16 February

Today started out weird – I had no reason to get up early and so I slept in until 7:30 – and woke up then, just before the alarm (which some kind person had set on the radio). I didn’t have the mobile as a backup, as for some reason neither the car nor the laptop would charge it through the USB cord (and I know it did, because I used to do it all the time at work). So after toast and vegemite for breakfast I went to ask at the office about the bus into town, but they didn’t open until after 9. SO I drove into town and parked, then found I was only a few streets (read less than five minutes) from the Alamo. I visited the Tourism Centre and got the public transport maps and then walked across the street to the Alamo.
Don’t expect any pictures – not allowed to take any inside. So all I can show you is the outside. It’s size is as I expected, really a eighteenth century church in stone and adobe. The story is as has been told many times, but the place itself holds great significance.
Then, because my parking meter was about to expire, it was to the VIA office to get an all-day ticket, then back to the car and return to the motel.
The weather had been overcast and cool, with a few showers. It got no better as I took the bus back into town. I did get to see different parts of the suburbs of San Antonio on the bus trip. I also sat in the seat marked because of its significance in the struggle for human rights (where a black woman refused to vacate the seat when told to). Back in the city I walked along the RiverView walk (after buying a cigarette adaptor to power the mobile) and decided to take the boat trip, if for no other reason than to get a different view and hear what the history was. It was more interesting to hear how a few people with vision created and protected the area which sets San Antonio aside from other places. It is a concept which other dry cities could to do create an inward focus which would become self-sustaining.
Then I did the whole walk. It is long and covers many different parts of the city. After, I caught the “trolley” to see the city a different way. Being a seasoned public-transport user, I was able to help one couple get off at the correct place and others to tender the correct fare. There was a music festival on in the city for students and so there were many wandering around with tags and badges. There are two USAF bases just outside the city and those I thought were cadets were in fact adult trainees on their first leave (you are getting old when … look like school children). After a good “trolley: look around, I went back to the motel by bus, then went out to do some shopping. In small centres it is easy, but in large cities (and San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the US) it is difficult for the novice to find such things as a little supermarket – so I settled for a superTarget – roughly half the size of the WalMart SuperCenter, but more like a store inside than a Bunnings warehouse (which is more like what WalMart looks like). I had my first sliced meat and vegemite sandwich since leaving home, so feel a lot better. I was also able to get a recharge card on one mobile number (it’s + 1 347 659 8149, and sometimes I put my Optus card back in, but I haven’t yet got the ekit number to work properly (that’s the +44 number on the bottom of the gmails).
I burned some of the photos to DVDs and will send some home soon, and just have to do the photos, post them and this blog and then an early night before arising tomorrow to head off for Houston (and the Johnson Space Centre).