If you’ve ever wondered why they call the retreads lying on the roadways from truck tires "gators", you don’t have to go any further than I-10 between New Orleans and the Texas border…so many dead alligators along the road, and tire treads. It's hard to tell which until we are right up to them.
With another weather forecast of high winds, Mark had an
alternate route planned in case I-10 became too dicey. We did experience some
gusts but overall, it wasn’t too bad as we traveled 278 miles to Beaumont, Texas
on Saturday April 5. Luckily, we got to our second Harvest Host prior to the
forecasted rain and the tornado watch never materialized to a warning in our
area.
The Pine Tree Lodge, our Harvest Host location, isn’t really a lodge but a restaurant on the banks of Taylor’s Bayou. We met owners Mike and Sandy and got the history of their family restaurant and a nice conversation with a few of their friends before having dinner. They rebuilt the restaurant after hurricanes that damaged it twice before, but it took 2 ½ years to rebuild after Hurricane Harvey in August of 2017 as they chose to raise it 4'. The venue is huge and uniquely designed with roof panels that are rated for 145 mph winds.
These winds along I-10 are certainly persistent. From
Beaumont we traveled 268 miles to San Antonio on Sunday. Lots of road construction but
I-10 will be the better for it when they are complete. You might wonder why we
only travel about 5 hours a day. First, if we are delayed due to weather,
traffic, etc. we have a chance of making up time another day. Second, after 5
hours on some of these roads and traffic we are ready to set up and be done for
the day.
We stayed at the San Antonio/Alamo KOA, one of the nicest
KOA’s we have ever stayed at. It is only 6 miles to the Alamo and they have a
bus stop right across the street from the KOA. The cost for a 24-hour pass was
$2.75 per person, such a bargain and dropped us off a few blocks from the
Alamo. When Mark was planning our trip months ago, little did he know that San
Antonio was home to the Men’s NCAA final four (sorry, we are not fans). Once we got downtown on Monday,
it made for a sea of blue and orange Florida Gator fans and red and white
Houston Cougar fans. People said the weekend was crazy, Monday was still busy
but not “too” crazy. As said, we don’t really follow basketball but being around all
these fans was entertaining and we opted to watch them on TV with the
gators coming out on top.
Since the Hop On Hop Off bus worked so well in New Orleans
we opted to do the same in San Antonio. Mark’s a history person, so getting
that narrative and seeing sights we might not otherwise see is a big plus for
both of us. Besides the Alamo and the Riverwalk, we really enjoyed the Japanese
Tea Garden. There are lots of museums and murals also. The last time I was in San Antonio was about 25 years ago. My father’s
brother and one of his sisters had retired to the area and we celebrated my father’s
80th birthday with them and my sisters. Mark had never been to
Texas.
Some fun facts about San Antonio:
It was founded as a Spanish mission and colonial outpost in
1718. It was part of the Spanish Empire, The Mexican Republic, Republic of
Texas and the United States.
San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the US, which is evidenced by the traffic.
San Antonio is the most visited city in Texas. The Alamo is considered the number one attraction in Texas and The River Walk is another popular attraction.
The Riverwalk has six flood gates at the Olmos Dam for flood management.
San Antonio has an average of over 250 days of sunshine each year.
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