'Remember when....'

Saturday was a busy day, so I needed to be up early and I was. I had breakfast and then

did some preparation work for Kenya. Around 9am I left for the Alamodome to pick up my packet for tomorrow's 10k. It was not that well organised and I  had to queue to collect the race number and  instructions. I also got another t-shirt but don't like the colour, so won't be wearing that one. I had a wander around the exhibition but there wasn't much there and most of it I have in one form or other. I then walked back to the hotel, it is only about 20 minutes away.  I changed and got ready for the rodeo, stetson and leather waist coat on. Cowboy boots are very expensive so I haven't bought any and you can't run in them anyway! The rodeo is held at the AT & T centre which is about 3 miles away. There is a bus that goes from near the hotel and the fare is $1.30.

I waited for a bus, they are meant to be every 10 minutes, but I waited about 30 minutes, one did come but said he wasn't going all the way. The bus journey was about 10-15 minutes and stopped right outside the gates. It is a big attraction  the San Antonio Stock and Rodeo show. It is like an exhibition centre with various different parts. Outside there was a large area of amusements, a food centre and some shops.  Inside there was an exhibition hall with lots of shops or stalls. They sold everything western including boots at $300 plus. There were no 'freebies' or sales so I didn't stay long.  There was another area where you could look at horses and watch some events. 

I had tickets for the rodeo which was in another part of the premises. It started at 1pm with a prayer and then the national anthem. After, that the rodeo lasted for 2 hours and was different events involving horses and steering, including Cowboys trying to stay on the bucking horses, rounding up cattle and other events. It was quite entertaining. There had a children's event where they had to see how long they could stay on a sheep, a five year old girl won. 

After the rodeo was the Trace Atkins (country singer for the uneducated) and he was great. He sang for about an hour and some of my favourite as well as his new single 'Jesus and Jones.' 

I needed to get a bus back to the hotel, but there didn't appear to be any coming, the traffic was very heavy and not moving due to the rodeo and parking. It was only 3 miles walk, mainly up hill in the 80 degree sun, but I did save $1.30 and in fact was only a couple of blocks from their hotel when the bus overtook me. It was worth the effort.

I had a wander around the river walk area, but after all the excitement of the rodeo, the concert and the walking felt tired so I went right back to the hotel to relax.

On Sunday I  had to be up at 6am to have my breakfast so it could digest before the 10k race at 0830.  'Remember the Alamo', the famous Texan war cry from 1836 was the dominant theme of this 10K race. There was also a 1/2 marathon or 5K option. The race started from the Alamodome in San Antonio and then ran towards downtown, past the Alamo (of course) and out and around North San Antonio. The 1/2 marathon goes through the Sam Houston airforce base. 

It is the first race I have seen where all the signs remind athletes they can not carry firearms (open or concealed)  and it is an offence. Different I suppose from the normal no headphones at Uk events.  Before the race starts there was a prayer by a local youth leader, followed by the flags of US and Texas and then the national anthem. 

The start was at 0830 and it was already warm by then,  late 60's although some nice cloud cover. The race was started by a historical group firing live muskets. It did stop anyone starting before the gun, as you were likely to have been shot, but I still needed to run through the smoke as I set off. It was a reasonably flat route, till mile 4 when suddenly a hill was introduced, you ran up the hill, turned round and ran back down (slightly faster), it was at this stage the 10K rejoined the 1/2 marathon route.

The finish was in the Alamodome and there was a crowd cheering you on.  I finished 24th out of 564 and was the first international athlete home....another piece of bling obtained for the toilet..

I went back to the hotel, showered and changed so I could go to church. Fortunately there was one next door to the hotel. I had run past the First Baptist church, but that was several miles away and I didn't fancy running back again. The church was held in the Cameo theatre and was called Citychurch  Downtown. It has four services on a Sunday, all the same content so in theory if you are late you could have the sermon followed by the music. They did mention people had trouble parking due to the running festival and the roads being closed - they could always walk, - a novel concept here I know! The music was rather loud and songs I didn't know, although good words, some were from Hillsong (As I identified when I Googgled them later).  The pastor preached for about 35 minutes on tithing and I made a few notes. It lasted just over an hour and apart from the word, a few ideas that I could use.

There was a coffee bar next door linked to the church, and you can drink coffee and watch the service online, unfortunately I only found out about this afterwards!

I returned to my room for a coffee intake, haven't had any since 6am so am flagging. As its Sunday and traffic is light I went for a drive. Linda wanted a few things from Walmart so I found one. I then used  Facetime for her to see the items and she could tell me what to buy. In the evening I went for a walk and a meal by the river and ended up walking more than I had run! I  have run 33.2 miles and walked 34.2 according to my app.

The mission trail covers five missions from The Alamo down to Espada which is the furthest south. They did not look too far on the map, so I decided they were within running distance. Of course everything technically is within running distance, it just depends on how far you want to run.

Monday  was an overcast morning, with some drizzle, but still warm. I set off just after 9am and had a gentle run towards the first one Mission Concepción, it was then I realised how far south of the city the buildings were. It was about 3 miles to the first one. The church at Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purisima Concepción de Acuñalooks much like it did in 1755 when it was first dedicated, according to the literature. I took some photos and then went to have a look at the second one. This was another 3 miles down Mission Road.  

San José y San Miguel de Aguayo, the “Queen of the Missions,” is the largest mission in San Antonio, established in 1720 and completed in 1782. Spanish designers, directing workers from the local Coahuiltecan tribe, built the mission using Texas limestone and brightly colored stucco. At its height, it provided sanctuary and a social and cultural community for more than 300 Indians, and was surrounded by acres of fields and livestock herds. 

I had a look round, took some photos and then decided visiting the other two Missions would mean more running south and even more running back to downtown. They would also look the same as the two I had seen. There is a trail long the river bank back to downtown, so I decided to follow that. It seemed to have a lot of slopes to run up, not as flat as I had expected. A couple of miles out the trail was blocked due to flooding from the overnight rain, so it was back to using the pavements, not as scenic! 

I made it back to downtown and saw Starbucks, I needed a caffeine input so stopped.  I then ran back to the hotel and discovered I had run 12 miles. I have run out of things to wear, so I spent the rest of the afternoon doing the washing and drying it in the laundry room.

I had tickets for the Monday's rodeo followed by the Alan Jackson concert. The rodeo started at 7pm, so the concert is not likely to start till after 9pm. I was more interested in the concert than the rodeo (having seen that on Saturday).

I got the bus to the rodeo and the road was not so busy this time, the rodeo was still busy. The rodeo performance was the same as on Saturday but still enjoyable, probably because I knew what to expect. The Alan Jackson concert was great, it lasted over an hour and was some of my favourite songs including 'Remember when...'  He was more interactive with the crowd than Trace Atkins and perhaps more popular, although his music is probably more livelier.  It was great.

This time I managed to get a bus back to the hotel. I didn't particularly want to walk in the dark and so waited for about 20 mins and the bus came. 

So another tour is ending, just need to pack the case, drive back to Austin tomorrow, put my warm clothes on  and then catch the evening flight home - UK here I come.

There are some more photos here.

'Remember the Alamo'

On Sunday, it was an early start to get to the airport and Linda and Mara were coming too. Mara was not that interested in listening to my plans, she slept all the way there, snoring as usual. We arrived at Terminal 5 about 8.30am and Linda dropped me off and then I had to queue for check in. I had forgotten it was half term, screaming brats, noisy teenagers, all running riot and distraught parents and this was just in the business queue, not looking good for the lounge. Fortunately I had fast track security which was fast for a change and then settled down in the lounge. Plenty of bacon sarnies, fruit and cappuchino while I wait for the plane.

The flight time was 11.30am and we boarded around 11am, it was one of the new Dreamliner planes and there was plenty of room in premium economy. I had no one next to me, so moved to the window seat, although it was very cloudy and you couldn't see much, apart from a wing, which is good news as if I couldn't have seen that I would have been slightly worried.  The stewardess were saying it is not a very popular flight and often half empty. I watched the Steve Jobs movie, rubbish, in fact so boring I snoozed through parts, then watched Spectre again. This was better second time round.  The flight was just under 10 hours and we landed around 4pm Austin time. It is 6 hours behind England.

The immigration system is strange but involves a lot of queueing. You queue to use the automotive machines, which in my case didn't work, so you then have to queue for the normal immigration part. However, the luggage collection is in the immigration hall and you need to wait for your luggage before you can queue for the second part. As my luggage was in the last bundle, I did a lot of queuing.

Having cleared all these hurdles and I went to the car rental centre and guess what queued again! I finally got my vehicle and headed for the hotel, a Best Western in Austin.  It was a 15 minute drive and then I checked in, have a room by the pool. 

In the evening I used the fitness centre to keep myself awake. I then went for a snack in the restaurant and did some reading. I managed to stay awake till about 2100 when I finally crashed out. I woke several times during the night. It did not help having noisy drunken neighbours, three girls who returned at 3am worse for the wear, shouting, slamming doors for about 30 minutes. 

I drifted off to sleep and finally got up about 7am on Monday morning.   I then went for breakfast which was self service and very nice. After this I sat by the pool and did some sermon preparation.

Today I am going to run round the sights of Austin. I left about 0930 from the hotel and ran down the road, it is late 60's with clear skies, but there is a slight northerly wind, but definitely shorts weather. I have my running backpack with my change of clothes, shades and Ipad in it. The first stop was Texas State Capitol, the biggest (of course it's Texas) just under 4 miles. I had a look round took some photos and then got back to running. Today is Presidents' Day and so it is a bank holiday which means everything is closed, apart from Starbucks. Although like most American downtowns there isn't much to be open in the first place.

Lady Bird Lake runs through the middle of town and has several trail runs along The river bank, so it was rude not to try them out. I did stop for coffee on route and admired the view, should have put sun cream on! I stopped for lunch at a Taco food-truck, the latest craze in America. It was very nice, I then went to a local coffee shop and enjoyed an after dinner cappuccino. It was still sunny, so I ran back to the hotel.  A total of 12 miles completed. I then sat by the pool for a couple of hours and did some work on leadership

In the evening I went to the local restaurant for a bite to eat and then worked on the timetable and ideas for the teaching session in Kenya.

On Tuesday I woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep, so read my book. I did doze off eventually, but then woke up just before 7am I decided to go for breakfast before packing my bags and loading the car.

The first stop was San Marcos about a 30 minute drive from the hotel. There was a Nike store there and I wanted to look for some different trainers, you can never have too many pairs of running trainers. It was difficult without my assistant as I had to carry the boxes and look after them myself, but I just about coped. There were assistants everywhere asking if I needed any help with the shoes, but they all disappeared when I wanted to use the fitting room to try a top on. I was in the shop for over an hour and then visited a couple more sports shops, before it was time for a Starbucks.

I then had a 80 mile drive to Kerrville through the hill country. It was a slow, scenic, bendy road unlike the straight Interstate. This is ranch country and they are big. I didn't see one Starbucks on route. The road was called 'Farm to Market' and would have been where they did cattle drives. I arrived in Kerrville just after 2 and checked in at the Hampton Inn Hotel. I decided to go for a run around the town. It was about 80 degrees and sunny. The hotel is about 2 miles from Main Street.  It was a gentle jog, having as look in a couple of shops, a jog along the river and then stopping for coffee, before running back. 

In the evening I found the local Walmart and did some shopping, a nice salad for dinner. The hotel has a laundry room so I did some washing and now I have some fresh running gear.

Although I was tired when I went to bed, I was still awake at 5am on Wednesday and got up and did some reading. Breakfast doesn't start till 6am but at least I have a coffee machine in my room.

I did some reading and then took an early breakfast. The bagels were very nice. I then packed up the car and headed for the next destination, Bandela, Cowboy Capital of the World. It was about 30 minute drive across scenic country and very little traffic on the road, very relaxing. The town is very basic, one man road, called, Main Street and a few shops. I had a wander around the shops but didn't buy anything. There was a coffee shop so I stopped, used the wi-if and drank my coffee. It's about 70 degrees today. Disappointingly I didn't see any Cowboys or Indians.

I am staying at West 1077 Ranch for a couple of days, about 10 miles for the town, in the Hill Country. I booked in and was shown to my room, I am the only person staying here as it is the off season. 

In the afternoon I went for a run around the national park trails, around 5 miles, I didn't want to go too far as it was hot and also didn't want to get lost as there are very few sign posts. It was a gentle run and I saw some horse riders out in the park, all wearing Stetsons, not riding helmets here.

On Thursday I got up just after 7am and breakfast was at 0830am so plenty of time to shower and tidy up. Breakfast was eggs, pancakes, bacon and coffee. After this I sat outside on the rocking chair and admired the view, whilst reading my book. I did venture into town again, had a coffee, used the wifi to download the paper and then meandered back to the ranch.

Lunch at the ranch was a burger and fries which tasted good. I sat outside and enjoyed the view drinking my coffee. Around 4pm I drove into the national park and left the car at the car park. I decided to go for a trail run and route 5, it was described as the most difficult and it was. It was a very hilly route and necessitated walking at some stages, otherwise I would have fallen over and potentially hurt myself, and there is limited mobile signal. 

I reached the top of the hill and it was a good view, I had a phone signal so iMessage some photos to Linda, so she could share the view. The temperature was around 80 degrees, compared to the few degrees back in the UK. I am sure Linda was really happy with me constantly reminding her how hot it is here.

I found a more stable route back to the car, so was able to run on the trail. I covered around 4 miles according to the watch, but I am not sure how accurate it was, and I kept forgetting to restart it after I stopped to take photos.

On Friday was rather overcast when I woke up and there were a few spots of rain.  However, it was still warm, I left the ranch after breakfast and enjoyed a leisurely drive towards San Antonio. It was still scenic, although after about forty five minutes I was back in civilisation when I spotted a Starbucks. I stopped and had a coffee. I arrived in San Antonio about midday and left my car at the Best Western Hotel. 

I then went for a walk, following the map, and found the famous Alamo. Remember the Alamo' the cry of the Texan Army as they overcame the Mexican Army on March 11 1836. It has only been 5 days earlier that the Mexicans had surround the outpost of the Alamo and overrun it, killing all within the walls. As depicted in the John Wayne films, great leaders like Bowie, Travis and Crockett were killed. The last few survivors had sought sanctuary in the church which became a place of death rather than life.  The Alamo was a strategic location within the Republic of Texas, but according to history the right resources were not left there to defend it, although its downfall would be the spur to the defeat of Santa Anna's Mexican army.

It was free entry to have a look around, although most of the old site has been destroyed and only a few bits remain. It was interesting and gave me some illustrations for the next sermon on Isaiah 8.  Although the picture of Davy Crockett didn't look anything like John Wayne.

After this I went to the post office as I needed some stamps. I had to go through a metal detector to get to the counter, so take everything off, put through the machine and then put it all back on again, just for a few dollars worth of stamps. 

The San Antonio river runs straight through town and there are restaurants and shop that run along it, known as the river walk.  I had a nice walk along the banks, watching the people eating and drinking. The temperature had now risen to 82 degrees and I was in my shorts and T shirt, it was hot!  I stopped for a steak on the way back and enjoyed the views over the river. There was a sports shop called 'Finishing line' which had a few nice items inside. 

I then walked back to the hotel, checked in and sorted my clothes out. I think I will need to do some more washing.   The room was rather large and is probably a suite, you could swing not just a cat, but a lion in here, although the lion (or the cat) might not appreciate it. Listening to the news it appears some lions have escaped from Nairobi national park and making their way downtown - could be interesting.

In the evening I went for another walk, but it was still rather warm. I did FaceTime Linda and had a chat, updated her on my travels, was able to show her the room, and of course had a chat with Mara.

There are some photos here