San Antone and Remember the Alamo

We had planned that on this trip we would visit San Antonio, and this morning would be that day. But as usual we were late in getting started, and then we debated whether or not we really wanted to go, especially after we realized it was over 110 miles just one way from our campground to San Antonio.

I quickly created a compromise: we would drive 70 miles to New Braunfels, another famous German community in the Hill Country south of Austin on the way to San Antonio. 

And this would also be the longest time we would ever leave Molly and Coco alone in the air conditioned trailer.

After an hour driving without pulling the trailer, of course, we made it to New Braunfels, drove through the downtown area which was nowhere as commercialized as was Fredericksburg was. But because of that, Marianne instantly expressed her desire to continue the addition half hour on to San Antonio. Yes!

San Antonio near The Alamo
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We set our GPS to lead us to The Alamo; cruising down the highway at 70 mph we made it in no time. Finding parking took as a little longer than usual, but with our "Mueller-find-a-parking-spot-luck" we finally scored spot just three-quarters of a block from The Alamo, and it was $10 for up to eight hours, acceptable!

As we headed to The Alamo which we were inundated with hundreds of high school-aged kids with backpacks literally overrunning the area. This was because there was a some sort of Lutheran international crusade in town. We see these kids continually throughout the rest of the day.

Obligatory Alamo Pictures
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We got our obligatory Alamo photos including the courtyard and then went inside were photography is prohibited, but as I remember from being here almost 40 years ago, there's really not too much inside to photograph anyway.

We headed a couple blocks away toward San Antonio's famous Riverwalk. I'd never been here, but Marianne had when she flew in here to rendezvous with her good friend Marsha Killian from Michigan to spend some girl time together a few years ago. Marianne insisted that I had to see this place.

We bought our tickets and waited in line to board the next open-aired cruise on a circular circuit among the shops, cafe's  and more kids, who just so happened to make up 90% of the passengers on our and every other boat.

Even though the temperature was approaching 100° it wasn't too bad on a moving boat on the river especially as it passed under pedestrian and vehicle bridges and floated underneath large scrub oak trees.

After the 35 minute cruise we briskly headed quickly toward an ice cream store where we stood in line with more of those kids, paying outrageous prices for a couple of scoops of the refreshing treats.

With our brains thoroughly frozen, we navigated the maze of shops, tunnels and canals to find the 800' Tower of the Americas, the tallest structure in the area, which would afford us a great view of the downtown area and the entire countryside. Plus as another reward there was a restaurant and bar at the top that rotated 360° every 75 minutes.

As with all tourist traps, there was a $10.95 charge per person to ride the elevator to the top, and climbing the stairs is not allowed. But as we were waiting in line behind another group of kids, we were approached by a gentleman who just gave us two tickets! Great! We didn't have to wait in line anymore and got on the elevator for the ride to the top.

Riverwalk
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The view was impressive, but the best part was sitting in the bar enjoying a couple of Ultimate Margaritas and an order of coconut shrimp. Life is good!

We hated to leave our air-conditioned elevated position, but we had to make our way back to our truck and drive the 110 miles back to our campsite in Austin.

We did run into some rush hour traffic, but made it back in one piece to find a couple of dogs that were super excited to see us again! They hadn't torn up anything, nor did they have any accidents! Whoopee! At least now we know we can leave the dogs for up to 8 hours by themselves and they can survive just fine.

The rest of the evening was spent editing photos.

Miles driven today: 225
Maximum temperature: 101°