Driving the San Antonio - El Paso Road

     As we drove from Fort Stockton to San Antonio we followed the footsteps (so to speak) of thousands of men, women and children in the 1840's to the 1880's. The San Antonio-El Paso Road also known as the Lower Emigrant Road or Military Road was a trade route between San Antonio and El Paso between 1849 and 1882. The road carried mail, freight and passengers by horse and wagon across the Edwards Plateau.  It was a dangerous area so a series of forts were built

to protect people and supplies along the way.
     As always a long drive gets me into a singing mode.  Today I recalled that Davy Crockett was one of the many men who died defending the Alamo.  I am a true child of 50's TV and can remember the Walt Disney mini-series about Davy Crockett and could sing most of the theme song.  So I did even though most of it was about his time in Tennessee rather than his fight at the Alamo.  I am looking forward to learning more about the historical issues that led to that conflict.
    The drive took us away from the Chihuahuan desert area into Texas "hill country."  I was happy to see some green grass, trees, and shade.  I was also happy to see that there were some puddles and a little water in the creeks, but the huge rain that came through the area was no longer a problem on the roads.  There was quite a wind, however, and we were blown around on the freeway a fair amount.
    I would like to claim that my great trip planning had us driving around San Antonio on a quiet Sunday afternoon rather than a weekday, but it was simply by chance.  My travel guide says that San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the U.S.  Wow!  I'm not sure how that was calculated, but it is big and there are huge, complicated freeway interchanges.  Rick's calm driving and my navigating got us to our campground near the west edge of town.   We are camped under some big shade trees, ready to explore tomorrow.