St. Mary's University walk -- Sat., Jan. 26, Part 1

A cool and drizzly morning greeted us. We were up early to do laundry before going on our St. Mary's University Volksmarch. 

Jim and Peri met us at our 5er and we drove to St. Mary's University. The temperature was 58 degrees and cloudy when we arrived. We all debated whether we should take our coats with us and decided against it. After all, the forecast high was 76 degrees.

When I finished signing in, we started following the directions for our walk and came upon the school mascot...a "Rattler," after passing by the Bill Greehey School of Business/Alkek.

Jim and Peri on the path behind the Rattler sculpture.

Lots of cheerleaders were in competition in the university Alumni Athletics and Convocation Center. We saw girls practicing on the lawn. Sorry the pics of the girls practicing did not turn out well.

We walked past V.J. Keefe Memorial Stadium, the Law Center, Treadaway Hall, Marianist Heritage House, Garni Science Hall, and a cemetery--all on campus. From the University, we stayed on city streets through local neighborhoods.

Very cool fence finials.

[An aside: I felt like a celebrity today. When I signed in first thing in the morning, Pat from the Randolph Roadrunners Club said, "Oh, you're Susan. I'm Pat, the one in charge of the the Crownridge Walk and the Cibolo Wilderness Walk." She recognized my name from the start cards I sent to her from those two walks which we completed in the past couple of weeks. While we were out on the course, I got to talking to another woman, Joanne, who was one of the people who answered my email about free vs paid walkers. She and I walked and talked together for quite a while. Very interesting conversation. When we arrived at the checkpoint at Woodlawn Lake Park, Ellen, another lady I've been conversing with online recognized my name as well. Wow, I felt special.]

The nicest part of our walk, in my opinion, was Woodlawn Lake Park. We walked the 1.2 mile trail around the lake and saw...

Bob, Peri and Jim

Lighthouse in the lake.

Basilica of the Little Flowers (San Antonio downtown in the haze).

Northern shoveler

Double-crested cormorants.

Pied-billed grebe.

Woodlawn Neighborhood Library.

Geographic center of Bexar County, Texas.

Tiles on front of the library.

Dry neighborhood pool.

 From the lake, we headed directly back to the university. Here are more shots from the campus.

Statue of Santa Maria

 

Bob and Peri in front of the Bell Tower.

Bell Tower (smokestack in back shows through arches).

Reinbolt Hall (contains Assumption Chapel).

At the end of the walk, Peri joined volkssporting and will start earning pins and badges as she completes distance and event levels. I'm happy she joined. I've been a member for 30 years and for me it's a fun, non-competitive way to get in exercise.

In addition, the Randolph Roadrunners gave me a free one year membership to their club.

This blog is getting long, so I will continue the day in a second blog.

Travel Bug still writing. (To be continued.)