Day 35: Texas State History Museum and The Alamo Drafthouse

Started out the day with the intention of seeing the University campus but decided to go to the history museum instead.

The museum is right next to the University, however, so I saw a little bit of it on the way over.


My head is covering it but there is a ridiculous set of mer-horse states in the fountain.


They only allowed photos in the lobby of the museum, but it was a very well put together place. And massive. I only made it through 2 of 3 floors, so I'm still a bit fuzzy on 20th and 21st century Texas History. The museum also had an incredibly cheesy interactive theater with shaking seats, wind, fog, ect. It was worth the $3.00 just for the laughs. After the Museum we went to Takoba for some fancy Mexican food. I had slow cooked pork shoulder tacos, they were fantastic.


We had some time to kill so we went to the Congress Street Bridge to see the 750,000 bats fly out at sunset. It is an event that draws nightly crowds and there definitely were a ton of bats. It was very hard to get a picture of them.

And finally, I made it to The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, regarded as one of the coolest movie theaters in the US. Every week they have special screening of old movies, sing-alongs, quote-along and more but there weren't any happening while I'm in town so we saw The Hangover Part 2 instead. I liked the place a lot although I think the menu is almost too big, I had a really hard time deciding what to get!

Tomorrow: Franklin BBQ, Campus Tour, and maybe some beer tasting.

Day 34: The Texas State Capitol

Had my latest start so far this morning but luckily I have very loose plans while I'm in Austin. Fortunately I happened to catch Tracy while she has a little time off so she has been able to chauffeur me around everywhere. We went to the capitol in the hopes to catch a tour but where a little too late. The Visitors Center actually had a ton to see though so it work out ok. I learned quite bit.

The capitol dome during daylight. They pinkish-brown color is from the Texas granite used in the construction.

The dome is the tallest capitol dome in the country, a few feet taller than the one in DC.


The five seals represent the flags of other countries that have had a presence in Texas (Spain, US, Mexico, France, and The Confederacy).


While we were there they draped black cloth over Bill Clements' portraits (he was governor twice) to honor his passing, we correctly assumed.

Afterwards we went to Maudie's for the tastiest Tex-Mex that I've ever had. Which is not a huge achievement on the restaurant's part, I've just grown up with Big Red's wretched food.

Next: Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum

Day 33: Arriving in Austin

Before leaving San Antonio I got a hot stone massage using a groupon. I liked the hot stone part, it was nice and relaxing. I had accidentally parked in a spot reserved for a Colombian restaurant (called Fruty Coma) next door while there and felt guilty so I had lunch there and tried Arepas. I still don't really know what they are but it seemed like fried cream of wheat with cheese in the middle. When I left town it was 101 degrees out. Once I got into Austin and settled I just laid low for a while to avoid the heat.


After a nap and once it had cooled down a bit Tracy and I went to see Davide at work at a hip hop bar called The Bayou on 6th street. As it was a holiday weekend there was not much parking so we parked by the capitol and walked over to 6th street.


Here he is at work. I tried to get a photo of him spitting fire (a thing he does when you order a flaming Dr. Pepper) but it's hard to get the timing right to capture it.


After that Tracy and I met up with a few of her friends and walked through 6th, which is wall to wall bars and amazingly crowded late at night. We settled on a place in the warehouse district called Frank's. I stayed up a lot later than I thought I would that night!

Next: The Capitol

Day 32: San Antonio

I stayed out much later than I thought I would tonight thanks to two friendly ladies from Toronto, so I do not have time to update. Stay tuned for more details tomorrow night!

EDIT: Here are the details!


It's the Alamo! Well, the part of it that you're allowed to photograph and is the nicest to look at. I learned quite a bit about the history of Texas but the place did not have the same impact on me as it would someone with ties to the area.


I enjoyed the Riverwalk quite a lot. It populated by tourists but is still very charming. I met a young couple selling jewelry I liked a lot there that went to school in Savannah so that was cool.

Downtown San Antonio has really awesome architecture. I'm pretty sure I only saw a fraction of it.
At dinner I saw seated next to a couple of nice ladies on vacation from Toronto who decided to take me out for the night.

We went to a martini bar called Swig where a woman was singing just about whatever you asked her to (if you bought her a drink). She had an amazing voice. I didn't get back to my hotel until after 1:00am!

Tomorrow: A hot stone massage and then on to Austin.

Day 31: Driving across Texas

I had about 8 hours of driving today so no sightseeing today, just pit stops.


Just over the New Mexico boarder into Texas. My was it flat, yet greener than I'd imagined.


Stopped in Pecos for a tamale (actually got a burrito) that was hotter than hell... as was the weather. Apparently they're having record highs in Pecos tomorrow (105-ish).


Further along I passed some mesas with wind turbines on top of them (hard to see but they're there).


Upon approaching hill country there were more trees and greenery than I was expecting as well.


Tomorrow: The Alamo, Riverwalk, and a massage!

Day 30: Carlsbad Caverns

EDIT: Now with photos!

Today went exactly according to plan which feels completely bizarre. The Caverns are about an hour drive from the campground but I still made it there by 10am!

It was remarkably not crowded and I had enough time to walk down the mile long natural entrance (above) to the "Big Room" loop which is another 1.5 miles (2.5 miles of walking total).


Luckily there is an elevator that will take you back up to the visitors center when you're done so you don't have to walk the very steep mile back up. I thought it was pretty weird seeing a snack bar and restrooms, etc. inside the caves.


I would say the caverns are pretty much worth the trouble of getting here. I feel like I've seen prettier/more dazzling cave formations sometime in my youth (I can't remember where... Ape Caves maybe?) but never anything quite so big and, um... cavernous.

The parks department does a fair job lighting it but occasionally I wanted to be able to see more. And consequently most of my photos are not great. I was right at home with the climate: 56 degrees with 90% humidity. My nostrils where thanking me for the break from the 97 degree desert up above.


I was all done by 2pm and had a bunch of time to kill so I stopped at all of the signposts on the way out and learned a bit about the geology and plant life of the Chihuahuan desert. It was a little hot out. Back at the campground I had time to check out the pool and hot tub!

Tomorrow: Driving all day to San Antonio, Texas.

Day 29: Roswell, NM

No pics for the next couple days. While my campground has wifi (pretty posh campground, really) it is not fast enough for photos.

EDIT: Now there are photos!


On the way to Roswell. It was flat and dry.


Today was a driving day but I stopped for an hour in Roswell, NM to check out the International UFO Museum. It was a homespun kind of operation that could use some jazzing up but apparently they've already designed their dream museum, they're just waiting for several million dollars to roll in. I wouldn't have minded wondering the town a bit as well but had to get going.


Inside the museum, pretty dry info with just a few photos and models.


But they did acquire a few props from the made for TV movie "Roswell" so that's something.


I've stopped for the night at the Carlsbad KOA campground located about an hour north of the Carlsbad Caverns.

Can you guess what I'm doing tomorrow?

Day 28: Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and Canyon Road

Back when I was planning this trip I was excited to find out there is a Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in existence. So that is where I went today expecting to see room after room of her paintings. While there were a dozen or so of her paintings the bulk of the museum was the exhibit pictured above. It was about the relationship between painting and photography for 20th century American artists. It was really interesting, I just didn't realize I was there to see Chuck Close, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol, and many other artists who are not Georgia O'Keeffe.


I knew I would eventually find a perfectly picturesque doorway.


On the walk over to Canyon Road I passed the "Oldest Continually Occupied House in the USA" circa 1646. It was built on top of ruins from 1200 AD, which I think is where they get the oldest house claim from. It has tiny doorways but otherwise looks much like all of the other adobe buildings around it.
Canyon Road is a long stretch of probably at least 100 art galleries in a row. I chose which ones to go into at random and found there is something for everyone: contemporary, classic, native, folk, and just plain bizarre stuff. I liked this guy's front door.


I had my fancy dinner at Amaya inside the Hotel Santa Fe (much swankier than my hotel). I intended to get something more authentic but the prix fixe steak was only $23 for 3 courses. And the mashed potatoes have bacon in them. Who could resist that?!

Tomorrow: Roswell on the way to Carlsbad, NM.

Day 27: A day off in Santa Fe

For probably the first time this trip I wasn't in a hurry to leave! I took the time to clean out and re-arrange my car so that was nice. I rolled into Santa Fe in late afternoon so by the time I was settled in and walked into downtown most of the shops were closed.

I liked the jumble of signs on this street. Apparently there is only one Starbucks in Santa Fe and I found it.

The Santa Fe river is one of most pathetic rivers I've ever seen, more like a stagnant creek bed. But hey, it's the desert.


I enjoyed just wandering around for a bit looking at the adobe architecture. This shop had a bone yard of what looks like reclaimed antique wooden carvings. It would have been fun to peruse.
On the walk back to my hotel I heard a live band and followed the music to the Railyard which looks like a recently gentrified area (surrounding the tracks) that was having a free concert. Unfortunately it ended right as I got there but I was glad I got to check the area out. I probably wouldn't have known it was there otherwise.

This squirrel was being way too cute at the park across from my hotel.

Back at the hotel I decided to eat some junk food and catch up on my hulu queue, so some nice not travel related me time. I enjoyed having a mostly plan free day.

Day 26: Sandia Peak

Jan invited Vera and I to go jewelry shopping at her favorite place The Utility Shack (which is a terribly misleading name for a native american jewelry store). The prices for the smaller pieces was actually pretty reasonable but the showier stuff was quite expensive. We all ended up taking something home. The store was celebrating the owner's mother's 96th(!) birthday with lots of free food so we stayed there for lunch. I had some tasty tamales and pasole.

Next I took the Sandia Tramway up the mountains to Sandia Peak (elevation approx. 10,300 feet). I would not recommend it for those afraid of heights. All of my tram pictures are sepia tinted because of the coated windows.


I think I heard somewhere you can see out 60 miles in every direction from the top but I couldn't find a good spot to look north. Although I wasn't willing to hike very far because the elevation made my legs feel like lead.
The hike I did take was surprisingly narrow and precipitous. But the views were worth it. I wish I had thought to bring a city map with me so I could match up what I was looking at. You could see the entire city of Albuquerque from up there.



After heading back to the ranch Vera and I went out to Papa Filipe's Mexican Restaurant for Navajo Tacos. Don't tell Vera I posted this photo, she didn't want me to take any pictures of her. The meal was great and came with sopes (fried dough pillows with honey) for dessert which I had actually never seen before. Can't go wrong with fried dough...

Tomorrow: Santa Fe!

Post Script for Jessica:

"I ain't getting any younger
and before my dying day
I want space not just air
Let them laugh in my face
I don't care
Sante Fe
I'll be there"

Day 25: Old Town Albuquerque

Had a chance to hose off the and dry the tent this morning; I was glad to have that done before my next camping adventure. I got meet Vera's bridge buddies right before I left for Old Town.


I spotted this sweet 'cuda near where I parked. You're welcome Dad.


Old Town was not, as I assumed, an extension of downtown but rather a self contained area filled with mostly art galleries, restaurants and souvenir shops. It is also adjacent to many of the Museums in town. It was fun looking at the art and jewelry but mostly out of my price range. One artist's work that really caught my eye was Anne Legge. It turns out she's also an animator for Futurama and The Simpsons. The piece I wanted was $140 so I passed.


This is the plaza, the center of old town. The tan building in the background is the 200-300 year old catholic church.


Part of a series of statues outside the Art and History museum.

Vera and I went over to Jan and Jack's for dinner, which they do every Friday or Saturday. It was a lovely meal and Jan's garden was fantastic. They have an agave plant that was just starting to bloom, something that only happens once in the plant's lifetime. The plants you see in the front yard are an abbreviated version of what is in the back. Once we got back home I got to tire Vera out by showing here all of my photos from my trip so far. It's funny how far away some of it seems already...

Tomorrow: Sandia Peak Tramway, Jan's favorite jewelry store, and some SW cuisine.