Texas Trip - By the Numbers [March 18, 2017 - May 1, 2017]

Padre Island National Seashore

Our Spring trip to Texas was a combination of beaches, mountains, history, state capitols, and visits with old friends and family members.  Oh, and don't forget the 3/4 of a million female bats.  Most of the time that we were in Texas it was very windy, which kept us nice and cool.  Once we got home, we spent months cleaning out fine sand that had been blown into the crevices in the motor home.  A free souvenir of an outstanding trip!  In keeping with our continued celebration of the National Park Service (Happy 101st Birthday!), we are including photos in this post of the 4 NPS units that we visited.

The Alamo National Historic Landmark

Here is our trip by the numbers:
4157 Miles traveled
45     Days on the road
19     Places stayed
10     Oil rigs - visited or viewed from shore
9       States visited - 3 of them for the first time in the motor home (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas)
8       Friends/relatives visited
7       Beaches visited
4       National Parks visited (Happy 101st Birthday NPS!)
3      State Parks visited
3      Crawfish meals (yum!)
3      Barbecue meals (yum!)
2      State Capitol buildings
2      Bird sanctuaries
1      Kayak paddle
1      Petrified forest
1      Aircraft carrier
1      Presidential Library

Judge Parker's Courtroom, Fort Smith National Historic Site

Historic Bath Houses in Hot Springs National Park

Celebrating the "Natural State" - Hot Springs AR and the Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock AR [April 25-26, 2017]

Hot water comes out of the side of the mountain in Hot Springs AR

We weren't sure what to expect in Arkansas.  What we got was a VERY pleasant surprise.

We decided to drive "the back way" from Fort Smith to Hot Springs on secondary roads.  It was the most direct route on the map, but the winding roads around and through scenic mountains were not the fastest route.  The roller coaster was a little difficult in a 30 foot long motor home but definitely worth the trip.  It was certainly pretty.

Historic Bathhouses along Central Avenue

Hot Springs is named for the hot water that comes out of cracks in the side of the mountain.  Initially, the hot water collected into a creek that ran down the center of a ravine.  People started setting up bathhouses using the naturally hot water.  In 1832, the US set up four preserves of this mineral rich 140 degree water, the first time it protected any natural resource.  In 1884, the federal government built a covered channel for the creek, paving over the top in what is Central Avenue today.  In 1921, Hot Springs was made the 18th National Park (Happy 101 Birthday NPS!).

Fordyce Bathhouse

In 1877, elaborate bathhouses were built siphoning this medicinal water into tubs to soak in and cups to drink.  A handful of these bath houses remain today.  One, the Fordyce Bathhouse, has been preserved by the National Park Service.  You can see bathing rooms with ornate stained glass skylights and statuary.  There is a gymnasium, and rooms for recovering and resting after your hot water treatment.

Ladies bathing area in the Fordyce Bathhouse

Skylight in the men's bathing area in the Fordyce Bathhouce

The bathhouses were located all along one side of Central Ave, and affiliated with hotels that were located on the other side.  On the side of the hill behind the bathhouses is a brick paved promenade where visitors could stroll and visit with each other.  It is a lovely setting.

The Promenade

Along various corners of Central Ave are fountains where anyone can fill containers with the hot water.  We parked next to a very busy corner where we saw a stream of local residents fill their many empty gallon containers.  We ran some into a coffee cup.  Boy, was it hot!  It was delicious!

Hot water from a fountain

Hot Springs is also known for its delicious, cool spring water.  There are cool water fountains around town as well.  It was so yummy that we drained what water we had left in the 65 gallon water tank in the motor home and filled it with wonderful fresh spring water from the campground water supply.

Hot shower anyone?

By the way, they brew beer with this lovely water.  Hot Springs is the only National Park with a brewery.  The beer was good, too. 

Steam therapy

The other beautiful part of Hot Springs are the lovely mountains and trails.  We camped in the NPS campground located in scenic Gulpha Gorge.  It was so beautiful, with rugged steep, forested sides and a stream babbling through it.

Tub for handicapped patients

After 19 hours in Hot Springs we headed off to Little Rock to visit the Bill Clinton Presidential Library and Museum.  We didn't see much of Little Rock - that will be another visit.  The Clinton Library is a beautiful museum.  Down the center is a long timeline of what was happening in the world and during the Clinton Presidency.  In bays along the outside are exhibits highlighting thematic aspects of his term.  It was our first visit to a modern presidential library and very impressive.

At the Clinton Library

Arkansas is a gem, worth more visits.  Its' considerable natural beauty have earned it the deserving nickname of The Natural State.

Fort Smith, Arkansas and Hangin' Judge Parker [April 25, 2017]

What remains of Fort Smith, which became the Federal Court building

You have likely seen a movie where Deputy U.S. Marshalls rode into the Indian Territory to apprehend outlaws and bring them back to Fort Smith to stand before Hangin' Judge Parker and face justice.   Well, this is where that happened, Fort Smith, Arkansas.

A model of the original Fort Smith on the Arkansas River

The history of the founding of Fort Smith is pretty sad.  A wooden army fort was originally built here in 1817 on the banks of the Arkansas River to preserve peace between the newly relocated Cherokee and the already resident Osage Indians.  Over time, as the frontier pushed West, so did the army and Fort Smith fell into disrepair.

The site of the first Fort Smith

In1838 another fort was built here, serving as a supply depot for forts that were being built further west.  Westward booms like the California gold rush made Fort Smith an important center of supplies and immigration.  It was also a depot and way point in the tragic Trail of Tears.  After the Civil War, the army closed the fort, but the town continued to grow.

Judge Parker's court room

The Federal Court of the Western District of Arkansas had jurisdiction over the area known as the Indian Territory, and set up jails, offices and a courtroom in the abandoned enlisted men's barracks in 1872.  Deputy Marshalls maintained law and order in the Indian Territory.  We came to learn that at this point "Indian Territory" referred to the area we now know as Oklahoma.  The territory was divided up into districts for different Indian tribes.

The Gallows - you needed a ticket to get inside the enclosure to see a hanging

Initially, the judges in Fort Smith were corrupt.  Judge Isaac Parker was sent there in 1875 to establish consistent and fair judgements.  He presided over the Federal Court for 21 years, hearing over 13,000 cases and sentencing 160 men to hang (only 79 actually did).  The court was disbanded in 1896, and Judge Parker died 10 weeks later.

The "hell-on-the-border" jail cell

Initially, the jail was an airless basement room which housed up to 50 prisoners, who slept on straw stuffed mattresses on the floor.  This "hell-on-the-border" was replaced by a system of cells in the upper part of the building, where for certain times of day prisoners could move between cells inside a larger enclosure, a system designed by Judge Parker.

Reproduction of the "modern" jail designed by Judge Parker

The  Fort Smith National Historic Site (Happy 101 Birthday NPS) is really interesting!  They have done an excellent job presenting the history of the fort, setting it in the context of the history of forced Indian relocation and White westward expansion, and describing the Marshalls and their prisoners.  You can see reproductions of the jails, Judge Parker's courtroom, and the gallows.  A lovely walk takes you to the banks of the Arkansas River, past a stone marker designating the boundary between Arkansas and the Choctaw Nation.

Stone marking the border between Arkansas...

...and the Choctaw Nation

In 1896, the violent era of Fort Smith's history came to an end.  Just three years later, in 1899, Dana's grandmother Mary Theresa Morgan Jones was born in Fort Smith.  To have known her, you would never have guessed that she spent her childhood in a rough border town on the western frontier.  She would not have found it remarkable.  In retrospect, we do.

Vikings in Oklahoma? Perhaps! - The Heavener Runestone - Heavener OK [April 24, 2017]

Did the Vikings carve these runes?

It just may be possible that Vikings stood on a hilltop in Southeastern Oklahoma around the year 600.  Say what???  On a rugged mountainside near the Oklahoma/Arkansas border sits a massive flat piece of sandstone with eight symbols carved on its face.  The symbols are believed to be Viking runes that say Glome Dal or Valley owned by Glome.  Other scholars believe that it says Gnome Dal or Valley of the Gnomes.  This is not the only one of these runestones in the area.  Imagine!

The road to the runestone goes straight up!

The theory is that the  Vikings traveled in their shallow draft ships into the Gulf of Mexico, up the Mississippi, turned west onto the Arkansas River and then onto the much smaller Poteau River.  So, we just had to stop and see the runestone they may have left behind on our winding trip North and East toward home.

Along the hiking trail down to the runestone

The earliest eyewitness sighting on record of the runestone was in 1898.  Back then it was called the "Indian Rock."  Interest in the stone came and went over time, until a local resident, Gloria Farley, who had visited it in 1928, rediscovered it in 1951.  It was through her efforts that the runes have been studied and the area around the stone was made into an Oklahoma State Park in 1970.  In 2011, in response to budgetary constraints, the state park was turned over to the City of Heavener to operate and maintain.  The characters have been studied and translated by various runic scholars over the years.

Yup, mountains in Oklahoma - along the trail down to the runestone site

The runestone is not without controversy.  Some archeologists believe that it was inscribed in the 19th century, perhaps by a Scandinavian immigrant to Heavener. Other than the other similar stones (which could also be "modern" in origin) there is no other evidence of Viking presence in the area.  Nevertheless, the stone is quite interesting.

Such a lovely valley (can see why Glome might want to claim it!)

Heavener is off of a local highway.  To get to the park, you drive along a narrow drive that seems to go straight up the side of the mountain.  The view from the top of the lovely valley below is quite spectacular.  I could see why Glome might want to claim the valley as his own.

The runestone in it's protective shed - it's really big

To get to the runestone, you hike along a rough path that hugs the side of the mountain.  The stone itself is protected from the weather by a small shed with glass separating it from you, interesting signs describing how the Vikings might have traveled there, and the locations of the other stones.

Lovely, green SE OK

We prefer to travel on local roads, they take you through such pretty country

We were very impressed with Southeastern Oklahoma.  It is largely part of the Choctaw Nation.  The rolling hills are thickly covered with  hardwood trees.  It was the first time that we had seen a forest in full leaf since September, and all of that lovely green was a welcome sight.  While it had been warm on the Texas coastline, there aren't any forests there.

Lake Wister, west of Heavener OK

Warm Welcomes - Austin, Arlington & McKinney, Texas [April 19 - 23, 2017]

Here we are beside Lady Bird Lake, Austin TX

Each time we arrive at a campsite, we have a routine that we follow to set up.  Russ attaches the electricity and water, puts out the door mats and accomplishes other outside tasks.  Dana works inside, putting down the stabilizing jacks and pushing out the slides (don't worry, both tasks are done with motors), and bringing out the things that are stored during transit.  The whole thing takes 20-30 minutes.  When we pulled into Pecan Grove RV Park in Austin, to us it was just another arrival.  Russ had only gotten the electricity attached and Dana had only put down the stabilizing jacks when we got a knock on our door.  It was our neighbor Carolyn inviting us to a cookout that evening at her campsite.  So, after we finished our tasks we buzzed off to Whole Foods, got food to contribute to the cook out and returned to spend time with our new neighbors and make new friends.  This was the second time on this trip that we have been invited to dinner by strangers.  We have found Texas to be a very warm, generous and welcoming place.

The Austin Skyline

We came to Austin to see our friends Dale and Linda Tietz, who we had not seen in 21 years since they moved to Austin from Fairfax.  We also came to see the famous bats that live under the Congress Avenue Bridge and swarm out to feed every evening at dusk.  Austin likes to "keep it weird" and prides itself on its quirky decor, eateries and shops.  We were camping steps away from some of these spots, and they were fun and colorful.  The food was also really good.  The city is bisected by the Colorado River (of Texas) which has been dammed to form Lady Bird Lake, also known as Town Lake.  There is a wonderful pedestrian/bike trail around the lake and a huge off leash area for dogs.

We took time out from visiting for a selfie...

Waiting for the bats under the Congress Ave Bridge

We had a fabulous dinner with Dale and Linda at Chuy's (yummy Mexican food) and then took a river boat trip under the Congress Avenue Bridge to see the bats.  750,000 pregnant Mexican Free-tailed bats arrive each spring to live in the grooves under the bridge.  These tiny bats have their babies in Austin and raise them in a big nursery with all of the babies together.  Initially, the Mom's go out to feed on their own, then by summer the babies come out as well, making 1.5 million bats and the largest urban bat colony in North America.  At sunset they swarm out from under the bridge, tiny dots against the darkening sky.  It is an impressive sight that is difficult to photograph.  We loved seeing Dale and Linda and catching up on all of our kids and our own lives.  Old friends are the best friends!

Texas Capitol

Lovely!

The next day, before we pulled out, we visited the Texas Capitol Building.  It is a lovey, impressive building built of Texas Pink Granite.  We were interested to learn on the tour that the Texas state legislature meets only every other year, unless called into special session by the governor. 

With Gordon and Laura

Gordon's Mom's wedding picture is over his shoulder, and a photo of her as a mature woman is over mine

Our next stop was Arlington, Texas, to see Dana's 1st cousin once removed, Gordon Smyth and his girlfriend Laura.  Gordon's mother and Dana's grandmother were sisters.  It was a large family and the two sisters were the first and last of the children.  We had such a wonderful time meeting and getting to know them.  We also toured Gordon's amazing new veterinary clinic.  One of the joys of travel is having to opportunity to connect and reconnect with people who are important to you. 

While we were in Arlington, we also drove past the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers' stadiums.  It was fun to note that the Visitor Centers (also across the street) staff felt the same way about the Washington football team as we do about theirs.

Where the Cowboys play

A model of the stadium in the Visitors Center

We then drove 60 miles north to McKinney, Texas to see APS friends Chrys and Monty Forrester.  Sadly, we were so busy gabbing over lunch that we didn't take any pictures, something we truly regret.  They live in a very comfortable town with a lovey historic downtown area.  It was fun to catch up on mutual friends and gratifying to see them so relaxed and happy in retirement.

Remember the Alamo - San Antonio TX [April17-18, 2017]

The front of the Alamo church

The back of the Alamo church

The Alamo is one of Texas' most revered historic sites.  Most people you talk to outside of Texas have heard of it as well.  It is located in the midst of downtown San Antonio, one of Texas' top travel destinations.  So, there is a lot to see and do in San Antonio, but we started with the Alamo.

Outside the Long Barracks

If you ever watched the John Wayne movie about the Alamo, you would imagine that the historic mission is located out in the dessert.  It is actually located near the San Antonio River.  The mission was founded in 1718 to convert Indians to Christianity.  75 years later, the mission was turned over to the Spanish who used it as a military garrison.  In 1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain, and the mission became a Mexican military garrison.  The Texans revolted against the Mexican ruler, Santa Ana in 1835.  In the early morning hours of March 6, 1836 Santa Ana's huge army defeated the tiny outpost of 186 Texians (Texans of US heritage), Tejanos (Texans of Spanish or Mexican heritage), Americans and Europeans, killing them all, including James Bowie and Davy Crockett.  6-weeks later, the Texans defeated Santa Ana, enabling the creation of the Republic of Texas, and creating the battle cry "Remember the Alamo".  The Alamo continued to be used as a garrison, and then did some time as a dry goods store.  Eventually, it passed to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and was opened as a museum.

Window in the Long Barracks

Over the years, many of the mission buildings were torn down, the church front had the iconic bell shaped section added to the top of the front, and church got a roof.  Now when you visit, you are asked to remove your hat and treat the ruins with reverence.  Only the church and the Long Barracks remain.  The gardens inside the mission walls are just beautiful.  This was Dana's third visit, and each time the presentation of the story of the mission and the battle has improved.  Admission is free, or you can take an audio tour ($5 for senior citizen veterans) or a guided tour.  There are informational signs throughout, a brief video, and staff on hand to answer questions.  The Long Barracks is full of artifacts and interesting panels explaining the history and culture of the times.

River Walk

After spending a good, long time at the Alamo, we wandered several blocks over to the River Walk.  Set 10 steps "down" from street level, the River Walk is a meandering, shaded waterway lined with restaurants, hotels and a few shops.  Lovely bridges cross the River, or you can take the stairs up to street level, cross over on the bridge for the street, and descend back down to the other side.  We ate lunch at Rio Rio under a colorful umbrella right next to the River, under the watchful eyes of resident mallard ducks.  The River Walk came about after a devastating flood in 1921.  The River has a natural bow here, so a section was dug connecting the top parts of the of the bow to direct flood waters away down the river with flood gates that protect the bow itself. 

River Skimmer

Do you recognize this stage?  It was used as a location in the movie Miss Congeniality

We took a Rio San Antonio Cruise and floated down the river, hearing about the history of the River Walk.  We learned that it is drained once a year, and the cell phones dropped into the water are collected from off of the bottom.  When we had been eating lunch, we saw a leaf skimmer boat go by cleaning floating debris off of the water.  On the cruise, we learned that green food coloring turns the river water Kelly Green each St. Patrick's Day.  Mostly we just enjoyed seeing the lovely shoreline glide by.

La Villita

Another shop in La Villita

 Before we caught the bus back to our campground, we had a chance to explore La Villita, restored early residences, that now house an art community.