Beginning the Great Driving Vacation

Monday, June 25, 2012--San Antonio to Abilene via San Angelo

This is the beginning of a long driving trip that will take me at least as far north as Montana and North Dakota and possibly even into Canada (Manitoba and Saskatchewan).  I expect to be on the road for over two months with my expected return to San Antonio to be approximately Sept. 1.

It was a 3 1/2-hour long drive to San Angelo, but I arrived around 11:30.  Approaching the city reminded me of the area around Corpus Christi.  The land is flat and is planted in crops.  The trees that exist tend to be mesquite.  

The tourist office was my first stop where the lady gave me a good map and suggested routes.  I spent the next 5 hours exploring the town.  It was pleasant except for the 100+ degree heat.  I actually saw more today than I usually do in a day of sightseeing.  I left the car there at the tourist office and walked for the next 2 hours or so.  I only returned then because my camera battery was going dead and needed to be replaced before going to the next sites.  Because of the heat, I then drove to each of the other sites before ending my 5-hour tour.

Here are things I saw with brief comments:

1.       I wandered downtown San Angelo.  It is spread out and has lots of empty space converted to parking lots.  It also has some distinct districts—some more interesting than others.  The most interesting building I saw was the Cactus Hotel which was one of the original hotels built by Conrad Hilton.  Today, it is a special events center with shops on the bottom floor.  None of the rooms are rented out.  The most interesting district of downtown was the Historic Concho Avenue with buildings from the 1800s including an old bordello which operates as a museum today and several businesses where cowboy boots are custom-made while visitors watch.  Scattered throughout downtown are painted sheep sculptures, since this is an area with a reputation for their mohair.  While downtown, I ate a nice country-style lunch--baked chicken breast with seasoned bread crumb coating, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes, and a yeast roll.

2.       The Riverwalk which is being built along the Concho River.  The walks have been there for some time, but apparently no one used them.  Now the city is building facilities along the walk (parks, an outdoor theater, a mermaid statue, an art museum, the tourist office, etc., in hope that it will draw people to the river.

3.       Fort Concho is a very well restored fort from the 1800s.  I was surprised to learn that it was occupied only for 22 years.  The buildings are all constructed of white limestone and include the enlisted men’s barracks and mess hall, the headquarters building, the hospital, the school/chapel, and the officers’ quarters.  I think Ft. Davis is a prettier fort in a nicer setting, but the exhibits here at Ft. Concho are as good or better than those at Ft. Davis.

4.       The Telephone Museum is in one of the buildings at Fort Concho.  GTE donated samples of equipment from throughout the history of the telephone—from a replica of the original phone where Bell called Mr. Watson for help to modern cell phones.  They had every type of phone ever used at GTE, every type of switchboard ever used, etc.  They even had phones that had been designed to be unaffected by explosions.  It was quite interesting to see it all and to read about each piece of equipment.

5.       The Water Lily Gardens are a unique attraction here.  They have collected species from all over the world and put them in ponds in a park beside the river.  Many were blooming.  Some of the lily pads were a meter (a yard) in diameter!

6.       Angelo State University is a long, linear campus with a double sidewalk going its length.  The buildings are all yellow brick with some molded concrete features that are painted white.  It wasn’t possible to get good photos either because of trees or because the buildings were rather plain looking.  But they did look as if they were all built with quality in mind.  Various high school band groups (drums, brass, etc.) were under shade trees throughout the campus practicing as a part of a summer band camp.

7.       The city has a brand new public swimming pool that looked so inviting in the heat!!  It has overheadwater sprays, tube slides, etc.  There was no shade, however, so it actually seemed too hot to even consider going there for a while.

From San Angelo, I drove another 1 1/2 hours to Abilene and checked into my hotel at 6 p.m. for two nights.  Tomorrow, I will explore Abilene as I did San Angelo today.  Tonight, I just grabbed a piece of pizza and a drink at Sam’s Club when I stopped to fill up my gas tank.  Gasoline was only $3.09 per gallon—12 cents cheaper than it was at Costco in San Antonio this morning. Then I stayed in my room and rested.

Traveled 320 miles in the car today and took 18,509 steps while exploring!