Heading for El Paso

We are up at 5.30am!!  It is a cold 40F. We leave Travelers World at 7.05am.

(Have I ever commented on the bathrooms? Probably! When you are the first in the bathroom the smell of disinfectant is like roses!!)




We follow the instructions from the RV park as to how to get out of town and onto I-10W. Fortunately the gps is in agreement with those instructions; the last thing we need is confusion! But there is still some madness. We are in peak hour traffic and San Antonio has a particularly convoluted arrangement of highways, interstates and overhead bridges right in the centre of town. Lots and lots of traffic. We are both fairly quiet - almost holding our breath.







Thankfully the heaviest traffic is that coming in to town!

May be the last Starbucks sign for a while.

And then the traffic is over; we are into country side with good highways. Very pleasant.








We have about 310 miles to Fort Stockton today.
The temperature has dropped to 35 F as we get into higher altitudes. We are climbing from 650 ft above sea level in San Antonio to 3,200 ft  in Fort Stockton.
The speed limit has increased to 80 mph - 129 kmh. We stay pretty constantly on 60.

These pop up from time to time.

We decide to continue past Fort Stockton another 110 miles to Van Horn; we arrive there about 4.30pm; 437/ 712 kms miles for the day!

We have dinner at the RV park cafe. Two main meals and a bottle of Texas Red for $26.00.

Road Runner!

The views are amazing with highways stretching into the distance ... sound familiar??

A wind farm

Van Horn is a place to stop on I 10 and not much else. It has 19 hotels and motels on Broadway - they all look tired and run down.

Lone Star 

Then we head for El Paso, a must given Trevor's lifelong love of Marty Robbins' song 'El Paso...'  I recall all those years ago when we were going out together, his mum Shirley telling me that he would sing it in the bath when he was a kid!
With that history there are no second thoughts as to which route to take.

We take a site at the Road Runner RV Park about 8 miles east of downtown. Trevor picks up a rental car for the weekend.

Did I tell you that we crossed another time line? We are now in Mountain Time; 15 hours behind Perth.

And there's more ...!

Each morning we go walking (me) and bike riding (Trevor). The RV park sits beside the San Antonio river and the Missions Hike and Bike Trail runs beside the San Antonio river and is easily accessible.  It is a magnificent paved trail, part of the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project for the  environmental restoration of the San Antonio river.

We visit the Alamo where on 6 March 1836  Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, Colonel Travis and 186 men sacrificed their lives fighting for Texas independence against General Santa Anna in the 1835-36 Texas War of Independence against Mexico. They held out for 13 days. It was shortly after that the Texas Republic was born.

The early Spanish built the Alamo as a mission, San Antonio de Valero. Mexico gained independence from the Spanish and gave the structure its current name. Alamo translates into 'Cottonwood'.


We also spent quite some time on the Riverwalk - Paseo del Rio - beside the San Antonio river. Built as a flood control project, now an open air promenade lined with restaurants and shops. It is a relaxed walk with lush, beautiful greenery and gardens. Lots of ducks and birds.
We take a riverboat ride which is interesting and informative.

We visit La Villita, an historic 19th century 'little village' where the Mexicans officially surrendered to the Republic of Texas. It now houses craft and art workshops and boutique shops.We dine at an authentic Mexican restaurant - margaritas and quesadillas.

Even on a fairly grey day it is a beautiful place.

The Little Village

The next day we visit the Tower of the Americas. Built as a theme structure for HemisFair in 1968,  it 'symbolizes the progress made by the merging of civilizations in the Western Hemisphere.'

The Tower stands 750 feet tall; it offers panoramic views of San Antonio and the surrounding area; the observation level, and restaurant are accessed by glass-walled elevators. Made me think of the movie "Towering Inferno"!
We also saw a 4D movie in the complex - "Skies over Texas". And ... we found the best coffee shop around - Sip cafe.  The best coffee for a while.


San Antonio is a very attractive city. With its many faceted history and mix of cultures, it makes for an interesting place to visit especially when you throw in a horse racing night, some mexican food and a few trips on public transport. We had a lot of fun!

I knew someone was watching!

An optical illusion!

On our last visit to town we go straight to the Sip cafe. Their espresso machine isn't working!! Unbelievable! But there is a back up; a Starbucks just across the road.

We are experiencing some quite cold weather. The days are sunny but the nights are very cold and the wind ... a bit like St Georges Terrace on a windy winter's day.




The photos that follow are a bit of a mix from downtown San Antonio.

Some beer prices at the restaurant.

I know how it feels!!