They Came to Fight

Wednesday, 15 February 2012 3:41

Linda Allman and Carol Schuster

The Alamo is a shrine, and feels like a holy place. Linda (Troyer) Allman, left, and Carol (Miller) Schuster stand in front of the monument to the freedom fighting men who died defending the Alamo. Carol was our tour guide during our Texas visit.

(The Alamo is a shrine, and feels like a holy place. Linda (Troyer) Allman, left, and Carol (Miller) Schuster stand in front of the monument to the freedom fighting men who died defending the Alamo. Carol was our tour guide during our Texas visit.) photo by bob allman

LARGER IMAGE

by Linda Allman

Carol Miller Schuster, Class of 1962, was our hostess for four nights this January. Carol lives in Georgetown, Texas, near Austin, the capital. Bob and I arrived in the Austin airport Wed, Jan 25., and turned our vacation over to Carol, our tour guide and driver. We had a plan to see the Alamo, the Riverwalk in San Antonio, a cave, eagles (they winter in TX) and the Bullock Museum of Texas History in Austin. We covered all of the agenda plus got to see a fox. We wanted to see an armadillo because Carol called them Texas speed bumps, but that didn't happen.

I did not earn the Vernon trip to the Alamo, so this was a make-up trip. Carol and I have been corresponding for several years, and I may have whined a bit about missing out on the Texas trip, so she volunteered to show us the sites in the "Great state of Texas"!

We arrived midday, and Bob and I knew if we sat down, we were done. I made a mistake in the hotel in Indy, and did not re-set our clock on our white noise machine. We had a wake up call for 4:30 a.m., and when I woke up and asked Bob what time it was, he read that clock, not his wrist watch. After we got up and were awake, we realized it was 3:30, not 4:30. It was done, but it made for a long day, and no amount of caffeine was going to give us back that hour. Of course, my customers know that I only recognize one 7:00 in the day at home, and it is not a.m., so I was really beginning to drag.

Linda Allman and Carol Schuster LARGER IMAGE

Instead of taking a nap, we explored a cave near Carol's home. The cave was discovered in 1963 and no one had ever been in it before. It was discovered by the Texas Highway Department because they were drilling to add a bridge over Interstate 35 and drilled into one of the larger caverns. We stood in one area and could hear the cars on the highway zipping over our heads. The formations, growing for thousands of years were beautiful to see. Some looked like tiny soda straws, and several looked like folds of white cloth. We have not been in a cave since Tony and Dennis were children, and that was the Blue Hole in the Ohio Caverns, and I did not remember the cave as much as I did the fish I saw in the pools around the cave. This cave was huge, and we got very lucky and had our guide all to ourselves because we were the last tour of the day. Several areas would grow no more because someone touched the surface, and our hands contain oil that stops any more calcification. I was going to write about each kind, but I would have to use a dictionary, so we saw the ones that dropped from the ceiling, we saw ones that grew from the floor, we saw them meeting in the middle and we saw the tiny stone soda straws hanging from the ceiling. Of course, near the end of the tour, our guide turned the lights off and we got to "see" what total darkness is like. That portion of the tour was humbling. Thankfully, it does not last long.

We went to the Alamo in San Antonio the next day. I did find out that the name Alamo means cottonwood in Spanish and was named by the first explorers for their hometown in Mexico. Bob and I watched a movie about the Alamo the week before we went to Texas. I wanted to see it first because History has always been difficult for me. Bob remembers who did what when, and I try to mix Daniel Boone with Davy Crockett, and then feel stupid to hear they were not of the same generation. I was fascinated by the number of countries and states that were represented in the Fallen Heroes of The Alamo. They came to fight for the freedom of the Republic of Texas from Ireland, England, Denmark, Germany, Scotland, and from New Jersey, Rhode Island, and of course, Texas and Tennessee and Kentucky. Call them brave, call them crazy, call them patriots, this building feels holy, like the battlefields of Gettysburg, and oddly, like Alcatraz. There are some places I see on vacation that do not inspire smart aleck remarks, and the Alamo is right up there. I was interested to read that the Alamo mission building did not have a roof. They had a ramp up one side with cannons perched on top. It was both larger and smaller than I expected. They were re-doing some stucco in the inside of the mission, and I had some breathing problems when I got near the restoration. What must it have been like back then, when you could not move around freely and when you were crowded in such a small space? The story of the Alamo is done well with tapes, large signs outside for everyone to read, placed in chronological order.

Everywhere we went, the symbol of Texas was before us. Stars, stars, stars. We entered the cafeteria line, and the wooden posts supporting the counter had a star cutout in the center. Each bridge or overpass had an outline of the state with a star inside it. Doors had stars on the handles, inside the panels, and we slept under a quilt with a star and patterns in barbwire around the edge. I saw so many things proclaiming state pride and was jealous of it. I love Indiana and would like to see us show off our sycamores, our four seasons of weather change, our beautiful tall trees that we take for granted, and much more. I did enjoy seeing bumper stickers that proclaimed "I am not a native, but I got here as quick as I could!"

We left the somber, almost religious atmosphere of the Alamo and walked a few blocks to the San Antonio Riverwalk. We ate lunch in a British Pub overlooking the river and enjoyed the blooming flowers. The cyclamen and pansies were in bloom, and looked wonderful. I had to remind myself that it was late January. I know we have had a mild winter, and some of the daffodils are poking their heads up in Indiana, but blooms? The riverwalk is a marvelous way to keep tourism alive. We saw many people with briefcases hurrying to their hotels along the walk, and many other people who were just having a good time. The shops vary from ice cream to clothing to luggage and jewelry and offer a variety of products to attract everyone. I do not like shopping, but this was nature combined with shopping and it was done well!

During the drive to the Alamo, Bob had seen one of the largest Cabela's we have been near. Carol put the name in her gps, and we left San Antonio to stop and shop at Cabela's on the way home. We only bought two inexpensive fishing reels, but his $24.99 reel and my $29.99 will be our souvenirs of Texas...wonder if they were made in China? We later went to a leather store and Bob got an authentic leather belt from Texas, only to see the little stamp that said it was made in China after he got his trophy home. The stores may not be bigger in Texas, and the people are not, but they seem to be. The state pride is evident everywhere, and when natives found out we were tourists, they seemed to want to help us have a good time. We were told about a nesting eagle, and we drove out to see it on the nest. It was not on the nest at that time, because the nest was full of either the other mate, or the baby. The eagle sitting in the tree near the nest had a white head, so we know only that it was a mature bald eagle.

We had hoped to see many eagles and osprey when we went on the Texas Vanishing River Cruise. We did not, but I saw the evidence of the last few years’ drought. The water level in Lake Buchanan, which is a dammed lake on the Colorado River, is about 25 feet lower than normal. It has been this way since 2004, according to our tour guide. The tour guide came with the boat, so Carol got to take a breather. We saw lakefront homes that had seen no lake front for about seven years. Many docks had been added to several times in order to be able to get to the water. The floating piers looked almost pathetic hanging up in the air about 20 feet above the water line. Treetops that had not been seen in about 30 years were fully exposed. We were told that bare lots were going at the low price of $340,000. Time to jump right on that! I cannot even imagine what you would have to earn to buy a lot for that price. Makes Blue Lake look very good.

We toured around Austin the next day, trying to see each exhibit at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Texas history points out the the first word said and heard in outer space was "Houston." The museum was informative and we enjoyed both the IMAX production of "Texas:The Big Picture" and the recreation of the Galveston hurricane in the Texas Spirit Theater. The hurricane was complete with moving seats, wind, smoke and rain in our faces. I did not feel the "rattlesnake" under my seat, and I am thankful that I did not. Apparently I was engrossed in the screen, or numb from walking, but it was for the best.

Bob and Carol worked on Carols' Lionel train set one evening, and I enjoyed watching them both on the floor. At our age, when we get to the floor, we stay a while because getting back up is too difficult. The train was a gift for her grandson, and it was not working properly. They sanded the tracks, buffed the wheels, and it began to run. I did not have a train set when I was younger, and neither did Carol, but she got to use her brother’s train, so she and Bob knew what they were doing, and apparently the love of trains does not dim with age.

We had a great trip and hopefully, when we have our 50th reunion of the Class of 1962 this July 28, we can return the hospitality. Now if I can only find a quilt with an outline of the greatest state in the Midwest. Indiana, my Indiana!