More Texas....

 

 

 

Four new states for Pam.....on this trip her first time in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and now Texas. 

I can remember some 25 years ago that Austin was a sizeable yet comfortable capital city of Texas.  It was fairly easy to get around...sprawl was not really evident....suburbs as far out as Round Rock were just beginning to develop....and the University of Texas had 'merely' 30,000 students.  Well, some 60,000 students later and the development of the Silicone Prairie, Texas' answer to California's Silicone Valley, and Austin has grown into a 'bumper to bumper' city that just seems to keep going (sprawl).     Here is evidence of new growth in Austin....

Unidentified building dominates the Austin skyline.





Pam took this photo out the front window coming into Austin from the North.









University of Texas Stadium.....seats over 100,000 folks.





The small lake on the southside of Austin is named after
Lady Bird Johnson.

 

Hello from San Antonio, Texas....some 80 miles south of Austin on I35.   Located in south-central Texas SAT is the 2nd largest city in Texas (Houston is 1st), and the 7th largest in the USA (that would have been a tough one to guess, eh?).   Named after a Portuguese Saint,  the city dates to 1691 and is now the epicenter of 'Tejano' culture and Texas tourism.  The city is famous for its Spanish Missions, the Alamo, the Riverwalk (a series of walkways along the river one story below the city streets), the Tower of the Americas (similar to Toronto's Cien tower) and hosts both Sea World and Six Flags Fiesta Texas theme park.   The city also hosts the largest annual stock show and rodeo held in the country.  To get a real flavor for San Antonio, keep in mind nearly 60% of its citizens are of hispanic (Mexican) descent.    Today we explored the Mission Trail.....stay tuned for a Mission Blog.   Ahead are the Alamo, the Riverwalk and more......Lots to come in the next week!