More random, useless notes. Back when I could run trivia questions, with a fair degree of success, I liked collecting this kind of arcane material. Regrettably, search engines have rendered the idea of a trivia question all but useless. However…
Largest swimming pool in Texas? Unverified, but supposedly, [url=http://www.port-royal.com/]Port Royal[/url] in Port A.
The only Confederate Fort commissioned [b]west[/b] of the Mississippi? Fort Waul, built in 1863, at the confluence of the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers, just north of Gonzales. Never saw action, or never fired a shot, anyway. But it did prevent any enemies from sneaking up the Guadalupe River.
[url=http://www.whataburger.com/]Whataburger[/url] started in Corpus Christi.
Austin sits on the Balcones Fault. Even more interesting, was the way both San Antonio (remember the Alamo) and Austin were picked for geological goodness: water. Since I live on the shores of the Colorado River, I’m especially tuned to that water factor.
[url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/087842265X/fishinguideto-20]Roadside Geology of Texas[/url] had an interesting description of faults in general, and the particulars of Balcones Fault (the geological kind, not the legendary band). What was weird, I pulled three or four history books off the shelf, so the rest of that section of books toppled sideways. Then, the geology book talked about Balcones Fault like a series of toppled books, rather than a clean cut. Plus there was an excellent description of my favorite: Barton Springs.
My interest was the Pliocene Goliad sandstone, I suppose. Cenozoic Era, Tertiary Period, Pliocene Epoch, between 2 and 5 million years old. Then, blipping forward with the remote, 18,000 years ago, when the sea level was a lot lower, end of the ice age, right up to now, and the longest barrier island in North America (Padre Island). If I recall rightly, and I might not, it seems that geologists still don’t know exactly how that barrier island formed. But they do have theories.
I never thought hard science and astrology were so similar. All this, and I haven’t even left Austin yet. Bizarre part about my copy that text? Most of the dog-eared portions are all in West Texas. However, as I reread the “Corpus Christi to San Antonio” section again, I was wondering about [url=http://astrofish.net/weblog/comments.php?id=499_0_1_0_C]my version[/url] of the [url=http://astrofish.net/weblog/comments.php?id=500_0_1_0_C]vistas[/url] versus what the book was describing.