They say that everything in America is bigger and nowhere is that more obvious than Texas, the trucks are bigger the roads are bigger and the food portions are bigger – we picked the wrong time to go on diets, I actually think my waistline is growing as I type this post!!
Texas has some interesting history and its people seem to have immense pride in their state, lone stars adorn almost everything from bridges and park benches to street-lamps and trash cans, they even have their own large Special Texas Edition trucks. Obviously when I say ‘history’ I mean a few hundred years but they do seem to have packed a lot in there as we found out during our visit to the Alamo.
We thoroughly enjoyed Austin with our trip on the river to see the Bat Bridge from below as hundreds of thousands of small bats venture out each evening on their daily hunt for food. Especially entertaining was our comical host who had us all laughing at her stories as we had a guided tour of Austin city from the Colorado River.
We have travelled further west now and after 5 major cities en-route we have finally left Texas behind and arrived in Arizona, Tucson & Phoenix to be precise, and if we thought Louisiana was hot Arizona took it to the next level. Tucson was absolutely roasting, so much so that we had to buy hats and after my holiday haircut I obviously had to get a suitable hat for horse riding later in our adventures…
Tucson also had completely free Metro & Bus services which was excellent for getting around Downtown and further a field. Travelling at this grass-roots level does really help you get to know a city and its people, we have had our fair share of tiny secluded Amtrak train stations and waiting in remote gas station forecourts for Greyhound buses to turn up but it all adds to the experience.
We have a couple of days left in Arizona before we land in Las Vegas so it is likely to be the calm before the storm – we’ll let you know.
Annette
I certainly know what you mean about the growing waistline, it doesn’t help that some areas over here don’t even have sidewalks (sorry I mean footpaths) so that you can walk off the extra calories. I guess with the availability of home deliveries and all the many drive through establishments – fast food places, banks and even pharmacies , there’s very little need to be walking here!
We’ve visited some lovely cities over the last 4 weeks, seen many interesting sights and met some very nice people, the great tour guide in Dallas, the vivacious bus driver from New Orleans and the very sweet young couple in San Antonio (who were very generous with the tickets for The Tower of the Americas) to name but a few.
I’m definitely enjoying the weather and the adventures and looking forward to seeing Vegas again 👍
Carlos
I had to Google what Nettie meant to by a “vivacious driver” 😂😂
I’m still well jealous you are both all over the US of A. I’m currently sat in the rain at Chessington World of Adventures as our last itenary stop for this school trip!
Annette
😄 I had to Google it too when Stevie said it 🤣🤣
She was so lovely, we were the only ones on her bus and she chatted to us the whole journey, even showing pictures of her dog when we were getting off.
She was so excited about our adventure, saying we were inspirational and we had made her day. I ended up giving her a hug 😄
samad2489@yahoo.com
Hope your both well. Viva las Vegas. Hope you got your Elvis suite ready. We just came back from a small break in Qatar . Abdus
Stephen Howarth
I hope all is well with both of you, Qatar looks amazing we must plan a visit one day. We’re in Vegas for Star Wars Day so that might be interesting!!