Current location: Fort Stockton, TX, N 30 53.927', W 102 54.261', elev 2754 ft.

No, I'm not on my way to Zihuatanejo. I did have a great day on tuesday though. I started out in San Antonio, where I visited the Alamo, and then San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. Then I drove west on I-10 for about 300 miles before stopping for the night.

I guess I'm now officially in the West TM. I haven't camped in a while; Texas has just been too hot. Though tonight I did go for a walk and realized out here in the pseudo desert, I would have had no problem with the temperature. Oh well, I watched the All-Star Game instead of camping. Hopefully, I'll be able to camp wednesday night. I'm also looking forward to getting a lot more use out my telescope, now that I'm far away from the light pollution of the east. The telescope was an unexpected, completely awesome gift from a great friend. I even witnessed him get sentimental for the first time, when he surprised me with the gift during my last week of work. Thanks pal, you know who you are.

Driving in Texas, in the eastern part of the state, the lanes on the highway are divided by reflectors only, no painted lines. Driving in Texas, you read signs on the side of the road that remind you to Drive Friendly. Driving in Texas, if you are coming from the east, you see your first signs that read Speed Limit 75 MPH. Driving in Texas, in the western part of the state, you glimpse hardy, stocky trees and plants. They are spread expansively, each giving the next plenty of room to grow. They are not tall trees, but not short. Juniper and Yucca and Acacia and Cypress and Mesquite. They are green and healthy and thriving, and they rank among some of the hardiest species on our planet. Driving in Texas, you are part of a magnificent desolation (to steal a quote from Buzz Aldrin), it is best to traverse quietly, and leave no trace. Driving in Texas, you can see great wind turbines, stretching scores of feet into the air, spinning furiously, never stopping. And you can see little oil derricks, pumping their little hearts out, never stopping. Because of al this, driving in Texas is like you're driving through a movie. And driving in Texas, every once in a great while, when pumping your gas at a truckstop off of the interstate, you will run into a caravan of 30 or 40 German men, stopping to refuel their vehicles, make use of the restrooms, and pick up snacks. You can tell by the way they interact with the cashier, that their grasp of English is not very strong. You can tell by the way they handle their currency that they are unsure of the value. And you wonder what the heck they are doing at exit 412, in a caravan of 15 to 20 cars, 100 miles from the nearest city.

The Alamo was a great place. I can always tell I'm going to have a great day when I find my destination quickly. I found $2 parking in the heart of the historic district of San Antonio, just two blocks from the Alamo. Entrance to the Alamo is free to all; the place is administered by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. They receive $0 dollars in taxes or funds from the federal, state or local governments. The Alamo is funded 100% through donations and proceeds from the gift shop. The place is in amazing shape too! It is just as nice as any national historical monument or park I have yet been to on this trip. For those that don't know, the Alamo is the site of the fort where 200 Texas soldiers lost their lives in 1836 , in some of the opening battles of Texas trying to secede from Mexico. The siege of the fort lasted 13 days, before the 200 defenders were finally overrun and slaughtered by thousands of Mexican troops under the command of dictator Santa Anna. Most of the soldiers were colonists from the United States who were seeking new lives and opportunities and have a hand in creating their own government. Rebels all, and the Alamo today is an excellent tribute to them.



View the rest of the San Antonio photos here.

After the Alamo, I made a quick drive down the road to San Antonio Missions National Historic Park, and took a few photos of the mission buildings. The missions are remnants of the Spanish conquerors of the 15 and 1600s, and were fortifications for different religious orders such as Franciscans and Dominicans.



Exterior, interior, and fresco

After the national historic park, I ventured west via I-10, and just drove and drove for a solid 5 hours. At one point I saw a sign for a Fort Lancaster, which is now a Texas State Park. I ventured off the exit, and saw a sign that read the distance to the park was 11 miles, and it was a scenic road. I drove down that road, wanting to catch some glimpses of scenery, and I wasn't disappointed. The first half of the journey, there were ranches on either side of the road, fences that stretched forever in both directions. Tons of wildlife too, I saw a coyote. I saw 4 or 5 huge jack-rabbits (with little white cotton tails and huge ears). I saw buzzards. I saw some really gangly, tough looking squirrels; they looked as if they had survived a nuclear winter. And I saw a family of elk (though I think they were part of one of the ranches).

All of a sudden, the ranch land petered out, and I came to the start of a huge canyon. Peering out over the top, it appeared the bottom was 300 to 400 feet below, just an amazing, astounding site. (Bear with me, I've run out of adjectives already on the trip.) The rest of the drive to the Fort/State Park was a drive down the side of the mountain into the canyon. It was about 7 PM, so unfortunately, the park at the bottom of the canyon was closed. But that's ok, because I whipped out my camera and took photos every few hundred feet, all the way back up the canyon.





At the top of the canyon, there was a picnic area where you could get the best views, so I got out, and saw a magnificent cactus, I had to take it's photo as well.



You can view the rest of the day's photos here. On wednesday, I am headed south to Big Bend National Park, and then west to El Paso.