We arrived safely in San Antonio, TX last Wednesday after a 350+ mile trip. We were amazed that the first exit number on I-10 after we crossed the state line was Exit 888. It's hard to believe that this state is that wide. We have definitely seen our share of cactus and the wide open spaces that they love during our ride into town.
We had to close the chapter on Davy Crockett by visiting the scene of his demise at The Alamo. The place is beautiful, making it hard to think that such a slaughter took place here. Parking was quite expensive, so we decided to leave the truck where we parked it and scurried over to San Antonio's River Walk by foot. This place is even more beautiful than The Alamo. We walked along the river for miles before heading off to the Farmer's Market where we were exposed to every Mexican trinket known to man. We treated ourselves to some Mexican food and then drug our weary bones back to the truck. We must have walked for 7 miles at the very least.
We were delighted to learn that the San Antonio Rodeo/Fair was in full swing during our visit. This place was equally amazing, but perhaps that is what Texas is all about. We were exposed to all kinds of side shows including a tremendous western band. They had a girl who played the fiddle so well that you could imagine fire coming out of it. When she got bored from playing it beneath her chin, she started playing it behind her back. After that, she put her bow between her legs and played it by moving the fiddle up and down. The show was totally amazing.
They also had an immense 4-H livestock show where 70 pound kids muscled 3,000 pound steers during the judging. It was kind of funny to watch the judges who were walking around the piles of manure all decked out in their snappy suits, wearing 10 gallon hats and boots. The animals were beautiful. We left the steers and went to watch a hog auction. They had no problem getting between $700 and $800 apiece for these huge porkers.
We had some absolutely terrible Greek food, but I guess that's what we get for eating some foreign stuff in the Tex-Mex capital of the world. We had to wash the awful taste out of our mouths by gobbling down some funnel cake which was loaded with powdered sugar. The wind was blowing, so a good amount of the stuff drifted over in Marcia's direction, making her look like Casper The Friendly Ghost.
Our real treat for the day was to visit the rodeo. We have never been fans, and whenever a rodeo crosses our television screen, it is short lived. Being there, however, is a whole different story. The thing started off with an amazing laser and fireworks display followed by a spectacular grand parade. The pageantry and choreography were far superior to anything we have ever witnessed on the stage or television. It was incredible that they were able to have this show go on for about three hours without any blank periods of time when they changed over from one event to another. We watched the bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and children's mutton riding where 5 to 7 year olds mounted huge sheep and held on for dear life after they were released from a chute. What a hoot! Many of the cowboy entrants in the events were in pretty bad shape. One had an arm in a cast, and others were limping around well before their chance to exhibit their skills. Those who weren't limping before their event were certainly doing so afterwards. Rodeos are definitely not for wimps!
Anyway, we're off to Portland, TX today, a scant 150+ miles South of here. This is in the Corpus Christi area. We plan to stay there for a month before heading off to Who Knows Where.
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