard Rock and headed back to the campground to try to get some rest and an early start to see friends from my residency days in DC. They live in Houston where he was a gastroenterologist until he retired about the same time as I did a couple of years ago. He is also married to a woman who like Jo was a nurse at the Washington Hospital Center now part of the MedStar Georgetown hospital system.
Next stop Houston to sleep and shower in a house for the first time in weeks (In a house for the first time not showering for the first time lol)
Bill and Jo’s Road Trip 