Fort Worth and Ducks

On our way to Robert and Barb's house, we stopped to chase ducks. Just because. And some of these critters were really, really ugly (but not my brother!)



But as it turned out, my brother and the duck color-coordinated their outfits.









Such a simple thing, but so much fun: stalking ducks, chasing them with my camera. And it's a very different pleasure when you don't have to pluck your kids out of the water or rescue them from mud. But even better. . . the water was not frozen! quack.

Texas Stockyards

Why Fort Worth? Because of these wonderful people, my little brother, Robert (who sometimes thinks his name is "Bob"), and Barb. We got to spend Friday evening and Saturday with them. What a treat!



They took us off to the Fort Worth Stockyards, where we had lunch, and watched cattle being driven down the main street.


I'm pretty darn sure that if cattle were being driven down the main street of Grand Forks, I'd be wanting curb-side beer service, just like in Fort Worth!

Amtrak: San Antonio to Fort Worth

So that was San Antonio, and a delightful 1 and a 1/2 days there. Early Friday am, we headed off to one of my new-found (not) secret pleasures: Amtrak! It cost $60 for the two of us together, and was much less expensive than renting a car. This was my second adult trip on Amtrak, and was from San Antonio to Fort Worth; seriously, you've got to consider it! Also, consider that if you travel with Doug (and then I'd ask you WHY?), he's going to search for the perfect seat. He's a little like Goldi-Locks, "too small, too big, wrong side, too far back, too far up, what about the sun, what direction are we going in?" and if you sit down with all your Stuff, you're just going to have to pick it up again and keep moving. Yeah. Easy for him to say. He's not carrying a purse, carry-on, headphones, plane-pillow, muffins and water and snacks. I've finally learned that it's best to just sit down once and say, "OK, figure out where you want to sit, and I'll follow you," and then watch all the amused other people watch him check out the seats. This works well in movie theaters as well. And ordering in restaurants? Like I said, he's got "radar" (or maybe more patience with forethought)for great food; just tell the server to come back Later. (Much Later.) And then order what he orders, but add chocolate. His radar works well in grocery check-out lines as well. I impulsively pick the nearest one, and think it's good enough. Then the person in front of me runs back for bat soup. And the clerk accidentally rings up 500 avocadoes and the manager has to come void out the sale. All this before the clerk lapses into a sneezing fit, and gets distracted by trying to remember the change he/she counted out.

But I got off track here. Back to Amtrak.

This first is a photo in the early morning hours of the Tower of the Americas, near the Amtrak station.







The Find-the-best-seats-the-best-lines-the-best-food Guy:


I just liked how dreamy and cute these kids looked, waving "goodbye" to someone on the train. . .



One thing about taking a train is that you see very different things than if you fly or drive. The train sometimes routes through areas of cities that are sadly dismal. Just outside of Austin, in the early morning light, I could see lots of sleeping bags and tents and piles of belongings set up along the train tracks. It really is a strong reminder to feel gratitude for the kinds of life most of us get to lead. I found myself wondering how many more hidden-away "tent cities", or similar tough living situations, there are throughout our country, just beyond plain sight. Apparently, even in large airports, a number of homeless people are finding shelter by skillfully blending into the backgrounds, choosing the times and spots among passengers, in the non-secured areas, these days. Sad.

Lost - San Antonio style

And how could I be on a trip without getting lost? Doug headed off to a conference, and I headed back to the River Walk, armed with my camera, many, many maps, and my compass. First, I passed these really cute statues, and then headed down the steps to the river. Near our hotel, the river was a little branch off of the main route, and fairly desolate, even in early afternoon.

Here was one of several guys, relaxing, and this one called out to me to take his picture, so I did, thinking he was just being friendly to the tourist with all the junk in her hands. And then some street sense started to kick in, especially as he started to say things that weren't quite intelligible, and I realized that he actually wasn't looking particularly friendly. And I quickly decided to move further down the river and wait for the river taxi some place else.



I walked and walked and walked, and it is definitely a LOT hotter in San Antonio than Grand Forks (like 86 degrees above compared to 30 degrees below that week). At least I started to pass other tourists looking a bit lost and anxious about how and where to catch the River Taxi. The tour boats continued to pass, but the real implications of 25 tour boats on the river to only 2 taxis started to sink in, and I kept on walking. The maps only helped somewhat; it turns out that they are not completely up-to-date about the routes of the River Taxi. I took wrong turns (still along a branch of the river, but off the path of the taxi) and continued to ask directions, only half of which were accurate. Some of the wrong paths involved walking up stairs, crossing a street, and then back down the stairs, and it was definitely disconcerting to see people sitting on the sidewalk--one woman all bruised and explaining something to the police officer that she was "only arrested once prior because the cocaine was mixed with rat poison". About then, I decided it was a much better idea to stow my camera in my purse.

***HINT ***If you're ever in San Antonio, and use the River Taxi, there's actually a phone number printed directly on the all-day pass. Find a table, order a drink, and call the taxi to find out when it's going to pass your spot and just wait for it, unless you really, really want to walk and walk and walk. . . .

After an hour more of walking, I finally got back to the River Center Mall area, exited and headed to the Alamo. The guide books suggested going to the IMAX and watching their video on the Alamo first. Unfortunately, it was already 4:01 pm. . . and they would not seat anyone for the 4:00 pm showing. Another HINT: It's less expensive to just rent the audio tour from the Discovery Channel kiosk in front of the Alamo, unless you really need to sit in the air conditioned IMAX for awhile.



These last two are photos of the Alamo. The history of the Alamo is quite moving and very worth spending much more time at than I allocated. But I had to find my way back to the hotel, and was not confident in the River Taxi at this point.

And rightly not, because once again, I never saw another taxi come by, and settled down to walk and walk and walk. . .



And the strangest thing was that by some fluke, or luck, I came upon a bend in the river that was clearly much, much closer to the hotel than I expected it to be, even though I'd walked past many shops that had looked not at all familiar. I seem to have taken the northern path back, rather than the southern much more-traveled path. And I was back in about 20 minutes instead of the earlier hour to 1 and 1/2 hour journey. Time for a mojito! That evening, a group of us took another journey on the river taxi under the magical night glow of the lights. Ha! I was the navigator! (And I didn't think anyone needed to know about what it took for me to earlier work out the kinks of this voyage!)

Next up, we board Amtrak and head for Fort Worth.

Mi Tierra, Market Square, San Antonio

OK, it's worth going to Texas for no other reason than to go to this restaurant! And look! It never closes!

This is where we had lunch, in Market Square, in San Antonio.

I was practically drooling and hyperventilating in the entry alone, there was so much I wanted to photograph!

We were really, really hungry, and Doug managed more patience than anyone has a right to ask of Hungry Spouse, and I shot away, not getting the best settings or compositions in the world, but enough to play with.

Hot already (especially for us Northerners), the interior of this restaurant must be entirely heated by millions of little lights. I kept wondering about what the cost would be to replace them all with those new LED Christmas lights.

Who's that crazy woman with the camera hiding by the plants by the bathroom, photographing the restaurant. I try to keep photography in a restaurant to a minimum, but this place just begs to be photographed!



Here we made a Terrible Mistake. After the delicious, inexpensive, meal, we passed up dessert! What were we thinking? This place is well-known for its Mexican pastries, and we could have easily carried some back with us to our hotel. Oh, woeful day!

These guys came over and serenaded us by our tables.



And after this, we headed back to our hotel, where I rested for about 20 minutes, and then headed back to the River Walk without Doug, with my little River Taxi pass in one hand, camera in another, and multiple maps in the other.

Market Square, San Antonio

Have I worn you out yet on this trip? Here, we're heading into Market Square and soon we get to be rewarded with Mia Tierra for lunch! On these photos, I used a few actions: Dirt Bag, Lady Ren's Booster Baby and Vanilla Cream, and EZ Action Vivid Color. Can you guess which ones got which?







Take a look at my weather pixie! As I type this, she's basking in 39 degree weather. . . and in Grand Forks, that can only mean one thing: flood watch! We're all listening to the NWS frequent flood forecast updates, and some reinforcing of the dikes are going on, but we're not too concerned at this point.

More of San Antonio, Texas

Today, I'm going to be photo heavy and post more of the River Walk photos. The River Walk is like a combination garden . . .

. . . jungle . . .


. . . . .typical shopping mall . . .

. . . .and museum! This is a statue of St. Anthony. . .

. . . . old missions. . . and of course, wonderful places to eat. All of this is still from Thursday morning along the river.


Just before noon, Doug and I headed west, away from the river, toward Market Square. Along the way, we stopped at the Spanish Governors Palace, built before 1752, and at one time the seat of the Texas government.



It's a little museum, with this absolutely gorgeous little garden/courtyard behind it, where people sometimes wander in and eat their lunch.



Next, we wandered toward the San Fernando Cathdral. Mexican General Santa Anna is said to have flown the flag of no mercy from the rooftop of this French Gothic cathedral at the beginning of the seige of the Alamo. Remains of some of the defenders of the Alamo are buried here.





♦Next, Doug and I headed off to Market Square and had lunch at Mia Tierra. I can't wait to show you the photos!

Just a sneak preview for coming days: there will be photos of the afternoon in San Antonio, including the Alamo, more of the River Walk, and our trip on Amtrak from San Antonio up to Fort Worth. Doug and I met my brother Robert and sister-in-law Barb in Fort Worth, and Barb had lots of ideas for wandering and photography. Barb also got a Nikon D40 recently, partly appropriated by my brother, so we are all enabling each other in photography now! Two of my sisters (MaryAnn and Rina) are also venturing into this, so it just leaves Lee & Maria, Ron & Linda, and Laurie & Jim to See the Light, and yield to the DSLR magnetic pull. You can see some of Barb's photos from our trip here: Journal Jots

Back to the preview. . . And last, but not least, I'll be bringing you another book endoresement by the Beautiful Miss Bonnie. She's quite excited about this one, as you'll see. . .

Architecture: Gargoyles and Optical Illusions

The River Walk has everything! One minute you're in a tropical paradise, and around the next bend is this extraordinary panorama of architecture. This first is a very usually shaped hospital. It's somewhat pie-shaped.

As you continue down the river, the hospital then begins to look like it is a fake, thin, front, and as you look up at it, it gives the appearance that it's going to topple over on you! I'm not sure if the photos do justice to the illusion. . .

And this looks like something out of a Stephen King novel or GhostBusters . . .

. . . with the dragon gargoyles . . .

. . . and odd faces to ward off evil spirits.