Austin Trip, Day 3 / Gonzales Day Trip

I must confess, Texas is growing on me. Being from the north,  I have just sort of vaguely perceived Texas as that stereotypical gun-totin’, bible-thumpin’, George Bush-lovin’ redneck-filled, secession-desiring wild land. Maybe it is, but it’s still got a lot of wide open space and that’s alright by me. (Just kidding- I know a lot of people who live in Texas and none of them fit the above description. At least not completely.)

It’s not even my first time in Texas. But it’s hard to get a taste of the place when you spend most of the time in the hotel. Today we ventured out to Gonzales. Along the way I saw the following, in order of quantity of what was seen:

1. Open space. Land with nothin’ on it but a few cows or horses.  

 
2. Oil derricks. Not everywhere, but the places that had them had a lot in seemingly close proximity. And they decorated them.

 
3. Speaking of decorating, Texans seem to enjoy decorating everything. 

 
I also saw a lot of live oak trees and prickly pear cactuses but since our bus was going so fast it was hard to get a decent pic. So just pretend there’s a photo here. 

Later in the day, after I was back at the hotel, I decided to check out the nature walk that was supposedly behind the hotel. I figured it was going to be a paved walkway with some plantings here and there around it. But no, it was legit nature. 

 
Not that I’m complaining. I’m down with legit nature. I should have given myself more time to explore it. I only had about a half hour so it ended up being a bit rushed.

As I mentioned, I didn’t really give myself much time. I needed to get back in time for dinner, so I didn’t do the whole nature trail. 

When I got back to the building, of course I couldn’t get back in the door I came out. So I ended up walking all the way around the building to go back through the front door. Just another day in the life!

Now it is time to hit the hay. I have been sleeping so well here! Tomorrow is a half a day of meetings and then I get to spend the afternoon with Sonja, a friend I have known for ages through the Internet but have never actually met in person! I am sure we will have a good time and it will make for an interesting blog post tomorrow night!

Speaking of tomorrow night- I will be flying back to the great white north. I can’t believe Thanksgiving is a week away. I’ve got to get it together!!

Oh, I almost forgot. Air plants grow in the wild here!