America!

Arrived in Dallas at 3.30pm after a 10 hour flight which left at 11.30am???
Had fried pickles and Santa Fe chicken for dinner with a black bean and corn salsa. The food here is called texmex as there are lots of mexicans in Texas, it was part of Mexico before it became independent. Many people in Texas still speak Spanish as their main language. Set of on Thursday along a 12 lane freeway, the name Americans give to a motorway. The traffic is very heavy with lots of huge trucks, nearly twice as long as the ones allowed on British roads. I drive 200miles to the state Capitol, Austin, which is a lovely city on the edge of lake. The Americans have lots of big national flags, the stars and stripes flying on all important building. Some of the flags are as big as a double decker bus. Here in Texas they also fly the state flag, the lone star, alongside the national flag. You know you are in America and in Texas! After a walk around the city seeing lots of statues about the history of Texas, I watch over a million bats leave their roost, under a bridge, at sunset to hunt for insects. They are called Mexican free tailed bats and have a wingspan of about a foot. Every night they eat thousands of pounds of insects! The sight of them flying out from under the bridge is amazing. It lasts about half an hour and makes black streaks across the sunset. By morning they have all returned to their roosts, full up, and sleep all day.