While in San Antonio for my mom's funeral, I did take some time to do some 'tourist' activities after the funeral and reception were over.

On Friday evening, my older sister, BIL and I went down to the Riverwalk.  We had a nice boat ride followed by dinner.

On Saturday afternoon, my younger sister and I went to the Witte Museum (pronounce witt-ee).  They had several interesting exhibits.  They had a VERY informative exhibit on Darwin.  Among other things, I didn't realize that he didn't start publishing his findings until 20 years after his voyage on the Beagle. 

We also saw a fun exhibit.  Every year (I think) San Antonio puts on a Fiesta with a Royal Court.  The members of the court have very elaborate costumes.  Here are some examples:

The museum was also doing some outdoor activities to celebrate the opening of the new wing dedicated to Texas Heritage.  One of the performers was Kevin Kirkpatrick who is a trick roper.  Here are some photos of him in action.  They look kinda tame, but he did some fairly complicated tricks that I was not able to capture on my camera.

It was a nice ending to a sad weekend.

Papillon

More Random Musings

I'm still feeling rather laid back after my lovely day yesterday at the Botanical Park.

I'm glad I went when I did.  Later in the afternoon a thunderstorm moved through.  Lots of wind & rain.  I was glad I was home.  I did worry about a young man who came to my door wanting to give me a religious brochure.  As always I politely said no, thank you.  I hope he was able to find shelter from the storm.

Earlier in the summer I visited my mom who lives in west Texas.  There are a number of odd place names on the way to & from Albuquerque.  For example:  there is Cannibal Draw (near Big Spring, TX).  I wonder what happened there to give it that name.  I keep telling myself I'm going to do some research on it.  However, I've been a bit lazy in that regard.

One of the routes I've taken over the years goes through Lincoln County - where Billy the Kid earned his notoriety.  Lincoln NM has a small cemetery.  Some gravestones are old.  Some are newer.  Some don't even have a formal headstone - just a large stone (about the size of a bowling ball) at the head and foot of the grave.  Kinda sad when you think about it.

There is one headstone that amuses me.  It's for a husband and wife.  His claim to fame is that he was a 'pal of Billy the Kid'.  I guess if that's your 15 minutes of fame, then you might as well run with it.

Papillon