Texas

JAN 19, 2009 ::: We backtracked down from Truth or Consequences, through Las Cruces, to El Paso, Texas, where we stopped at the El Paso Saddleblanket, a big touristy place filled with blankets, saddles and lots of crap made in China that looks like it comes from Indians and from Mexico. There's a big sign inside that says "These items are not Indian produced, an Indian product or the product of a particular Indian, Indian Tribe or Indian Arts and Crafts Organization as defined by 25 USC, 305 et seq."

We got a couple of $1 hats for ourselves (the sun is bright in the convertible!) and a $4 t-shirt for Pete. Then we headed back onto the road toward Pecos, Texas. We crossed through some pretty desert and crossed over some big mountains until the land got flatter and scrubbier. We saw several armadillos waddling alongside the road and some antelope on the range, mixed in with a cow or two. We arrived at the Swiss Clock Inn in Pecos and did our laundry in their free machines and had dinner in their restaurant.

We left Pecos after breakfast in the hotel restaurant and headed down to Fredericksburg, Texas. The land got less deserty and more hilly and full of farms mixed in with the ranches. We stopped in Mason, Texas, at some antique malls and had fun talking with the people there. We made it to Fredericksburg at dinnertime and had a German dinner in the restaurant next to our little Dietzel Motel. We finally realized something: we don't really like German food.

We had breakfast in Fredericksburg at the Hill Country Donut and Kolaches, a tiny little carryout place run by an Asian couple. The owner was very talkative and I told him that my sister lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He asked if there were lots of Germans in that part of Virginia. I noted that he didn't seem German and asked where he was from. He told me he was Germanese. A very funny guy.. delicious breakfast and enjoyable stop.

We headed down to San Antonio and made a stop at a very important historical location... the site of the Great Helotes Mulch Fire.

San Antonio was wonderful. We visited the Alamo, of course, and met a wonderful docent who spent a lot of time answering our questions and telling us history about the state and the Alamo that wasn't included anywhere else.

After the Alamo, we walked over to the Riverwalk, which is beautiful. We were getting hungry but didnt' want to eat in one of the chain restaurants there, so we asked a hotdog vendor where we could get some good Texas BBQ in San Antonio. He and a fellow customer told us to go to Augie's Barbed Wire BBQ "near the zoo." Wow... it was certainly worth it.

Got back on I-10 and headed to Houston. We are now in a Sleep Inn in Baytown, just east of Houston. Tomorrow we head to New Orleans. Stopped at Sonic for a quick dinner in our room... We're now watching the re-broadcast of the We Are One concert from the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday. We want to be on the road early so we can listen to the inauguration in the car.