Surprising Texas

                                 Exhilaration! “OH!, WOW!, WHAT!?!” One kind of surprise thrills.
                                “Oh, I didn’t know that.  Hmmm.” Another kind of surprise reveals.
                                 Plenty of surprises “deep in the state of Texas.”

               Surprising Todd.  Outside, washing Colorado trail mud and dirt from his vehicle, bending over to position the sprinkler underneath the chassis, he was caught off guard by a strange Highlander pulling into his driveway, beeping that weird little horn.  Only glancing at the car and not at the sneaky passengers, he took on the look of a dumbfounded zombie.  When we opened the car doors and tumbled from the front seat after 11 hours, his mouth formed a big “O” and we had done it again – surprised Todd. After a few ‘what are you doing here?’ exchanges and laughs, he spoke words of truth, “I hope Kathy knows!” Of course, she does.  She invited us.

                   Gulf Breeze Surprise. All I knew about Houston’s weather can be summed up thusly:  Hot. That’s accurate, to a point. Houston is an hour inland from the coast and across Todd and Kathy’s back yard oasis blows a pleasant gulf breeze.  Surprise!  Who knew?  Certainly I did not. Closing my eyes, propping up the tootsies, leaning back and listening to the waterfall gently splashing into the pool, I am transported to a happy, peaceful place and the road tension evaporates.
                   Surprise! Speed limit: 75! Texas highways and interstates.  Fabulously well-marked and easy to navigate. 
                   Galveston’s Beach- surprisingly dirty-brown. The beach, appearing as a sandbar, stretches miles into the gulf.  A 15’ seawall protects the City of Galveston, the attractions, hotels, and restaurants along the shoreline.  Surely if I put my toe into the water, it would emerge filthy.  Three rivers empty into the Galveston region and the run-off seems to pollute the beach.  Hurricane Ike did a number on Galveston 5+ years ago and the area still attempts a recovery.  The Hurricane of 1900, the most devastating regional storm prior to Katrina, flooded the entire island and city and is the focus of Isaac's Storm, a fascinating book I recommend. No surprise: no beaches are as beautiful as those around Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Destin, and Pensacola.

            Downtown San Antonio, surprisingly lush: site of the Riverwalk, the 1968 World’s Fair, and The Alamo.  The remnants of the World’s Fair boasts The Tower of the Americas, second tallest (tallest is in Las Vegas) spire with restaurant atop. The Riverwalk’s ambiance attracts tourists with shops, restaurants, and overhanging enormous cypress trees, colorful umbrella tables, and mariachi bands.  The river is controlled with 3 locks and dams boasting flood prevention strategies that have worked – especially well with a drought.
One of the many collections at The Alamo displays Davy Crockett artifacts:  his billfold, vest, weapons, ammunition
 bags, and even a plank from his Tennessee cabin, made into a bench on which no one can sit.
                        The gargantuan highway map of Texas takes up the entire front seat in our Highlander. Even with Bossy Betsy and GPS, I like to hold a map. Folding it, however, is a monumental undertaking, (recall Clark Griswold’s map-folding experience in his family Vacation to Walley World).

“Remember the Alamo,” and remember that Texas was its own country (The Republic of Texas) prior to becoming a state.  That leaves little doubt, and no surprise, that everything, including the fun, is bigger on a trip thru Texas.