San Antonio - Day 4

Today, we fulfilled our mission of seeing all of the missions. There are five old missions in San Antonio and we have seen three of them so far. Today we saw the other two. The first one was Mission San Juan Capistrano which was built in 1731. A few miles away was Mission San Francisco de la Espada which was built in the same year. It must have been a busy time for the missionarys of the day.

From there, we drove to the King William Area where there is an abundance of historic and architecturally interesting homes. We took a guided tour of the Steves Homestead that was built in 1876 by a German emigrant who made his money in the lumber industry. Then it was back to the Riverwalk for some more strolling, sipping and dining. That is one cool place...

The LBJ Ranch

About a 1.25 hour drive North of San Antonio we arrived at the Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch which is located about 14 miles West of Johnson City, TX. After getting Susan's picture with another dead President, we took a drive around the ranch and saw a replica of the house where he was born, the Johnson Family Cemetery where he was laid to rest, lots of long-horned cattle, farmland being planted and the runway where LBJ's Air Force One used to land. We then took a tour of the Texas White House and visited his Presidential Office at the house.




...and now for some things completely different. If anyone ever says that Texans don't have a sense of humor, show them these pictures. As we were driving back to Johnson City from the ranch, we spotted a longhorn steer made out of spare auto parts, the entrance to a small ranch with a unique name and the Hill Country Cupboard (read the sign carefully).

San Antonio - Day 2

We started our day on a mission - actually by visiting two of the most famous of the San Antonio Missions. Our first stop was at Mission San Jose (locally known as the "Queen of the Missions") which was started around 1720. We were unable to enter the church due to Sunday Mass but the grounds were impressive. Our next stop was at Mission Concepcion which was built in 1731. Sunday services were over by the time we got there so entry was no problem. There are two more missions along the Mission Trail but we didn't have time to see them today.



We then headed out to the Riverwalk where we enjoyed a Tex-Mex lunch on the river. After lunch, we headed over to SegCity where we took their Premier Tour of San Antonio on Segways. This was our third time riding a Segway and we felt like pros. Fortunately for us, we were the only ones that had booked this tour so we had Emzy (his given name), our wonderful guide, all to ourselves. He took us all over San Antonio where we saw places like the Buckhorn Saloon & Museum, the Historic Theater District, the USA's Oldest Continuously Functioning Cathedral, Floodgate 5 and a downtown marina, the Southbend of the Riverwalk, the King William District dating from the 1850's, San Antonio's Oldest Suburb from the 1700's, Hemisfair Park with the Tower Of The Americas, the Alamo and many other fascinating and historic sites! We covered over 6 miles in our 2 1/2 hour ride. Thanks Emzy! After a well-deserved rest stop at an English Pub on the Riverwalk, we headed back to the RV to prepare for tomorrow's adventure.

San Antonio, TX

Here we are in San Antonio (birthplace of my wonderful wife Susan) so we thought we'd start our stay by visiting the places everyone thinks about when San Antonio is mentioned - namely the Alamo and the River Walk. Fortunately, both are very close to each other in the center of town. The tour of the Alamo is free (unless you opt for the audio guide which we did) and starts with the familiar church which now houses a shrine to those who fought and died there. Then we walked through the beautiful courtyards and the barracks museum. Quite a place.



From there, we walked about a block to the RiverCenter Mall located on the River Walk and boarded a guided river tour boat. It took us for a complete trip through the River Walk area while our guide explained the many interesting places there were to see. After that, we headed to Durty Nelly's Irish Pub where we enjoyed lunch and cold beverages seated at a table five feet from the water's edge. Ahhh....








To end our first day in San Antonio, we drove out to Brackenridge Park and walked around their awesome Chinese/Japanese Tea Garden area for a while. Lots of water features, gigantic coy and foliage to enjoy. So far, San Antonio is provong to be a very scenic place.

Houston, TX

After an overnight stop in Kinder, LA, we arrived on Wednesday in New Caney, TX - which is just North of Houston. We visited an old friend and software developer Jan Hoelterling and had the good fortune of meeting his lovely wife and children. They treated us to a delicious home-cooked dinner and showed us their RV. What a lovely evening...thanks for everything!

We spent most of Thursday doing laundry and doing some repair work on the roof of the RV to fix the DirecTV satellite dish that had ceased functioning a few days earlier. I finally got it fixed but forgot one little detail - I had opened a roof vent to talk to Susan while testing the fix but forgot to close it. Normally not a big deal except that afternoon, while we were at the WalMart, a severe rainstorm hit. Needless to say, having a 12" hole in our roof during a 1.5 hour downpour meant that we spent most of the evening mopping up the floor and drying out the carpets. You can bet that we'll never forget to close the roof vent again! Fortunately, no permanent damage resulted. Tomorrow, we're off to San Antonio.

New Orleans, LA

Here we are in the French Quarter of New Orleans. I had been here in the 90's to attend a software developer's conference but this was Susan's first time. Our first stop was at Cafe du Monde (where else?) where we inhaled some delicious beignets and got powdered sugar all over everything. Isn't that what you're supposed to do? If so, we did a good job of it. From there, we dusted ourselves off and crossed the street to Jackson Square where we boarded a mule-drawn carriage for a relaxing guided tour of the French Quarter. After the tour, we wandered around visiting antique shops and other establishments including a "beverage break" at Pat O's - a quiet hidden courtyard with a fountain and outside bar. Ahhh...that felt good! After a walk down Bourbon Street (where we saw such famous places as Preservation Hall where Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Ensemble will be playing tonight) and a short browse of the French Market (just a lot of imported junk for sale), we opted to return to the RV for some well-deserved rest.

Livingston, LA

Today's destination is about midway between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. We're staying at Lakeside RV Park which is a very nice park with concrete streets and sites surrounding a small lake. We'll be staying here for several days so we can explore the area.

After settling in, we drove out to Houmas House Plantation and Gardens which is located along one of the many rivers in the Louisiana bayous. What a fabulous place! We toured the various gardens replete with a lot of interesting statues and even found a tiny little pub called The Turtle on the grounds where I sampled a local brew while waiting for our house tour to begin. The tour was totally awesome thanks to our guide, Judy, who was not only jovial and informative but she could play the piano and sing like a pro. This was, without a doubt, the best tour we've ever had. She even let us touch the antiques, sit on the furniture and take pictures. Thanks Judy!

Mobile, AL

This morning, we journeyed down to Shady Acres Campground in Mobile, AL. Once we were settled in, we drove the car out to Bellingrath Home and Gardens in Theodore, AL (see www.bellingrath.org). This beautiful home and garden was built by an executive of Coca-Cola. They lived quite well indeed. We took a guided tour of the house which was loaded with some awesome antiques and more porcelain figurines than we ever imagined could exist. The gardens were stunning even if we missed the peak of the Spring blooms by about a week.

FMCA Rally in Perry, GA

After meeting up with some friends from the Sams-O-Wake RV Club, we spent Friday night in Lexington, SC. On Saturday morning, we headed on down to the fairgrounds in Perry, GA to attend the FMCA International RV Rally. It rained all the way from Raleigh to Perry so the RV and car were (and still are) covered with road dirt when we got there. On Sunday, the sun came out and the weather was so nice. There were over 3,000 RVs camped there. We spent five days socializing, attending RV-related seminars and visiting vendor booths. We were in Perry last year for another RV event and this one was just as much fun. This morning (Friday, 3/20), we started heading west with an overnight stop in Auburn, Alabama. It was our first night in a week at a campground with electricity and water so we spent the time doing laundry and relaxing. Into each life some work must fall...

Another Adventure in our new Adventurer

Tomorrow, we head South to begin another trip. This time, we'll be doing it in our new 2008 Winnebago Adventurer 38T. We've been looking at this rig for over a year and finally decided to get it. It is five feet longer than our old RV, has two 18-foot long slideouts which, as you can see from the pictures, gives loads of room and enough conveniences to spoil us completely. We are really looking forward to actually using it instead of looking at it parked in our driveway. ;-)

This trip begins with a week-long RV rally in Perry, GA. From there we plan to head out to San Antonio (where Susan was born) and explore the Gulf Coast area. Then we'll head to Louisiana and drive North along the River Road that runs along the Mississippi River until we get to Memphis, TN. Then we'll head to the mountains of good ol' NC for another RV rally. Then home for a few days before heading out to the Outer Banks of NC. From there, who knows...