Yesterday started off a little cool. It was 8C when we left
the campground to head for San Antonio. The coolness didn’t bother us as we had
on the heated gear. The day gradually got better, by the time we left for home
it was 28C.
The Alamo
This is an old Mission where on Feb. 23rd in 1836
it played a critical role in the Texas revolution fighting off Santa Anna’s
army. There were many artifacts on display some of which were owned by Jim
Bowie and Davey Crockett.
A guide giving a presentation says he has been asked by many
people why the Alamo was moved to the centre of San Antonio. The answer is
simply, this is the original site of the Mission and the City has grown around
it.
The River Walk
The river in San Antonio between 1718 and 1731 became a
centerpiece of a complex water system built to supply water to 5 Spanish
Missions including the Alamo. The water was diverted by way of stone ditches.
In 1921 there was a major flood of the river which did a lot of damage and
there was a lot of talk to change it over to an underground storm drain. There
was a campaign to save the river which attracted a 25 year old architect named
Robert Hugman who is now known as Father of the River Walk. He met a lot of resistance
from the local businesses so he moved his own business down to the water’s edge. Now the system can be used to control any future flooding. It is a great
commerce area used by a number of hotels, theatres, convention centre, restaurants
and a mall. It is a beautiful area separated so well from the city’s traffic above;
you do not even hear it.
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| Architect's Office |
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| This unit cleans the water's surface from debris, dragging nets along. |
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| Convention Centre |
On the way home we stopped for gas and noticed the front
tire was pretty well flat. (Bummer!!)
I filled it up at the station and a short time later it was
flat again. We stopped in a small garage again and filled it up again and
noticed a small clip which holds the valve stem in place was gone. Since it was
gone the valve stem would pop out when the bike reached a certain speed creating the leak. I installed a small piece of rubber under the
stem so it could not pull out and taped it in place. We managed to get home doing
20 mph.
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| Need a tire anyways, the tread is getting thin. |
The roads here have a lot of gravel in them and less tar making it hard on the tires especially when turning.
More news to come...
