On the way to Houston

We woke to a beautiful sunny day, 49 degrees and much hotter shortly. I went for a walk and looked over the pecan orchard which was planted in the 1920's. The 'clubhouse' is under 2 magnificent oak trees and built like a family residence where the owners and staff eat most of the time. The oaks are 200 - 300 years old. There is a Live Oak Society, headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana. They are trying to preserve these evergreen shade trees. Membership is limited to live oaks at least 100 years old and annual dues are 25 acorns. When I asked if they were oaks, the lady said yes and there were 2 magnificent lava oaks by the river. I asked what lava oaks were and she said 'Well, lava, dear' I asked how it was spelled and it's l-i-v-e. She said it must 'be a Texas thing'. The accents/drawls of some are unbelievable.

We don't have a satellite dish so it's very interesting to hear all the local news as we go along. With the weather, they give pollen and ash counts as well as the humidity.

We drove in beautiful weather, about 74, past San Antonio. It's famous for the Alamo. It was originally an Indian village, then a Franciscan mission and it's protective fort in 1718. This was occupied by Spanish soldiers and named for the alamo or cottonwood trees which grow along the river. Steven Austin, a Missouri pioneer obtained a land grant from the government in 1831 and brought 300 American families to settle in Texas. There was a constant struggle between groups until the Battle of the Alamo where the legendary James Bowie and Davy Crockett lost their lives. In the final battle at San Jacinto, Sam Houston was victorious and the Republic of Texas was born and became the 28th state in 1845.
Every small town you come to has a high water tower? usually with the town name on it. You see these little windmills in lots of fields on small acreages.

We arrived just west of Houston at 4 p.m. Houston is 50 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and but they converted the winding, marshy Buffalo Bayou into the Houston Channel making it one of the major seaports in the United States. The petroleum industry made Houston one of the most populous cities, the 4th by the 60's. Interesting fact. Houston has NO zoning ordinances so their skyline is amazingly different with much innovative architecture.