Texas Exploration

Well, howdy, y'all!  I gotta say that the state of Texas...a big place...has an inexhaustible supply of interesting places.  I'm a Californian...though Cali is a blue state, and Texas a red state, they have many things in common.  Both states are empires unto themselves, and their people, though mostly patriotic Americans, have very strong self identities with their state.  Both Texas and Cali could be countries on their own...strong, prosperous nations.  And of course each was an independent country in the 1800s...Cali for a few months, Texas for nine years.  This is the main drag of Marfa, in west Texas.  The Presidio county courthouse is at far right.

The courtyard of the Hotel Paisano in Marfa.  Built in 1930, it's an absolute classic.  The cast of the movie Giant stayed here while filming in the 1950s.  You can rent the rooms where James Dean, Rock Hudson, and Elizabeth Taylor stayed.  Turns out many west Texas towns have a grand old hotel, favored back in the day by prosperous travelers and ranchers.  Van Horn, Alpine, and Fort Stockton all have them.

One of several murals in Alpine, about 25 miles east of Marfa.  Turns out Hoss went to the local college, Sul Ross State.

The statewide anti-litter theme.  Another well used local phrase I like is "Drive Friendly".

The Chisos Mountains, Big Bend NP.  Formed by volcanism about 18-35 million years ago.  Rugged, wild, and splendid.

Pinnnacles in the Chisos.

Badlands near Study Butte, at the western entrance to Big Bend.

Not sure what these flowers are, but with a macro lens they appear rather impressionist.

Paisano Pete, the world's largest roadrunner.  I have seen a couple of these critters...considerably smaller...scooting across the highway.

Statue of Admiral Chester Nimitz, at the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg.  For an old WWII buff like myself, the museum was fascinating...I spent five hours in it.  Nimitz was a local boy, born and raised in Fredericksburg.  He was respected as a very smart, able, strong, and fair commander...not only by the Americans who served under him but also by the Japanese who fought against him.

I have a little history with this gun.  This is a 5 inch 38.  A common gun in the Navy from at least the 1940s through the 70s.  On my midshipman cruise in 1972, I was on the USS Newport News on the gun line off Vietnam.  The ship fired these 5"-38s hundreds of times, and they were LOUD!  I remember doing a midwatch on the bridge one night when the ship lobbed about 200 rounds onto the beach near the DMZ; at the end of the watch I felt pretty shellshocked myself!  If I remember correctly, my ship the USS Chicago also had some of these guns on board while I was on it 1973-77.

The Bandera county courthouse, built in 1890. 

Claret cup cactus flowers, in the Hill Country State Natural Area near Bandera.

Angry looking sky above the Hill Country SNA.  I was fooled by the weather here.  For two days low clouds had shrouded the Hill Country, due to a norther that set up a temperature inversion.  Couldn't see what was above the low stuff, but with the chance of rain at only 20 percent, I headed out on a hike and left my umbrella and jacket in the car.  Not long after this picture was taken, a healthy thunderstorm started crackling, with heavy rain and pea sized hail.  With no shelter more substantial than juniper trees, I got soaked!  My bad.

Wet clothes are drying in the bathroom, and I'm dry and warm at the Holiday Inn on the San Antonio riverwalk.  I've been to the riverwalk before, but it was over thirty years ago, circa 1980-81.  There are many, many nice restaurants here, right in the heart of San Antonio.  It's a great place for strolling, grazing, just hanging out.