Museum Reach of San Antonio's Riverwalk - Wed., May 22

At 7:00 p.m., San Antonio Hill Country Hikers started their walk near La Gloria Restaurant behind the Pearl Brewery. Goal: a four-mile round trip walk to the Houston Street Bridge and back. Twenty-five people walked the walk and talked the talk, some of it trash talk.

A greeting committee consisting of our group leaders welcomes everyone and explains the walk. A group photo is taken at the beginning, then the fast walkers set their pace, and everyone else settles into their own rhythm. Also at the start point, hanging out in the water were mallards, a coot, and a yellow-crowned night heron.

Paul photographing the group at the start.

Placid aquascaping.

Yellow-crowned night heron.

Many blooming flowers along the Riverwalk.

The Museum Reach of the Riverwalk is north of downtown and passes by the San Antonio Museum of Art. Along the Museum Reach are works of art along the bridge overcrossings, under the bridges and along the path.

Hands across the water (bridge overcrossing art)

Faux bois (false wood - concrete) arbor

 Many tile murals line the Riverwalk. Here are a few...

Tile work to beautify an outlet cover.

Tile work depicting the San Antonio River.

Downtown, Tower of the Americas and river in the foreground.

Houston St. Bridge artwork of Mission Concepcion.

Fish art hanging under an interstate bridge; crepe myrtle blossom in foreground.

The Grotto - cement art complete with skull and waterfall.

The Museum Reach is beautiful with many trees and flowers currently in bloom. Jasmine wafted in the air through sections, honeysuckle scent in other sections. The hibiscus are in bloom and have the most vibrant colors - red, orange, yellow, pink. The dramatic trumpet flower has blooms that measure 10"-12".

Trumpet flower.

For Bob and I, these walks give us time to connect and talk about what's going on in our lives and what we plan to do in the future; all while enjoying the fresh air and beautiful surroundings. The temperature was in the high 80s this evening and VERY humid!

Museum Reach of Riverwalk

Another yellow-crowned night heron.

Places to go from the Riverwalk. Well marked path!

When the walk was over, a number of people from the group were going to The Cove for dinner and invited everyone to go. We had never been and decided to check it out. What a good place. One thing Bob and I have noticed about San Antonians is they like to sit outside under a tree, patio, or the evening sky to eat. The Cove has a large outdoor seating area with a small, air-conditioned inside area (the bar). Bob and I both had "Lisa's Special" which is two tilapia soft tacos made with cabbage and poblano sauce, along with a spinach salad for $9. That was the perfect ending to our four-mile walk.

We returned home at 9:30 p.m. Thank you to the Hill Country Hikers. You have a knack for making people feel welcome and a part of the group from the first outing.

Travel Bug out.

T is for Travel - Tues., Apr. 23

Cascade Canyon, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

 With a moniker of TravelBug, what else could "T" stand for but travel in the A-to-Z Challenge?

What about traveling motivates us? What keeps us focused on moving down the road pulling our home behind us? What are our favorite spots to which we've traveled? What setbacks can happen? What is in store for the future?

I'm going to answer the last two questions first. One of the sayings full-time RVers live by is: "Our plans are made with Jello." In other words, we have no crystal ball. What we thought we might do one day, gets changed the next. Just as Jello doesn't stay stable, but wobbles around and changes fluidity, so do plans of full-time RVers. What causes our Jello-like existence? What changes? Setbacks are a part of it, that's why I'm answering that question now as well. Here's a partial list:

*Breakdowns or mechanical problems requiring an extended stay, the length of which is determined by the availability of parts or mechanics to effect repairs.

*Illness:

• A loved one in another part of the country becomes quite ill necessitating travel to be there for them
• One of the RVers becomes too ill to travel

*Accidents: vehicular or personal. These can ruin your plans for quite some time. In a motor vehicle or motor home accident, depending on the severity, you will need to deal with insurance companies, the possibility of replacing vehicles, or doctor/hospital visits. If you don't have insurance or adequate savings, the time spent in an area becomes quite prolonged. (I speak from experience on this one!) You gotta do what you gotta do.

*Family/Grandchildren: birth of grandchildren in another state, travel for unexpected family events, death in the family.

*Change in job situation: job ends unexpectedly and you find a job in another state or area.

*Weather: predicted hail, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, high winds, snow, ice. With your home on wheels you can do your best to avoid bad weather...just pack up and move. Savvy RVers keep their eyes on the weather.

*Sale of your sticks and bricks house: You may be ready to hit the road in your RV; however, the sale of your home may fall through, be delayed or it may take more time than you thought.

*Bugs/infestations: Not a pleasant topic, but bugs can be a problem. Just ask anyone who has had ants invade their RV. I heard a story of one couple who were in the South. Ants took over their RV, swarming on the floor and even in their bed. They cut short their trip because they heard the best thing to kill them was freezing weather. They headed home to the north where freezing weather would be the ants' demise. No see 'ums, mosquitoes, wasps/bees/yellow jackets - all can make being outside (or inside) miserable.

*Allergies: if something in your current camp area is making you miserably allergic, it may be time to move somewhere else.

*Detour to meet friends and/or fellow bloggers who are in your vicinity.

*Travel before we get too injured/ill to enjoy it.

What motivates us? What keeps us focused on moving down the road? Why travel?

1. See beautiful natural surroundings: forests, beaches, rivers, lakes, deserts, caves, gardens, arches, hoodoos, natural bridges, waterfalls, national parks, Corps of Engineers campgrounds
2. Learn history
3. Experience different cultures
4. Taste new foods
5. Volunteer, if so inclined
6. Find something unexpected that delights us
7. Meet interesting people, including blog friends
8. Visit relatives we haven't seen in a long time
9. Freedom of the open road
10. Go to dark sky parks (e.g. Natural Bridges National Monument) to see the nighttime sky without city lights diminishing the intensity
11. Learn what we like and don't like
12. Look for a place we'd like to settle permanently if, or when, the nomadic tendency wears off
13. We like the people we are as travelers
14. Sporting events in different cities
15. Anticipation of a new adventure
16. Bob enjoys running, and I enjoy walking/hiking, in new places,  (e.g. the RiverWalk in San Antonio, along the Truckee River in Reno, Yellowstone, Big Bend...you get the idea).
17. We're able to immerse ourselves in areas like the Oregon Trail through Nebraska, the Old Spanish Trail (Camino Real) and the Military Road in Texas

And our favorite places we've traveled (in the RV)?

1. Yellowstone National Park
2. Black Hills, South Dakota
3. Texas Hill Country
4. Reno/Sparks, Nevada
5. Big Bend National Park, Texas
6. San Antonio, Texas
7. Corpus Christi, Texas
8. Delta, Colorado and Black Canyon of the Gunnison
9. Kearney, Nebraska: Great Platte River Road Archway spanning I-80, and history of the area
10. North Platte, Nebraska: Union Pacific Railroad Golden Spike Tower at Bailey Yard
11. Thermopolis, Wyoming
12. Cody, Wyoming
13. Oklahoma City, OK: Cowboy Museum, walking downtown along the river
14. Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park, south of Ely, Nevada

Favorite places (before the RV or not with the RV)?

1. British Columbia, western Alberta, Canada: Vancouver, Victoria and Vancouver Island, Fairmont Hot Springs (before it was hit by mudslide in 2012), Kicking Horse Pass/Spiral Tunnels, Banff, Jasper, Icefields Parkway
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Southern Germany
4. Southeastern Australia: Coffs Harbour, Blue Mountains, Sydney, Canberra, Great Ocean Road, Bowral, Australian Southern Highlands, Waterfall Way, Melbourne
5. Utah: Zion, Bryce, Grand-Staircase Escalante, Capitol Reef, Goblin Valley State Park, Arches, Canyonlands (Island in the Sky and Needles districts), Natural Bridges National Monument, Lake Powell, Rainbow Bridge National Monument
6. Western Montana
7. Oregon
8. Hawaii
9. Colorado: Mesa Verde
10. Tennessee
11. North Carolina
12. Kentucky
13. Washington: Mount Rainier, Seattle, Olympic Peninsula, Goldendale (sun observatory)
14. California: Yosemite, Monterey/Pacific Grove, Redwoods, Gold Country

You can tell by our list we haven't spent much time in the northern, central or eastern United States.  All in good time.

Tell us why you travel. What are your favorite places? What causes you to change plans?

Travel Bug out.

All Things LBJ -- Fri., Mar. 29

Today we learned about Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States and his wife, Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson (aka Lady Bird). We stopped in Johnson City, Texas, at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park where we watched movies on both Lyndon B. and Lady Bird Johnson. Excellent movies, but I especially liked the movie on Lady Bird. I felt a kinship to her. She liked writing, photography, being out in nature, and worked to beautify U.S. cities and highways. Limitation of billboards in the U.S. was part of her legacy.

Inauguration ball.

Janyce in museum display room.

The museum is small but well put together. I, again, enjoyed reading all about Lady Bird, how she got her nickname, her public speaking skills, what a shrewd investor she was, all the parks she helped dedicate, and how she advised the President.

How she handled an antagonistic crowd.

Fort Davis National Historic Site

Lady Bird in Big Bend National Park

When we finished in the museum, we walked outside to take a look at Lyndon's childhood home, and walked the nature trail to the Johnson settlement.

Lyndon Johnson's boyhood home.

Nature walk to Johnson settlement.

Johnson family settlement

Majestic old live oak on the property.

Windmill and water storage tank. Windmills
are used to draw water out of the aquifers.

Texas longhorn.

Texas longhorn.

Jan and Mom on the trail.

Purple verbena

After the history lesson and museum we took Mom and Jan to Pedernales Falls State Park for some nature time. We drove to the end of the road and hiked to see the falls. State park user fee of $6 per person to enter.

Local road 2766 to Pedernales Falls

Pedernales Falls

Cut-leaf daisy.

Water-carved rocks

Jan, Mom, Bob at Pedernales Falls

Bob and Jan overlooking the falls basin

Pedernales Falls Trail.

From Pedernales Falls, we traveled 14 miles west of Johnson City on Hwy 290 to Stonewall, Texas to the LBJ State Park and Historic Site. Here we took an audio driving tour of the LBJ ranch in our own car. (Pick up audio CD in the park visitor center.)

Our illustrious tour guide showing us the park.

We stopped at the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm to view life as it would have been in the early 1900s.

Bluebonnets (Lupine texensis) and whitebonnets (?). All lupine.

Isn't she just adorable? She even has bangs.

We continued our drive past Trinity Lutheran Church (President and Lady Bird Johnson did not attend church here).

Trinity Lutheran Church

Our tour then took us past a one-room schoolhouse, President Johnson's birthplace, the cemetery where they are buried, the working barn, the airstrip and finally to the Texas White House. We hopped out of the car and paid for the tour of the Texas White House. We had an excellent tour guide who kept us entertained with stories about Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Amphi-Car. President Johnson used to enjoy taking people for
a ride in this car, pretending he lost control and the car would
careen down the bank into the river, terrifying people who didn't
know it would float and still be drivable.

The Texas White House and "Cabinet Tree"

Beautiful trees along the river. Jan snapping photos of the
Texas White House.

Air Force 1/2.

Vote Mom for President!

With LBJ history firmly under our belts, we drove west on US 290 to Wildseed Farm looking for more wildflowers. Wildseed Farm, in season, has fields ablaze with color. They also have excellent peach ice cream cones. Pay the extra $1.00 for peach. It's worth it. You can have vanilla anytime.

We found a few flowers in bloom, but nothing like last April. We are too early. In about two weeks, this place will probably be at its peak. Here are photos of Wildseed Farm. Any help you can provide identifying wildflowers is greatly appreciated.

Red poppy.

California poppies.

Phlox drummondii??

Five-spot (Nemophila maculata)

Johnny jump ups

California poppies and bluebonnets.

Sweet William

Ox-eyed daisy

Wildseed Farms

Red-winged blackbird

That's it. From Wildseed Farm we headed back to San Antonio. Another long day.

Tomorrow morning Mom and Jan fly back home. We're taking them to the airport at 4:00 a.m.

Good night.