Houston and San Antonio

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We arrived in Houston on Monday to a warm welcome at the airport. Both Lachlan and James had grown so much since we last saw them over 15 months ago. It was a lovely to have the boys help us with our luggage, we were surprised to see 8 year old James hoisting the cases off the luggage carousel.

We enjoyed being part of Louise, Colin, Lachlan and James's family life. With the boys we walked the dogs to the park, had lunch and games at Chuck E Cheese, ice creams at the local store, lots of fun. We had a very enjoyable few days with them at their lovely home in Houston before all heading off on our road trip.

On Friday we left in convoy to drive the four hours to San Antonio. Louise and Colin had arranged for riverwalk rooms at the lovely La Mansion del Rio Hotel. We had an adjoining balcony across our three rooms and were able to sit out and watch the passing parade of people and boats. It is a very colourful and lovely area around the riverwalk, the walk is set below the hustle and bustle of the city it feels like Americas version of Venice. We were interested to hear the history of how the riverwalk came about, after a major flood in 1926 work began on a bypass channel which included draining the riverbed, making it a storm sewer with a street over it. The Conservation Society put on a puppet show at city hall and took the commissioners on canoe ride to show them the river and persuade them to save it, turning it in to the riverwalk which is now one of the biggest tourist attraction in Texas.

Ron, Colin and the boys checked out the Alamo while Alex, Louise and Margy headed of to the market and galleries. The Alamo played a critical role in the Texas Revolution. In 1836 General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's army caught the Texans and Tejanos by surprise. Among the Alamo's small garrison were Jim Bowie and David Crockett, they held out for 12 days against Santa Anna's army. The battle has come to symbolise heroic struggle against impossible odds, the Alamo remains hallowed ground and the Shrine for Texas Liberty.

On the way back to Houston we stopped for lunch at the Botanical Gardens which had a vast collection of varied plants, including some we recognised from Australia. We arrived back in Houston in time to pack our suitcases in preparation for heading off early to the airport the next morning for our next adventure in Guatemala and Costa Rica.

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Comments

[Sue De Gilio]

Great Photos
Loved the Riverside walk area. Can just imagine what it was like from your description.

[Aley and Ron]

Hi Sue, Thanks for the comment on our blog. We are having a great time. Guatemala was interesting but also hard work. We are now in Costa Rica for the next week and hopefully this will be more relaxing. Hope all is going well at Gforce. Hi to all. Alex