Rating the run; Boise Greenbelt vs. San Antonio River Walk

Just got back from a couple of days in San Antonio Texas, and had a chance to run along the famed River Walk, so I'd thought I'd compare them. Pictures below. 1) Weather: Boise, 39 deg, SA 70 deg; no contest, SA. 2) Running surface: Both are paved the entire length, but Boise has some portions of dirt or grass. Since I prefer a softer surface, Boise wins. 3) Interesting stuff to look at: Boise's river and vegetation is pretty good, but there's not a lot of variety. SA is lined with with shops, curves, landscaping, buildings, and lights. SA wins. 4) Running room: SA is very narrow, Boise has plenty of width. Boise wins. 5) Length. I figure the River Walk is about a mile from end to end. Way too short. Boise's is what, 15 miles or so? No contest. Overall, if you're running for exercise, Boise wins. If you want an interesting stroll, SA is the place.

Here's a pic of the river walk. You can't actually see the sidewalk, but it runs along the river on both sides.



Here's another pic.



Note the lower left corner in the picture above. Here's a better look at that bird. The light squiggles on the water look kind of cool.



It's X-mas time, and downtown had a bunch of lights hanging down from the trees. The pic doesn't do it justice. It looked pretty magical.



Finally, what I facetiously call the headwaters of the San Antonio river. The city has stopped the "river" and is pumping it past a dry portion in order to do some maintenance or improvements. It's just funny to me that the river flow comes from a pipe.