May 25 (Day 2) A Wonderful Day in San Antonio!

May 25 - A Wonderful Day in S.A.!

First stop....The Alamo!

A piece of history that the Americans certainly take very seriously. I was here first thing in the morning and by the time I left there were 15 to 16 school buses dropping off student's who were there for a class trip.

The history of the Alamo is very interesting - from a Spanish Monastery to a battleground between U.S. and Mexican troops to a commercial warehouse in the 1950's and finally a National Historical Monument/Tourist attraction.

Picture from the square in front of the Alamo

Unfortunately, no picture were allowed inside the buildings...but to be honest not a whole lotta stuff inside to take pictures of!

Next stop was Hemisphere park - home of the 1968 world fair (and location of the Hemisphere Tower)

I think? it was something like 700 feet....not the CN tower, or even the Calgary Tower...but it did still provide a full panoramic view of the city and surrounding area (and only $11 to go up!)

The main fountain in the park, at the base of the tower

View from the tower looking East

Right across the Freeway was the Alamodome...this is where I thought the San Antonio Spurs basketball team played (They have won the NBA championship something like 4 times in the last 8 years...and are a VERY big deal in S.A.). It turns out that this was not true as about 10 years ago they moved to a new stadium called the AT&T center. It is weird, because the Alamodome is only about 16 years old and holds something like 62,000 people. The roof is too low for baseball or football and so now it only used for Arena football and other events. Today it was being used for a graduation....the security guard told me it was a class of around 7000 students! (just a few more than Chad's upcoming grad of about 150 students :)!

Joe, my security guard/tour guide...the stage in the background will hold the high school graduates

Here is the new AT&T stadium...the jerk security guard here would not even let me in to take a picture...even with my "I'm a Canadian comment". It was a very LONG walk to get here....and in 90 degree heat it almost killed me....and I went through a pretty less than desirable neighbourhood. I misjudged my map and should have driven....but I did not get knifed or shot, so all is good!

On the way back from the AT&T stadium I detoured over to LaVitta, a historical little Mexican village - full of little shops. However, I was either a bit early, or we are not quite in the tourist season because most of the shops were closed

Still on the tour, and I went through the King William area....this is where many wealthy merchants and citizen's built their mansion....lots of beautiful old houses. Most of which had a plaque out front telling about the original owner and house history....this was great and I really enjoyed this part of the day

As an aside, the river walk is very famous.....but a few miles away from downtown and this is what the San Antonio River looks like with out the cement walls and built up development.

I (finally) made it back to the hotel for a swim and a nap. After my swim, I headed to the Riverwalk again for supper and a beer (actually 3 beer.....but I needed to rehydrate because I had sweated buckets all day!!!).

I also wanted to see the riverwalk at night. My little camera is not very fancy and so nighttime pictures are not to clear...but with the lights etc. the riverwalk is awesome at night.

There are tons of restaurants and cool little pubs and lounges. Below was my "rehydration spot", an Irish pub, complete with a piano man...who was really good!

Finally back to the hotel....I was a pretty tired puppy and was asleep basically as my head hit the pillow!

The next morning...one last picture of the Riverwalk and then off to Austin!

May 24 (Day 1) - San Antonio

May 24 (Day 1) San Antonio

Today was a busy day - I got an early start, and once fed, watered and showered, I was all set to go. The first stop (after Starbuck's for coffee) was Cabela's Outfitter's (TEXAS sized)

Cabella's - about 30 minutes outside of Austin (yes, that is their OWN water tower in the parking lot!)

You can only capture about about 25% of the total floor area

A "portion" of the fishing area - complete with it own aquarium (through that door in the back corner)

The next stop was at the Tangent Outlet Mall in San Marcos (about 1/2 way between Austin and San Antonio). I just stopped and grabbed a map so Heather could see what was there. It was TRULY an awesome feeling to not have to stop forever while my family goes into EVERY store in these malls. The bad news is that I might have to stop at some stores on the way back to Austin if I get a shopping list.

Then onto the Natural Bridge Caverns - this was about an hour outside of San Antonio....and while this was just a little commercialized (even all the paths were paved with non-slip grip tape on them) the caverns were really amazing. The Discovery Tour was about 90 minutes and covered about 3/4 of a mile and went to a depth of 180 feet. There was tons of really stunning formations...which, of course, do not really translate into good pictures.

One interesting side note is that this cavern is about 1/2 mile from the Braken Cave (the famous one where millions and millions of bats come out each night to hunt insects).

I took the discovery tour ($12 with coupon)

The natural bridge!

Here is the entrance

Some of the amazing  formations

After the cavern tour - straight into San Antonio. I booked this hotel via PriceLine - it is called the Riverwalk Plaza...and have to say it is awesome (especially for the priceline price of $70 per night). It is kind of a boutique hotel....and is in the perfect location - right at the "start" of the Riverwalk.

I certainly used the pool - it is around 100 degrees here - VERY hot for a Canadian!

After checking in....it was time to find some late lunch as I was pretty hungry! I thought my best bet was to find something along the world famous San Antonio River Walk! (pictures below)...and I have to say definitely cool and a place I would like to come back to with Heather when we have more time to explore and enjoy the city!!!!

After my meal...I headed back to the hotel to jump in the pool to cool off...then headed out again to find market square ...which is a (kind off) Mexican market - kind of so-so to be honest

 On the way back I stopped by the San Fernado Cathedral - which is right on Main Square

Now I am ready to go fall into the pool again....I have drank and sweated out about 6 1L bottles of water today! Tomorrow the Alamo! 

May 23 (On the Way) Air Travel Trials and Tribulations

May 23 (On the Way) - Air Travel is NO FUN!

I am now on my way to Texas...but have officially come to the conclusion that airlines (and Air Canada in particular) have made flying a whole lotta hassle and stress.

Problem #1

My flight was originally scheduled to fly out of Medicine Hat. It turned out that Heather had a doctor's appointment in Calgary on the 22nd, which we both wanted to be at....and so I drove her up to Calgary.

She has another test on the 23rd, and we decided that our best course of action was to stay overnight in Calgary, I would leave from here, and she would take the truck back to Medicine Hat after her test in the morning.

I called Air Canada and said that I was simply going to catch the plane in Calgary and would not be on the Medicine Hat leg of the flight. No big deal, I was not looking for a refund of any portion of the ticket, I just wanted to pick up the journey from Calgary. The A.C. agent informed me that this was not possible. If I missed the flight in M.H., they would cancel the rest of the ticket and I would be out of luck. Further, the nice agent said that in order to do this, it was a really flight change, and that this would cost me $150 plus taxes.

I pointed out that this made no sense! I was still "paying" the same ticket price, and in fact this gave them the opportunity to possibly re-sell an "already paid for seat on the airplane from M.H. to Calgary". They said no that was not how it worked, and that I owed them the $150. I tried to talk to a supervisor, tried to get them to at least credit the $150 towards a future flight...all to no avail.

The second bit of good news was that since I was now using the Calgary airport, there was a $25 plus taxes per passenger airport fee. I was not happy, and now approx. $190 poorer, but it made no sense to try and get back to M.H. on the 22nd so that I could turn around and catch a 5am flight on the 23rd????

Problem #2

I went to web check in last night, and my reservation/ticket could not be found! Somehow Air Canada had charged me $150 and then not even processed the change correctly. After 45 minutes on hold and in conversation with Air Canada, they said the operator of the flight (from Calgary onward) was United Airlines and that I needed to speak with them.

I tried to web check in with them...no luck. I called them.....another 30 minutes listening to hold music and they informed me they needed Air Canada to fix the ticket. They called A.C. (but I had to stay on hold) to get everything worked out.

They finally got everything fixed up, and said to try web check in later on that evening. She said it might not work (it didn't of course) and if that was the case, to check in at the counter the next morning.

Problem #3

With all the issues with my ticket, I was worried that I would also have problems at the United Ticket Counter (I did of course) and so felt I should get to the airport quite early. Fortunately my Dad still agreed to take me to the airport, and we left the house at 5:30am....to catch an 8am flight!

I could not use the self check in kiosks, and had to go to an agent. She had quite a bit of trouble issuing my ticket and I was at the ticket counter for about 25 minutes (with all the other airline passenger's shooting me dirty looks - like it was my issue and that I was stupid and unnecessarily tying up a ticket wicket and delaying their trip.)

Problem #4

She finally got everything straightened up, and then asked me if I paid for my bag? This is a new one on me, and so another $30 plus tax to pay for my ONE luggage bag. (I said that I changed my mind and that my 38 pound large luggage bag was my man purse and that I was going to carry it on...she did not laugh.)

For a change, security and customs went smoothly!!!! (which for me is a bit of an anomaly)....since some would claim I "look" like a terrorist...and as such I always seem to get some form of "special treatment".

Anyway...so here I sit at the gate.....and will be getting on the plane in a few minutes!

Next report will be from the great state of Texas! 

Well, landed safe and sound in Austin

Austin Airport

...I am staying at the Howard Johnson - Austin North (yikes!!!!!). I am planning on leaving first thing in the morning assuming the bed bugs don't eat me

No, this was NOT the Taj Mahal...but this was a priceline $65 booking

The good news is that the car that I rented is really quite nice...but the bad news is that I did not take the GPS option. This saved me $13 per day...but unfortunatley I burned about $39 in gas money trying to find the hotel in Austin.....which is not the "little city" I pictured...it is fricken big!

Normally not a Dodge fan...but the car is quite nice 

Austin Texas - Spring 2012!

I am excited about heading to San Antonio and Austin (Texas) from May 23rd to May 30th for a work conference.

I have never been to this part of the U.S., and as cheesy as it sounds I am the most excited about seeing the Alamo!

The battle at the Alamo seems like an interesting part of history, and it will be great to see and learn more about this place "while standing where it actually happened".

The "work portion" of the trip is the NISOD conference. This conference is for University and College faculty. To be truthful, I am not really sure what to expect, but it is represented as one of the best (it also doesn't hurt that it is Austin!)

http://www.nisod.org/conference/