Amarillo, Texas
On our first day we stopped overnight in Amarillo, Texas. For dinner we went to the Big Texan Steakhouse. Located on Route 66, it was a classic and geared tourists.
We arrived in San Antonio in late afternoon on Wednesday and had dinner in the hotel before venturing out.
Our first stop on Thursday had to be the Alamo.
The Alamo Museum
San Antonio Missions
In addition to the Alamo, the Spanish founded four other missions in the San Antonio area. These are now part of the National Park system
One of San Antonio's main attractions is the River Walk.
National Museum of the Pacific War
Fredericksburg, Texas
On Friday we drove about 50 miles to Fredericksburg to visit the National Museum of the Pacific War. Fredericksburg is a quaint town founded by German immigrants in the 1800's. It was the home of Fleet Admiral Nimitz who directed the war in the Pacific. The museum covers more than a city block. We spent about two and a half hours and were only able to scratch the surface of the exhibits.
The Museum offers a permanent collection of Western art and artifacts which depicts the American cowboy, American Indian, the Vaquero and the many diverse cultures that forged the American West.
And no museum in San Antonio would be complete without an Alamo display
We left San Antonio on Monday, but not without having some Voodoo donuts for breakfast.
We arrived in Austin in early afternoon and headed for the State Capitol
After dinner at Cafe Blue downtown, we walked about the city just at sunset
The route to Amarillo took us over mostly local US highways. With this stop in Amarillo we decided to try a different restaurant. the locally owned steak house was just what we wanted.
On the return from Amarillo to home, we decided to stop at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site near La Junta, Colorado, but not before finishing our Texas journey and passing through Oklahoma.
Bent's Old Fort
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site is a recreation of fur trading post from the 1830's.
After a brief visit we stopped for lunch in La Junta and headed home via SR 71. Although this is a road with little traffic, we hit construction where two miles of pavement had been stripped in preparation for repaving.