We’re in San Antonio, Texas

 

Sunday, February 14, 2010                                                                                                      Lorraine’s report

Happy Valentine’s Day to all our family and friends!! We hope you all have a great day.

Well, another busy week, and we’re here in the big city of San Antonio, Texas at Connie and Manuel’s beautiful home. They were kind enough to let us stay on their two acre piece of property and park the rig so close to them.

Last Sunday we spent the day with Steve and Sand. Steve had to go to an RV place to replace a light fixture, so he and Chuck took off to find one. Sandy and I went to El Paso to do some shopping. Before we left I put on a nice pork roast for dinner. We all had a nice time visiting and doing our errands. We watched the super bowl and had a nice dinner.

Monday found us packing up and saying our goodbyes to Steve/Sandy, hoping to see each other in the summer when we turn the coach heading west once again. We sure enjoyed our visit with them.

We drove on to Ft. Stockton, TX, where we stopped at an empty RV park for the evening. The wind was blowing pretty hard and it was very cold. We found out when we stopped that our air card was not working, so we had no internet. Since we hadn’t written down on paper, Connie and Manuel’s address, we had to call them, so we could put the address in the GPS. We sure hate to be without the internet. It was a cold, quiet night in Ft. Stockton.

Tuesday, we left Ft. Stockton and drove on into San Antonio. Connie/Manuel said San Antonio is about fifty miles across, a very spread out, big city. We pulled into their yard and set up the bus. A short time later, Connie arrived home from running errands and invited us into their beautiful home for a wonderful dinner. After dinner, Chuck needed to go to Costco for a new GPS, so off we went. Upon finishing we headed back home and played “Pass the Love” card game with Connie and Manuel. The guys were the winners that night.

Wednesday we were off by 10 am to mail a package for our granddaughter for Valentine’s Day and for Susy, our daughter’s birthday on Tuesday this week. Manuel and Connie have been such wonderful tour guides for us during this whole time, and I’m sure glad they know this whole area so well.

The weather forecast for the day was suppose to be freezing rain by the afternoon, so we all decided to go to the River Walk and take the boat tour. We got there and the River Walk was empty of people, and the barge tour was closed, but we walked a bit on the walk, before it got too cold and windy.

After that we went on over to the Alamo to walk through the historic fort. It was so beautiful, and so full of information on the history of the battle of the Alamo.

We went to lunch at Market Square to a Mexican Restaurant called Mi Tierra Restaurant. I think I had the best Quesadeas I have ever eaten. They were absolutely delicious, and the restaurant was a definite “must see”. The back room had some wonderful murals, and the artist was there working on one, and he stopped to explain and show us his work in progress. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit there.

By then, it was time to head back home to take Misty dog out for a walk. Then we were off to the Verizon store to get Chuck a new air card. We were there for a couple of hours, with a tech trying to get a card that worked. I think he tried two before he got the third one to finally work. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for pie and then home for the night.

Thursday we went to tour San Fernando Cathedral a very beautiful, old cathedral. It was the first and is the largest cathedral in the United States. What a wonderful piece of architecture with so much history attached to the church.

Following that we headed on over to San Antonio Shoe Company for some shoe shopping. That done, we had to go back to the Verizon store to get my computer hooked up to the new air card. While Chuck did that, Manuel took Connie and me to run some errands. Completing that, we all went home to rest, since we were going out to dinner.

Dinner was at the Old San Francisco Steak House that Manuel and Connie’s daughter in law, Veronica, owns. Again, we had a fabulous dinner; the restaurant was beautifully appointed, the food and drinks were absolutely wonderful, and the service was impeccable. There is entertainment nightly at this restaurant, a girl gets on a swing above the bar and swings high enough to ring a bell on both sides of the building. Her name is Shelly, and when she was done, she sang several songs for the diners; very entertaining.

It was such an impressive dining experience for us, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We went home and had another round of “Pass the Love” with me taking the night.

Friday, Connie and Manuel had been invited to their grand daughter, Larissa’s, Valentine’s Day party at school. We stayed home and I did laundry, and Chuck worked on getting the router to recognize my computer. He was on the phone for a long time working on this. In the afternoon we ran errands. Connie and Manuel came home with their two grand daughters, Larissa and Arianna, who were spending the night. Connie fixed us all a bite to eat, then cards again. This time it was Manuel who was the big winner.

Saturday found us all off to the River Walk to take the barge ride. What a difference three days make. The whole down town area was packed with people, and there was no parking. But the ride was totally worth the effort. Lunch was at Luby’s Cafeteria. Man, they have a ton of great places to eat in this city, and this was one of those places. Everyone had a great meal; then back home before Manuel, Jr. picked the girls up to go to a Valentine’s party. We visited with Connie/Manuel and watched some TV before we went home early for the evening.

I want to wish our daughter, Susy a very Happy Birthday on Tuesday. I wish we could be together, like we’ve been in previous years; I miss you and Kaitlyn a whole bunch. Also, it was so good to hear from Rick, our son. Happy Birthday to our niece, Rachel North, Brad Lee North, and Richard King.

I have to say to Connie and Manuel, a great big “THANK YOU” for opening up your home to us and making us feel so welcomed and loved. You two are such wonderful friends.

Till next time…..Lorraine

 

2/14/10                                                                                                                               Chuck’s Report

Last Sunday we were in Vado with our friends Steve/Sandy.  We spent the day with the guys working on a project on Steve’s coach while the gals went shopping.  Later we got together at their coach to watch the first half of the Super Bowl then Lorraine finished our dinner at our coach during halftime.  We got together at our coach for dinner and to watch the remainder of the game.  YEA, the Saints won, they aren’t the Aints anymore.

Monday morning we said our “See ya laters” with us heading East to Fort Stockton, Texas while they’re headed West.  It’s always sad to to leave our friends but we know with this lifestyle, we will probably get to see them sometime later. 

After we got set up at Fort Stockton we were unable to connect to the internet.  I did what troubleshooting I could and figured our Verizon Air Card wasn’t working.  I was hoping it would work the next morning after leaving it unplugged all night, no such luck however. 

We pulled into Manuel/Connie’s place early afternoon on Tuesday.   Manuel helped guide us into a spot in front of his shop and hooked us up with water and power.  Connie soon returned home and we had a wonderful time visiting with these two fine friends. 

Now where to start?  Manuel and Connie have been really, really good hosts and tour guides for us while we are here.  They have opened their home to us, know the area and have taken us around to show us the sights much better than we would ever have been able to do on our own.  We have been to the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio, The Alamo, local restaurants, their daughter-law’s restaurant, a very old Cathedral downtown, back to the Riverwalk and many places in-between.  We have really enjoyed being with them and seeing the area with them.  I have wanted to come to San Antonio for awhile and this is better than I hoped for due to Manuel/Connie.

The weather forecast was for possible freezing rain and cold temperatures on Wednesday but luckily it never got that cold.  We headed off to see the Riverwalk in San Antonio.  There weren’t many people out and about, I assume due to the weather, and the boats weren’t running on the river.  We walked around and got a feel for the place before we headed inside to warm up. 

We then headed over to visit The Alamo.  This has been on my bucket list for a long time and I wasn’t disappointed.  What history in this place, lots of pictures and information to read.  We spent a couple of hours there and will have to return on another trip.  It is amazing to me how the town has grown up and around The Alamo yet they have preserved it. 

Later I took our air card and my laptop to the Verizon store to see what they could find.  I was correct on my earlier assumption, the air card wasn’t working but we were eligible for a free upgrade to the new style.  Once we signed the papers, I asked them to set it up and insure it worked.  It didn’t!  Two long hours later and the third air card later, they finally got it working right, whew, and they knew what they were doing. 

Then back to Manuel/Connie’s for some visiting and card playing. 

Next morning we were out and about in the rain.  We went to a very old cathedral, in fact, it’s the oldest in the USA I think.  Very nice.  They also had the remains of Col. Travis, Jim Bouie, and Davy Crockett located in the entrance way.  We really enjoyed visiting here.

We then went back to the Verizon store to get them to set up Lorraine’s laptop, I didn’t have any luck on my own.  Once again, they couldn’t get it to work either so out comes another new air card.  This one now works on both of our computers, yea. 

Later that evening we once again hopped into Manuel/Connie’s car and headed off for dinner at their DIL’s place, The Old San Francisco Steak House.  What a fine place this is, seats over 800 people and classy too, I almost felt out of place.  The staff are very well trained and friendly, the food was excellent and we got to meet their DIL Veronica who made us feel very welcome.  We followed the waiter’s suggestions for drinks, I had my first Shiner beer (good) and the ladies had something called a Buried Treasure.  The food and total experience was one of the best I have had, very nice place and with good friends too, what more could one ask for.

Friday we took off on our own to run some errands.  I thought I knew the area a little bit because of the traveling we had done with Manuel/Connie but we would have gotten lost without our GPS.  But we were able to get to where we needed and back home to our coach on our own.  I then spent almost two hours on the phone to get our new air card to work with our router.  Ended up all it needed was to down load a software update and now everything works as before, sure glad that’s all done. 

Yesterday we once again headed downtown,this time with Manuel/Connie’s two grand daughters with us.  We planned to go to the Riverwalk once again.  Boy, what a difference.  This time the weather was warmer and sunny and the crowds proved it.  The boats were running, we bought our tickets and got in line to board.  The boat ride is about half an hour and the driver explains the history of the area, the building and the River.  Once again, time well spent. 

We then had lunch at a very nice diner.  I once again had bigger eyes than stomach (and my stomach is big) but the food was good.  It’s nice to have guides who know the area!

Later we met their son, Manuel Jr. who had came by to pick up his daughters.  We spent some time just visiting and watched some TV before returning back to our coach.   

So that brings our week to a close.  Today we are planning on going to the Air Force base here for breakfast and seeing some of the air planes.  Who knows what will happen this afternoon but if the past few days are any indications, we will enjoy our time with them. 

Now for next week, we plan on heading out on Monday.  We will go to Victoria, Texas to visit with some friends of ours, Richard/Pasty.  We would like to head down to the Rio Grande Valley to check out the area for a future stay too.  We then will probably head up North of Houston to visit with other friends, Bill/Barb, but haven’t made plans yet until we find out how much time we have left before we head for New Orleans the next week.  And I thought being retired meant slowing down, silly me.

And lastly, Happy Birthday to our daughter Susy.  Her birthday is on Tuesday and we will have to be there in spirit as we can’t be there in person.  Hope your day turns out to be very nice.  Oh, Happy Birthday to Richard today too. 

Here are some pictures.  This was the hardest part as Lorraine took so many pictures, it was hard to pick which ones to include.  Even then, we didn’t have many pictures of The Alamo, just pictures and memories in our minds.

Steve/Sandy in Vado, New Mexico and our two coaches at the park.

 

Heading into Texas and the world’s largest Road Runner. 

 

A lot of the overpasses in Texas are decorated like this one. 

Manuel directing us to our spot and their home from our window. 

Connie/Manuel and Lorraine. 

Downtown San Antonio and the Riverwalk. 

This is the stage where Sandra Bullock was on for the Miss Congeniality movie. 

The Alamo

Lunch at the restaurant and some murals on the wall. 

 

The Cathedral we visited downtown.

 

SAS shoe factory and store.  The one on the right is Manuel, our friend Richard and me.  (Connie made me say that, Richard, you know I would never say that about you!  In fact, she took the picture too.)

 

Their daughter-in-law and her restaurant.

 

More downtown and the Riverwalk boat ride. 

 

 

Manuel, Connie, their son Manuel and his two daughters. 

So once again we had a very nice week.  Hope yours was good too. 

Thanks  Chuck