Day 9 & 10 Grand Western Adventure

Day 9 Tuesday, April 22: Heading to San Antonio

Houston, TX to San Antonio,TX:

Distance: 210 miles; time: 3 hours

Total Distance to Date: 1,116 miles

Route Taken: North on 288 to 610 west bypass. From there we picked up I-10 west and drove until we reached San Antonio, TX. Inside the city, we took I-37 south to SE Military Dr. then onto Roosevelt up to Traveler's World RV Park. easy.

Leaving Houston

Dad is a very attentive driver. See....

Mom is busy talking to here brother, Ray on the phone. Hi, Ray!

Natalie is doing her schoolwork on traveling days. She chose what subjects she wanted to bring along.

I love these Texas wildflowers along the side of the road. Anyone know what they are?

Beautiful hill country. Love the uncrowded roads.

We rolled into Travelers World RV Park in the afternoon and set up camp. Then we all had a siesta! Yes. Travelling is hard work! Then a short trip to Walmart to restock supplies.
Here's our home for the next few days.

Day 10: Wednesday, April 23rd: The Alamo

Today, is my birthday and I chose to take the kids to see the Alamo. We waited for the bus to take us into downtown. The stop is just across the street from the RV park. It's very convenient. Just 60 cents for Adam and $1.20 for Natalie and me. Pretty good deal not to have to drive.

For those of you who are fans of "Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe," we found the answer to the Ultimate Question! Only those of you who have read the book or seen the movie will get it....

After about a 30 min. ride on the local bus, the driver stopped at the corner of Houston St. and Navarro.  We walked a few blocks, turned the corner and there it was!

There was a big crowd there today. I was disappointed there were no guided tours scheduled for today or this week. It's Armed Forces week at the Alamo. They have activities and music planned for the whole week, (which is why there are no guided tours.)

Today was Army Day. The Army Band was playing away. It was great! They played many songs and folks were out dancing in the street.
This is also the Fiesta Festival and there are many activities planned for the city. We may try to see one of the parades on Friday.

We did the audio tour. No photos allowed inside, sorry.
Standing outside, you can see the walls do look like they've been through a battle. But still beautiful.

Outside in the courtyard, Adam found the cannons.

In another courtyard, we spotted was a well under an enormous tree. Anyone know the significance of the well?

The Long Barrack wall. Inside, it was cool, shady and refreshing after being under the blazing sun. We sat and watched a short 20 min. movie inside one of the rooms. The volunteer movie attendant was really very passionate about the history of the Alamo and made it come alive for us viewers. I guess I'd forgotten from my history lessons that the battle at the Alamo was "Mexico against Mexico" (a civil war) and not "Mexico against the US". You guys know that already. He made it clear that the soldiers inside the Alamo had a decision to stay and fight or the try and leave. What would you have done, kind of intense scenario. WOW!

Adam learned how there was a massacre at Goliad where about 300 more soldiers were shot by Santa Anna's troops on Palm Sunday.
Natalie heard where Sam Houston lead his troops in a surprise attack against Santa Anna and won the battle in less than 20 minutes even though they were outnumbered. This is where they shouted "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad!"
Adam told me he heard on the audio tour where Santa Anna was later found to be hiding in a ditch.

Afterwards, we ate at Casa Rio on the riverwalk.
Adam really liked the baby ducks and took many, many pictures. Here's one of them.

Here I am after eating my ice cream. Yay.

We found our way back to the bus stop and waited about 25 minutes for the next bus home, then another 30 minutes on the bus. We finally made it back to the RV park around 6:30. We met Mom and Dad coming out of the laundry facility. They spent a portion of the day at the urgent care facility about 5 miles down the road tending to dad's foot. He has a  new case of gout and needed a prescription for it. So, no walking for him for the next few days. He gets to relax around the campsite.

I did get to eat birthday cake after supper (and more ice cream). Plus, Mom bought me a new pair of pjs. Love it.

Day 7 & 8: Grand Western Adventure

Day 7: Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014

New Orleans, LA to Houston, TX:

Distance: 350 miles; Time: 9:20 hours due to flat tire

Total Distance to Date: 936 miles

Route Taken: Straight west on I-10. Then hwy 90 west at Beaumont, TX to 610 south into Houston. From there we took 288 south to Alameda-Genoa Rd. 

Love these elevated roads over the low lands.

We drove a long way on these elevated roads. Pretty neat, but very bumpy.

Up and Over!

Just as we crossed into TX, we decided to stop at the rest area (exit 880) and check out why the RV was making a thump, thump, thump sound. Yes, you've heard it before.
A flat tire.
On a RV.
On Easter Sunday afternoon.

Mom called road side assistance and they sent the nicest folks from Orange, TX out to help us put the spare tire on. It was a new spare, but about 10 years old. Lucky for us, it was in good condition and brought us safely the rest of the way into Houston.
However, traffic was horrendous! Everyone was traveling on I-10 and portions of the interstate were bumper to bumper. So, at Beaumont, TX we decided to take a gamble on an alternate route on hwy-90. There were several sections of it that had traffic backed up as well. We finally made it into Houston just as the sun was setting.
I can't imagine why cowboys would want to ride into the sunset.
You can't see anything. The light is blinding.

The Houston skyline is pretty, though...

Day 8: Space Center:

Today, Mom and Dad took the RV to a tire place to have a new tire put on the RV and spent the day relaxing at the RV park. I took the kids to the Space Center. 

First we took the tram tour. 

This was our chance to see the behind the scenes buildings.

We went into the Historic Mission Control building where the space programs were monitored til 1992.

The real thing!

Very cool. Just like a movie set. We sat in the actual seats that the families of astronauts, presidents and dignitaries would have sat to watch the shuttle lift off.
And to think we have more technology in our smart phones than they had in the entire room there. WOW.

Next stop was the awesome Building 9, where the astronauts do some of their training. No astronauts were seen today though....must have been on lunch break.

Pretty cool!

Meet Robonaut. He has four fingers and a thumb. He has great dexterity and can type too!

Adam wants to be the first kid in outer space.

We made it into Saturn V complex too. She's a big one.

Impressive.

And of course, it wouldn't be THE HOUSTON Space Center without these famous words.

Day 6: Grand Western Adventure

Day 6: New Orleans French Quarter

We took a shuttle bus from the campground this morning into downtown New Orleans for the day. First, we had to find Cafe du Monde for some fresh beignets and cafe au late (and stand in line for about an hour!) 

Wow, were they good! I think I ended up with a 1/2 cup powdered sugar on mine. 

We walked along the river front for a while.

We cut over to Jackson Square to see the street vendors and musicians. Seems like they were everywhere selling everything. Great place to people watch.

Interesting downspout.

Love the iron balconies, flower baskets and exterior colors.

We walked down one side of Decatur St. turned and walked back along side Royal St. We found a neat little place to have lunch called Remoulade on the edge of Bourbon St.

We walked down a few blocks of Bourbon St. then I had to get Adam away from there. Too much for his 11 year old eyes to see! Plus, Paw kept tripping on the curbs. (just kidding)

 Anyway, we made it all the way to the east side and found the French Market and flea market section. I'd say we're pretty tired of walking and were ready for the shuttle to take us back by the end of the afternoon.

Found some ice cream and sat down. While waiting for the shuttle, we heard the riverboat play "Down by the Riverside." Made you want to tap your feet a little...