The Alamo

Thursday, Nov 15 Lori and I headed for downtown San Antonio and a visit to the Riverwalk and the Alamo.  Jan and Mark had to take a little side trip to an RV Dealer to pick up a part for their fridge.  RVing is wonderful until something quits working.  Their fridge was actually working too well and was freezing up.  They phoned around and managed to find a part but it was on the other side of San Antonio.  So they headed off in one direction, us in another and we arranged to meet at the Alamo once they were done their errand.

First a few pictures of our RV Park.

The front office.
From here we had to drive up a steep curving road to get to our campsite.
It doesn't get its name "Top Of the Hill" for nothing.

There are about 3 levels and we are on the top one.
Provides a great view.

There are even some cute little cabins for rent. 

And even a Koi Pond

We had initially planned our next stop to be Big Bend National Park however its a long drive from here, in the middle of nowhere and with a plethora of things to see and do around San Antonio and Fredericksburg we managed to extend our stay here till the 23rd and then head up to Carlsbad, New Mexico to see the Carlsbad Caverns.  At $22.50 per night its a pretty good deal.  WiFi isn't great but it seldom is.  We were also invited to participate in their Thanksgiving pot luck with the rest of the residents.  Should be fun.

The San Antonio River runs right through downtown SA and they have done an amazing job of developing walkways, restaurants, bars and shops along its banks.  I'll get into more of that in my next post.

The Alamo, you may have heard of it, was actually a Roman Catholic Mission established to aid in the settlement of the area, then called New Spain.  More settlements meant that Spain could strengthen its claim on the surrounding lands.  It of course is not famous for that but rather a little battle where the Texans, who were defending the lands against the Mexican Army, got wiped out.  Oh yes and there were a few famous names among those Texans.  Not sure how famous they were at the time but the intervening years of stories being told and retold have created its own lore.  Hollywood may have helped.

The front gate of the main chapel of the Alamo
It became the armoury during the conflict.
Unfortunately pictures were not allowed inside.
Also unfortunate that not all that much is left of the original mission.
Sustained canon fire will do that. 

One of the outbuildings.
Not original but fits in real nice with the period. 

The Gift shop

These little guys were everywhere.
Either eating nuts or burying them.

Lots of big old Oak trees.  Very Majestic
This one was transplanted here in 1912 and at the time it was about 40 years old.

Here is the story of this one. 

A nice old tree and and even older well. 

Lots of colourful carriages that can be rented for a ride around the park.
The horses hooves were painted with bright pink sparkle. 

Thats it for now.  I'll post later about our first experience with SA's Riverwalk and then there is a little trip we made to Fredericksburg that I need to tell you about but for now I'm tired, my wine glass is empty so its off to bed.  Tomorrow we are scheduled to head back into SA to see a few more of the old Missions.

Later.

Rockport to Boerne

Our stay in Rockport has ended and has been disappointing.  Much like our whole stay in Texas the weather has been atypical.  We started off in Waco with 90F and very humid.  That carried over to League City where we also had high winds and driving rain storms with the odd tornado warning thrown in.  Got to Rockport and had one relatively nice day which we spent touring the Lexington.  Since then its been cold, close to freezing at night and low 50s during the day, with wind and rain.  We spent the days going to a few craft shows, doing laundry and generally sitting around.

Finally on Tuesday our time in Rockport was at an end and we packed up and headed to Boerne (pronounced Bernie, go figure).  We drove into 35mph headwinds all day so we only got about 7.5.MPG.  Mark was getting 4-5 in his motorhome.  Set up in a pretty little campground called Top of the Hill.  The name is appropriate cause it is at the top of a hill.  Not much shelter from the winds but it has a pretty view and as soon as it warms up I will get out and take a few pics.

Tuesday night it got down to 23F and for some reason our furnace refused to turn on.  We did have an electric space heater and our fireplace going but I was concerned that the pipes in the belly of the beast would freeze.  The furnace will throw some heat down into the holding tank area, not much, but enough to prevent freezing and the resulting leaks.  I was out at 4:30 with my flashlight trying to figure out what was wrong.  Me figuring out these things amounts to a lot of stomping, blue smoke, flipping switches and opening and closing tanks.  Nothing seemed to work so I let Charli into bed with us so we could both benefit from her body heat.  In the morning I resumed my stomping, swearing and banging stuff.  This time it worked.  Furnace started up, stayed running and generated some heat.  Not sure what the problem was but we haven't used the furnace since we left Town and Country in Winnipeg and perhaps with all the temp and humidity changes we have gone through we got an air lock or some humidity somewhere in our propane lines.  Whatever, we now have heat which will be needed as it is expected to get down to around 30F tonight.

Wednesday barely hit 50F however it wasn't windy and the skies were Arizona blue.  Based on our trip so far, I'll take it.  Given the cool temps we decided on something indoors so we went to a movie in downtown Boerne and then headed part way to San Antonio for some Texas BBQ.  If you haven't seen the latest remake of A Star is Born you should really go see it.  Take some kleenex.   We asked the ladies at the RV Park office for restaurant recommendations and they suggested Rudy's Country Kitchen and BBQ.  The place doesn't look like much but the food was excellent and it was a unique experience.

The Best BBQ we have had so far. 

5 huge smokers in the back each on with a different meat.
Brisket, Pork Ribs, Baby Back Ribs, Chicken, Turkey, Sausages
It was Buffet style and all a-la-carte
Mostly locals eat here and the ordering process was a bit confusing.
Someone finally took pity on us and provided some instructions

There are gas pumps outside and the front of the store is kind of like a convenience store.
Then there is about 15 rows of tables with plastic table clothes and metal folding chairs
Atmosphere was unique however food was excellent

All that remained of our Baby Back Ribs, Potato Salad and Peach Cobbler
The meat came wrapped in a large sheet of wax paper.
Everything else was paper or plastic.
When we were done we wrapped everything in the paper and dumped it in the garbage.
Not the most environmentally friendly but easy cleanup.

Temps are warming up to the 60's over the next few days before another system of rain hits us so tomorrow we are getting bundled up and heading to San Antonio to take in the River Walk.

Till then.

Rockport, A Birthday, USS Lexington

Wednesday, Nov 7 was a travel day and also my birthday.  First off, a special thanks to all those that took a few minutes to pass on their best wishes.  The years have flown by, especially since I retired way back in 2009.   Hopefully many more years of travel adventures ahead of us.   After getting settled in our new RV Park we managed to find a humble little restaurant that did Texas BBQ.  Lori and I shared a large plate of Beef ribs, sausage, potatoes and beans.  Very Texas and very good.  Afterwards Mark & Jan invited us to their rig for chocolate B'day cake with Chocolate Ice Cream.  Delicious.

Our drive to Rockport was a little frustrating.  We tried to avoid the Toll roads around Houston and ended up on a local highway which was more like a city street with traffic lights every quarter mile.  Seemed like every second one was a red.  Finally we made it to the Interstate only to be greeted with about 30 miles of construction.  Still a 4 lane divided highway but the lanes are narrower with cement dividers right next to the lane.  Mark was following and afterwards he mentioned to me that I was only about 1 foot from rubbing the trailer along the cement abutment.  I knew I was close but I also knew I couldn't move over as the semi's that were passing me were only about 1 foot from the other side of the trailer.  I quit looking after awhile and just focused on staying in my narrow little lane.  Finally we got past the construction and the rest of the drive was much more relaxing.

Rockport, Tx was where Hurricane Harvey made landfall last year.  I was expecting to see a lot more damage however you really had to look for it.  They have done a great job of cleaning up, and while some attractions are still impacted, for the most part its business as usual.  We are staying at the Circle W RV Park which is affiliated with Passport America so our 6 night stay is costing us only $22.50 per night.  Texas is certainly a less expensive place to spend the winter with monthly costs often running in the $400-450. range.  This is less than half of what we pay in Gold Canyon but to be fair the parks we have seen do not have near the amenities that GC has.  You get what you pay for.  On the other hand, Florida is by all accounts more than double what we pay in GC for the same level of amenities.  The Texas parks we have stayed at so far have been functional and amenities haven't been an issue as our stay is only for a few days to a week and we are for the most part off exploring.  

Our setup in Rockport.  Nice long level cement pullthroughs.

Very scenic.  The ponds are much bigger than
usual due to all the rain east Texas has had this fall. 

Flowers on the shrub above just starting to unfurl.

So far on our trip the weather has not been our friend.  Driving rain storms, tornado watches, hot and humid days.  Thursday was again one of those 90 degree days with humidity that you can almost reach out and touch.  While uncomfortable this could be our last day without rain in the forecast so we decided to take a tour of the USS Lexington, a WW2 era Aircraft Carrier.  We toured the Midway when we were in San Diego 2 years ago so there were a lot of similarities although the Lexington is a bit smaller and was a lot less crowded.

USS Lexington.
We asked how it handled Harvey.  We found out it is cemented in place.
Some of the planes were even left on deck, just tied down really well. 

See that mesh walk way off the front of the ship.
Thats 54 feet above the water line.
I took a walk out to the end with my heart pounding harder with every step. 

The row of windows just above the guns is the bridge for the Admiral.
He's in charge of the whole battle group.
The row of windows above that is the bridge for the Captain of the Aircraft Carrier. 

A couple of Anti-aircraft guns on a platform on the side of the ship.

The caption on the side of the nose reads.
"Don't bother Running
You'll only die tired"
Great sense of humour.   

The Captains Bridge.
Very utilitarian.

Very steep stairs to get below deck.
Carefully watch your feet so you don't miss a step.
But don't forget about the head room.
No padding on the steel overhead. 

Even a big ship like this is dwarfed by what the ocean can serve up. 

Pier 99 where we had lunch.
Nothing fancy.
In fact wouldn't qualify for a liquor license back home.
But the food was great.  Best shrimp I've had so far. 

Seats were made with PVC pipe with 1x6 boards screwed on for seats and backs.
Very durable and easily replaceable if washed away in a storm. 

I took a walk out on the seawall.
These two brown Pelicans were keeping their eyes out for lunch. 

Lots of shells sitting on moss covered rocks.
Brought one for Lori to add to her sea shell collection
She declined when she noticed that the shell was still occupied. 

Friday is an R&R day as the forecast is taking a dramatic turn.  Thursday we had both a/c's running full blast and today, Friday, we have the fireplace turned on high.  Rain all day and cool weather with more of both in the forecast for the next 4 days.  While we can dress for temps in the 50's instead of the 90's the rain may dictate our activities for the duration of our stay in Rockport.  Too bad cause there are lots of great birding sites here.  Would be great to take some long walks on the Gulf shoreline through many of the parks located here.

Thats it for now.