Day 15

Today was mainly a driving day, so we headed out early prepared to chew through the miles of Western Texas and make it to San Antonio by evening. We drove on a small highway from Carlsbad, NM to Pecos, Tx. It was interesting to be on a non- interstate and still have the speed limit be 75mph! The road was straight and there was not a lot of traffic on the road so we made good time. I spent the day driving, eating beef jerky (an addiction on this trip!), daydreaming, looking for the elusive North Dakota license plate (one of the last two plates we needed to complete our 50 state game) ,writing, trying to be interested in the Texas scenery, and listening to a John Grisham book on tape. The countryside of West Texas was not as engaging as the stellar scenery of Arizona and New Mexico so I felt the need to find ways to entertain myself. The attitude of Texas was apparent immediately with signs that said "Don't Mess with Texas" and then would have an amount of $500 for littering.

Before we knew it, we were rolling into San Antonio with grumbling bellies. We found a cheap hotel outside the city and enjoyed the room's AC before exploring downtown San Anton'. We headed to the famous Riverwalk area and found parking before embarking on a journey for food! We were really in the mood for Thai as we had eaten a lot of American-type food and Mexican as well. The Riverwalk area is fun as you are below the street level of the city and are literally walking along the San Antonio River alongside many restaurants and shops. The problem is with this area is that it is extremely touristy and many of the restaurants are not unique to San Antonio, i.e Hard Rock Cafe, Rainforest Cafe, etc. We passed many Mexican restaurants but held out for that elusive Thai. After learning that there was not any Thai food in the area (seemed like a common theme in the SW) we resigned ourselves to Italian. We had a great table right on the river which was a great vantage point for people-watching, one of my favorite hobbies. We were entertained listening to men with cowboy hats, big belt buckles and bellies, talking in their Texas drawls. The food ended being mediocre but the bread they gave us at the start of our meal was notoriously horrible! Stale, dry, and brittle, it was everything bread should not be especially at a restaurant! The water glasses the waiter gave us were gigantic! It's true when they say that everything is bigger in Texas. The rest of the evening was spent walking along the river, indulging in some ice cream, and more people-watching.