A quick trip downtown

 

We ventured out Tuesday afternoon to check out the newly-restored, high-ceiling courtroom in the fabulous, 1896, James Reily Gordon-designed, Bexar County Courthouse.

We also paused to admire the art work of our friend Eloise Stoker, in the sidewalk outside the county's new Elizondo Tower next door to the courthouse.

We have one of Eloise's "seconds" (that did not make it into the final project) on display here at the house.

 
Finally, we stopped in to view some of the 300-year-old Spanish documents related to San Antonio's founding that are on temporary display at the Presidio Gallery just south of the courthouse.

All are at the corner of Nueva and Main, and worth checking out.

 

Canyons Trip Videos

I finally got around to processing some of the video we shot on the recent "Canyons Trip". If you are actually going to watch more than one of these the best way to do that is to click on the link, watch the video on YouTube, click back to the blog page, click on the next link, etc. 

We'll start with a one-minute assault by a cardinal attacking his reflection in the window of the trailer (at Palo Duro Canyon); followed by a 3-in-1 package that includes daytime views from Palo Duro's iconic "Lighthouse" feature and two different takes on Grand Canyon sunsets (the first is a video, the second is a video of time-lapse photos). There is also a quirky-jerky short of me bicycling along the rim trail at the Grand Canyon followed by two videos from my hikes to two of Zion National Park's iconic features, a 3-minute take on Angels Landing and a 12-minute recap of my hike to The Subway.

Enjoy!

Canyons Trip Photos

Palo Duro Canyon

Apparently this guy saw his reflection in the trailer window and thought it was a rival trying to steal his territory (and more?). So he spent a good part of the day flinging himself at the window.

She looks interested.

Palo Duro, the country's second-largest canyon (as seen from its iconic "Lighthouse" feature)

Same thing, sans pano.

Turkeys and...

...?????

Grand Canyon

Palo Duro may be second, but it is not a close second.

 

Zion (Canyon) National Park

The intrepid explorer...

...bravely pushes her limits...

...and is rewarded with this!

With bonuses along the way like this.

An iconic (and relatively difficult to reach) ZNP feature known as "The Subway".

The room with a view.

Looking back at Observation Point from Angels Landing.

Lake Havasu City, AZ

A short history of LHC in three photos. First they had to get the Feds to build (another) dam on the Colorado River; then they had to figure out how to keep California (where the sun is setting) from stealing all of the water; then they had to figure out where to put the London Bridge.

"That's the perfect place! Thanks!! I wish we had thought of that!!!"

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Phoenix Area

Angels v Dodgers in Glendale.

A's v Rangers in Surprise.

The Arizona State Capitol (in Phoenix).

The Canyons Trip

Surprise, surprise we are headed out on another trip!

We are calling this one the “Canyons Trip”.

We’ll kick it off with three days at Palo Duro Canyon State Park (where snow is forecast tomorrow morning?!) followed by four days at the Grand Canyon and then eight days in Zion Canyon (a.k.a. Zion National Park). We’ll work our way back home via Phoenix and some spring training baseball games, arriving in SA sometime around March 20.

This will be the first major trip in our roomy new trailer (which, see photo below, we managed to shoehorn into the driveway for our pre-trip packing). Supposedly it is only two feet longer than the other trailer; but it seems like a lot more than that.

When/if internet connections allow we hope to post some photos and trip details along the way.

The Chisom Creek Trailer Park

Our quick trip to the Governor's Mansion (and the Capitol)

An article in the Express-News about tours of the renovated and re-opened Texas Governor's Mansion was all it took to pique our interest and send us on a quick outing to Austin on an overcast, warm, humid December day.

Security for the tours is almost comically tight, with background checks, a multi-day clearance process and instructions to arrive no earlier (but also no later) than 15 minutes prior to the start of the tour. Absolutely no loitering!

However, when we got there things seemed a bit more relaxed and we loitered in front of the guard station with our fellow tourists. 

Groups are limited to 20 but there were only six others with us on our tour.

Construction on the mansion, the oldest west of the Mississippi, began in 1854 and Gov. Elisha Pease and his wife Lucadia moved in on June 14, 1856.

In 2007 Gov. Rick Perry and his wife Anita moved out of the house while some significant issues were addressed, including the installation of fire sprinklers. On June 8, 2008 - while the mansion was still unoccupied - an arsonist threw a molotov cocktail onto the front porch, starting a fire that came close to damaging the building beyond repair.

However, the fire also spurred the state to undertake a more extensive renovation. The Legislature ponied up $21.5 million for the project and Anita Perry led a campaign that raised an additional $3.5 million. The Perrys moved back into the mansion in July of 2012 and we can now attest that the place looks great; which, for $25 million, it ought to!

While we were there we also took a tour of the fabulous State Capitol building. I've been to 49 state capitols and can say without any hesitation that Texas has, by far, the best. While we have been in the capitol many times over the years this was our first time to visit when the Christmas decorations were up.

Following are several photos of the mansion and the capitol, plus a video from inside the capitol rotunda.

 

The carpet in the mansion dining room depicts the six nations that have ruled the state, including this one.

An appropriate ornament for the governor's Christmas tree.

The fabulous Texas State Capitol Building opened for business in 1888.

Our Brooklyn-born tour guide led a diverse group.

The Senate Chambers. Texas and California are the only states with fewer state senators (31 in Texas and 40 in California) than Congressional representatives (36 in Texas and 53 in California).

The House Chambers.

DPS troopers roaming the halls with assault rifles was something we had not seen before.

One of several memorials to anarchy on the Capitol grounds.

This photo sums up Austin pretty well.