KCRag Forum

We took a bus trip to South Padre Island from 1/29/16 through 2/5/16 with stops along the way.

Here is the bus.


Snapped a “capitol” image as we drove by.


The first evening, we visited the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building Memorial and Museum, commemorating the terrible bombing in 1995 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I’m not sure what this building is, as we were driving around city blocks.


You know me. If I see any flowers, bedraggled though they may be...


The museum was worth visiting.


Much to see.


Pictures of all the victims are on view here.


What a way to start a vacation! But it was good to see and remember.

It is the next day, 1/30/16, and we are boarding an Amtrak train in Oklahoma City to take us just across the Texas border.
I took a few boring shots at what serves as the station. Nice building across the street.


This station has seen better days. So have some of these people. (Including the one who took this picture.)


They did welcome us.


Got part of the city while waiting for the train.


This depot has been here for a while.


A bit of a close-up. Actually, it’s a small part of the original image.


Finally! The train arrives!


From a train window.


Nice shopping area.


Nice train station in a smaller town.


Rocky river along the way.


Crossing the river.

We’re still on the train from Oklahoma City to the Texas border. We’re making a brief stop at Ardmore.


Train station activity is minimal.


Old gaslights are fun.


The train must have been too loud for this little guy.


It’s an Amtrak station. Nice clock.


If you find a smooth surface...


If I saw anything even remotely interesting...


…I would take a picture. Notice the train shadow in the bottom.


Well, I thought the train shadow was interesting.


Well-kept building, shot from train window.


Our train.


All cities look good from a distance.

We finally got off the train and onto the bus. We’re driving through Gainsville, TX.


Definitely Texas-looking stores.


This isn’t the real Alamo. We’ll get there later.


This must be the place to be.


What would a small town do without a center square?


You can ride a real bull! Well, maybe just sit on it.


Yay! Found some flowers!


If you like both cabbages and flowers, you’ll love this one.


We spent a lot of time at the stockyards. I took way more pictures than I can send/post here. The thinning begins.


It’s a busy place.


Patiently waiting.


This is where the three of us had lunch. Very tasty.

I must have been hard up for photographic subjects.


Where to go next...


You can ride this bull if you don’t mind not going anywhere.


Real cowboys.


Nice place.


This bunking bronco statue was nicer than you can tell by looking at this picture.


Another bull to ride, um, sit on.


Old Glory is always beautiful.


Oh. I guess we’re in Fort Worth. Stockyards.


More my speed.


Hurting for subject matter again. But the brick patterns are pretty.


Whatever this place is was built in 1908.

Kids like to perform on the rodeo stage.


I’m more interested in the young man taking the picture on the right than the woman coming down the stairs.


We view the animals from above.


Did you expect grass and tulips?


Let’s see what’s inside the gate.


When is a door not a door? When it’s ajar.


Some people think they are above others. In this case, it is so.


Now we’re all up high.


We can see what’s below.


Hey! I recognize that young man in the middle, across the way.


This guy gets to be way above the rest of us.


More of the ‘yards below.

Hi Roanoker, I am a newbie here and am enjoying your "trip report."

I have been to Padre Island two times and the last was in July 2002.
Looking forward to more when you have a chance.

Thank you, KCCat. My style of picture posting is twelve pictures every week. It can take more than a year to get all the pictures for one trip posted. Some places are better than others and the pictures probably reflect that. By the way, welcome to KCRag. It is populated by a lot of nice people. So is Kansas City.

The viewing decks look like artwork.


Here are a few animals. I wonder where all the others are.


One viewer, trying to find an animal.


Here’s one! He’s kind of pretty.


“Oh, that sign doesn’t apply to me.”


I like towers.


So we’ll find another one.


Back again, but closer.


Aww...


I wanted to stay and watch the parade, but we were ordered to get back on the bus.


I snagged this shot while on the bus.


I captured this tree (and a few sun artifacts) from the bus as we drove off. This is the last picture of the day.

Nice pictures Roanoker. The ones of the stockyards made me think of when the Kansas City Stockyards started looking empty like that.

Thank you, KCCat. I remember when the KC stockyards were full of animals and the area in general was vibrant. Every year, Kansas City hosted the Future Farmers of America, and there were wonderful teenagers all over the place. I don't even know if that organization still exists. I suppose I could look it up.