Interrupting the schedule

I am sorry, there will be no story today.  I am busy trying to recreate this photo:

My neice Ashley at Pensacola beach.  I think she is around 3.  She is 17 now and we are on our last full day in Pensacola.  Stories to follow.

Jurassic Park is in Omaha?

After my tour of South Texas, I am glad to be home for a few days before hitting the road again.  A few days means I get home Thursday night and leave the next Wednesday afternoon.  Almost a week!  Plus, this is a short trip, I am flying home Friday night.

Because I have been to Omaha two times this year already, I am running out of new things to do.  I checked out the theater schedule but there aren't any plays running right now.  Because the trip is so short, I don't really have time to venture too far away from the city and will really only have the one night, Thursday, to do anything.

Then I come across something I am sure must be a mistake.  DinoQuest2 is going on at Fontenelle Forest near Omaha.  There is a forest in Nebraska?

Entrance to the visitor center.

Fontenelle Forest is open year round and offers 16 miles of dirt trails, a 1 mile "riverview" boardwalk, an observation tower and 9 play areas.  DinoQuest2, a special limited-time exhibit, will cost me $10 and as it happens, Thursday is the only night they are open late.  Normally they close at 5, tonight - Triassic Thursday - I have until 8.

I am met by the first dinosaur before I even pay my money.  He is lurking behind the wood fence on the left of the entrance to the visitor center next to a little pond.

I didn't even see him at first he blends in so well.

Camo-saurus has a real name, Postosuchus.  Each dinosaur on the tour has this handy sign that teaches you pronunciation along with other facts.  This sign helpfully tells me that paleontologists can't agree on whether this guy ran on two or four legs.

Inside I am told there are more displays downstairs in the center itself if I want to do those after I see the boardwalk.  I am given a map and it is suggested that I "stay left".  I decide to be a rebel and stay right instead.

It won't matter since everything loops back to the same place.  This boardwalk is misnamed.  It is called the "Riverview Boardwalk" but I never saw the river.

The map says this is where I should be able to see the river. 

Nope.  Can't see it.  I did see more dinosaurs.

Can't see them?  Look on the tree.

No trouble seeing this one.

Half a mile down the trail, this small dinosaur startles me.  I didn't scream and you weren't there so you can't say that I did.  I wish I were friends with Laura Dern.  She would know what to do.

Some of the displays had little nests of eggs.  In all there were 11 dinosaur displays along the boardwalk.  There is a wedding rehearsal going on outside so I decide it is time to check out the inside.

This guy was partially hidden in the wall downstairs.  He is in a foliage display.

I had no idea that they had plastic ficus trees in the Mesozoic era!

A Dino Egg Incubator...Newman!

Important information recorded by another visitor earlier today on the

Official Daily Dino Progress Chart.

Checking out Nocturnal Dinos and recorded cicada noises.

Following in someone's some thing's footsteps.

Part of the downstairs is dedicated to bones and other dino related displays.  There is also an area where kids can put on a puppet show or dress up like Dinosaurs.

The sign asks that those over 8 don't put on the costumes.



So I only put on the hat.

They have a really nice gift shop here and I bought several things including:

A journal that contains paper made from Elephant Poo.  "Odorless" the label claims.

Mantis glasses.  They also had Wasp.  Wearing these you look through prisims in the lens so you see what it looks like to that bug.

This is me in the mirror at the hotel.

I also got a couple of unique crafts to do with the grandbabies eventually.  One is a fairy kit and the other a puppet kit that uses plastic grocery bags.

I thought this was very nice for the price.  Kids would like the playground and dino-dig area they have set up especially for them to go along with the indoor features.

Note to Nebraska:  Having been here, I don't think this is a forest.  Woods yes, forest no.







South Texas Tour: Corpus Christi

On the way to my customer's office in Victoria, I pass King David.  At least I pass his head.

Because I haven't eaten, I thought I was hallucinating when I went by so I turned around to go back.  I wouldn't have known who this was supposed to be if there wasn't that small red plaque that reads "King David".  This is in front of what I think is a charitable agency.

I spend the morning going over some things in the software and learn that only one of the three people attending live in Victoria.  The others live in Houston and came in just because I am here.  When talk of lunch arises, the one who lives here has a definite opinion.  One of the people from Houston balks.  Though she has never eaten there, she doesn't want to go because the other lady "always" wants to go there.  Because she doesn't have a different suggestion, I help tip the scale. 

We eat at The Pumphouse Riverside Restaurant and Bar.  It is very nice inside and offers an interesting if limited menu.  I have a Fried Green Tomato BLT that I enjoy quite a bit.  The lady that didn't want to come has a hard time choosing and when her meal is brought to the table (she got the pasta dish on special over a burger), it is clear she is unhappy.  I don't think they will go back to The Pumphouse without me anytime soon.

We finish our day around 4 so the Houstonians can get on the road.  I head out in a different direction for the last leg of this trip.

A final 96 miles to Corpus Christi.  I make no stops on the way.

A nicer room than Victoria.  Not that it was too difficult.

I don't go out when I get to Corpus.  I am tired.  I have clean white sheets. 

The next morning, I meet with my customer who has been sick the few days before.  She introduces me to two of her colleagues and we get busy on her list.  We are done with everything on it by 10:30 am.  I tell her I would really like to get on the road and she understands, plus she hasn't been well anyway. 
These last two customers are friends, I have met them in person on several occasions and I always enjoy their company.  But I want to Go Home.

The fat lady is singing!  No really, remember, I have satellite radio on this trip.  I tell my (unreliable) GPS to take me home.  I had planned to drive as far back as I could at the end of the work day so I never made a hotel reservation.  No need now because barring an unforeseen problem I am sleeping in my own bed tonight.

I don't have to take the little eastward jog towards Victoria so that cuts some time off.  The GPS says I will get home around 5 after about 425 miles.  I know this isn't true as I will have to stop at least twice on the way back.

Once to eat.  Technically, this is breakfast since I haven't eaten yet.  I had planned to go by the original Whataburger store in Corpus.  I decided the closest one would have to do.  I like the BBQ Chicken Sandwich but that is way too messy to eat in the car.

Delaying my arrival...traffic in Austin.  No big surprise.

Second stop for a snack in Seguin where I see the World's Largest Pecan.  For you non-Texan folks, you pronounce that city as Suh-geen.  After gas in Salado (suh-Lay-doh), I sprint for home.

On the bridge where I turn to go home, I see something no one wants to see this close to home.  Based on the location of the smoke, it is possible that could be my house.  While sitting at the red light (repeatedly), I try to call David. 

No answer.

The road I need to turn on ahead is closed and I can see now that the fire is in a field.  There are fire trucks from neighboring cities here so it must be pretty bad.  Because temps are over 100, there are several ambulances on the side of the road too, I assume to treat firefighters if needed.

It feels like the world is suddenly conspiring against me.  I am ready to be out of the car and I am ready to be home.  I left on Sunday morning, it is Thursday night.  The substantial construction in my area partnered with the closed road costs me at least 30 minutes as I have to drive several miles out of the way and sit through every light multiple times.

When I get there I know one thing.  I am taking a bath and going to bed.  I will get up Friday when I am good and ready.  Or when it is time to go to my home office to start the day...whichever comes first.  I mean really people, my boss might read this.

South Texas Tour: Victoria

After a full day of work at my customer's office in San Antonio, I hit the road for Victoria.

This 120 mile drive will take me through small towns like Floresville, Karnes City and Goliad.  Because there isn't going to be much to do once I get to Victoria, I take my time getting there to bring you this photo tour.

An airplane advertising the phone number of a packed restaurant.

Sometimes I see a sort of elegance in the configuration of power lines.

Even if this roadside restaurant had been on Diners, Drive-inns & Dives, I don't think I would have eaten here.  The windows were interesting though.

Halo

Someone needs to tell them it's July.

A very common sight on this leg of the trip.

This peanut is next to the small Wilson County Courthouse.  The darker sign that appears to have fallen down on the post to the right says:

I cropped out the big pile of dog poop right in front of the sign.  

You're welcome.

The Goliad County Courthouse 1894

The "Hanging Tree" on the courthouse lawn.  The historical marker says that between 1846 and 1870 capital offense sentences were carried out immediately "by means of a rope and a convenient limb".

At a park near the courthouse there is a monument to James Fannin.  The inscription says "Erected in memory of J. W. Fannin and his Comrades in Arms.  April A. D. 1885"

The Battle of Goliad was fought here in 1836, part of the Texas Revolution.

One of Fannin's cannons.

I am booked at The Lone Star Inn and in a recurring theme on this trip, my GPS cannot find it.  It takes me to a pasture.  Because the address is on a highway, I decide to drive towards town and see if I can find it on my own.  I do but it proves very difficult to get to.  By the time I arrive I am feeling pretty frustrated.

Exterior entry is not my favorite type, especially on the first floor.  There aren't a lot of hotel options in Victoria and this was the only place with an available room when I booked it.  I also got the last room they had.

The room has orange walls, including the baseboards and trim.  It also has a giant hot tub in the bedroom.  As with every other room I have had with a jacuzzi tub, the jets don't work.

It smells bad in here.  While I am looking at the bed, I am thinking how thin and dingy the sheets look.  Then I realize, they are are dingy AND blue.

And you better not steal them.

During check-in the clerk keeps fielding phone calls and turning people away.  Like I said, choices are limited.  I ask him about someplace to eat.  "I dunno," he says.  I say, "If you could eat anywhere in town, regardless of cost, where would you go?"  "I dunno."

There is a small truckstop next door with an attached McDonald's.  I don't really want to but I don't know where else to go and I might not be able to find my way back in the dark.  I don't feel like taking a lot of chances with no direction at this point. 

The girl at the drive-thru window is rude when she can't hear my order and when I have the nerve to order a shake when the ice-cream machine is broken, I fact I couldn't possibly know.  I am pretty sure she spit on my food and end up eating some trail mix and sunflower seeds I already had with me. I set the fries on a table where the A/C can blow across them so they double as a scented air freshener.

Luckily I am so tired that the noise from this A/C unit (believe me, I am grateful it works) and the trucks coming and going all night don't keep me up.  In the morning, I am really happy to check out.  There is no free breakfast here and I think I will skip breakfast at McDonald's.



South Texas Tour: San Antonio

Monday night I arrive in San Antonio and seek out my hotel.  I am starting to be suspicious about my GPS again.  The area I am in seems a little deserted for a Riverwalk hotel to be nearby.  I am staying at Hotel Indigo and though it is on the famed San Antonio Riverwalk, it isn't in the main section. 

For those of you who think it is weird that I post a picture of part of my face with the room number, here is something for a change of pace.

The room is really new looking with wood floors and a large mural behind the bed.  There is also a small table/desk, a chair and ottoman.

And two strange features:  This two-legged table (not the table/desk I mentioned) attached to the wall that was only large enough on top to hold my cell phone.  That might have been convenient for charging it overnight but as you can see, no plug.

The second is the counter in the bathroom, it is really low.  At 5'10", I am tall for a woman but this is crazy, the sink is just barely above my knee.  In fact, I took that picture while on my knees.

The parking here is not optimal.  When I return well after dark, I have to walk quite a way in a deserted area to get to the hotel.  There is a definite possibility of a Criminal Minds moment.

The last time I was on the Riverwalk, it was for my company's annual conference and some of us went lunch before heading to the airport.  The smell was so bad it was really difficult to eat.  The Riverwalk offers boat rides, restaurants and shops but I have done all of this before, more than once.  I have even been to Coyote Ugly where I didn't remove my bra or dance on the bar.  I did buy a ball cap for my son who was about 13 or 14.  He still occasionally wears it (he will be 21 soon).

Tonight, in the 100 degree heat, I am not up for the crowd or the potential smells of the Riverwalk.  Instead I go to a San Antonio landmark I have never visited.

Tower of the Americas, a 750-ft tower in HemisFair park built in 1968 for the World's Fair.

The observation deck at the top offers a 360 degree view of the city.  I can also learn about Texas history and the 6 flags.  Before I get on the elevator, there is a photographer with a green screen, just like the one I avoided in Georgetown at Inner Space Caverns.  This guy doesn't even offer to take my picture.  I am tempted to ask him to on principal.  I decide not to bother after he asks me if the tattoo on my wrist is the symbol of the rebel alliance from Star Wars.  

Let me think?  Um, no.

I ride up alone in the elevator with a bored teenage attendant.  Once inside I realize that having lived in Texas my whole life, I don't really need the history lesson.  The 6 Flags I care about has roller coasters and funnel cakes.

These numbered pictures help me identify structures in the distance.

The views are very nice but it is really windy out here.  There are also several families with unruly children screaming and running around so I decide to go on to dinner.

There is a Landry's chain restaurant here, Chart House.  I go down and when I approach the hostess she doesn't look up at me.  "Do you have a reservation?"  No.  This makes her look up long enough to roll her eyes and pop her gum.  "The wait is an hour and a half," she says to the podium.  I am one person on a Tuesday night.  No way I am waiting that long.  I have eaten at a Chart House before.  The food is fine but not special.

It cost me $8 to park and $10 to go up.  Ultimately, I can't say it was money well spent.

I am feeling tired and just want to eat so the GPS and I collaborate once again and I ask it to take me to Joe's Crab Shack.  This is normally against my travel rule of trying to eat places I can't eat at home.  There is a Joe's in the town I live in, my daughter even worked there in high school.  But it is getting pretty late and this place is close, familiar and seafood so let's go.

The GPS takes me to an alley.  The traffic down here is terrible and at one point as I go through an intersection, I can see down to the Alamo.  There are a LOT of people on the street down there.  If you are wondering why I didn't go there, that's easy.  I find The Alamo is disappointing.  There is no other way to put it.  It is downtown.  It is smaller than you expect.

I get out my cell phone and look up Joe's.  I find an address that is 5 miles away and decide that is the way to go, get out of downtown.  This may be really un-Texan of me to say but I have never liked San Antonio, today does nothing to improve my opinion.

After a long day, a long drive and a disappointing outing, I need crab.  There isn't much in my world that can't be fixed with a big bucket of crab legs and some melted butter.