Hi All
I know I haven't posted for a while. We are in Terlingua Texas visiting the gorgeous Big Bend National Park. Wifi has been spotty to non existent. We have to go to the lodge at our RV park to even have a hope of getting Wifi service. Many times there are too many people online and service is very slow. Rest assured I will finish a couple of posts about Austin and then move on to our time at Big Bend. Tomorrow we move on to Las Cruces where we hope to have better service.
More to come!
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Bikes and hike
Currently in: Cedar Creek, Texas (outside of Austin)
Next up: Big Bend National Park (Texas)
We will then be in Las Cruces, NM heading to Tuscon, Phoenix and Cottonwood, AZ in March
We are experiencing the same unpredictable weather in Austin that we had in San Antonio. We thought we chose a sunny afternoon for a bike ride around a wonderful trail on Lady Bird Lake. But it was cloudy while we were there. The trail was pretty busy with walkers, runner and bikers. There are several nice views of Austin from the bike trail.
Even on a cloudy day, the water and the city were nice to look at.
Part of the trail is on a pedestrian bridge. It was fun trying to ride up that bridge!
Next up: Big Bend National Park (Texas)
We will then be in Las Cruces, NM heading to Tuscon, Phoenix and Cottonwood, AZ in March
We are experiencing the same unpredictable weather in Austin that we had in San Antonio. We thought we chose a sunny afternoon for a bike ride around a wonderful trail on Lady Bird Lake. But it was cloudy while we were there. The trail was pretty busy with walkers, runner and bikers. There are several nice views of Austin from the bike trail.
That night we were able to have a campfire at the campground for the first time since November! There has either been a fire ban or it has been too cold to sit outside for the last 3 months. It was wonderful to be able to enjoy this part of our Rv life.
We invited the couple in the RV next to our to join us at the park's communal fire pit. They were from Michigan and it turns out that Karl was a crane operator at the Burn Harbor, IN plant of Bethlehem Steel! Beth is now part of ArcelorMittal, the company that I retired from. At some point the conversation naturally turned to sports and we discovered that Karl and BJ are Jeff Samardzija's grandparents. They are not ND fans, but were chatty about his current MLB career as he is currently pitching for the SF Giants. Small world again!
Johnny talked me into hiking at the McKinney Rough Nature Park. The weather wasn't great, but I went. I thought it was going to be a nice nature walk, but it turned into a great hike. And then the sun came out!! Look what we saw within a minute of driving into the park:
I liked how the sun shone through the trees here. Much of the terrain was this red clay.
When the hike was over we were back at the visitor's center and realized the campus is used for youth education of both the outdoors, survival training and teamwork. The facility was beautiful and included dorms for sleeping. Outdoor Ed, maybe??
I also saw this and it freaked me out! I haven't seen one of these in quite a while. Do kids know how to use this?
Sunday, February 18, 2018
The rest of SA
Currently in: Austin, Texas
Next up: Big Bend National Park on our way to Arizona
The weather in San Antonio provided a real challenge in terms of planning to see the sights. It was very unpredictable! So days I thought were going to be rainy and cold turned out to be beautiful and vice versa. But this is the life of a vagabond (as we were called last night in Austin). And we make the best of it!
We took advantage of a sunny, but cold day, to explore downtown San Antonio some more. Our first stop was the historic Market Square. It was rather subdued the day we visited, but we did get to see some crafts and artwork from Mexico.
Our Texan RV friends insisted that we visit Lulu's Bakery near the Market Square!
Next up: Big Bend National Park on our way to Arizona
The weather in San Antonio provided a real challenge in terms of planning to see the sights. It was very unpredictable! So days I thought were going to be rainy and cold turned out to be beautiful and vice versa. But this is the life of a vagabond (as we were called last night in Austin). And we make the best of it!
We took advantage of a sunny, but cold day, to explore downtown San Antonio some more. Our first stop was the historic Market Square. It was rather subdued the day we visited, but we did get to see some crafts and artwork from Mexico.
Our Texan RV friends insisted that we visit Lulu's Bakery near the Market Square!
Finally, we took a boat ride along the River Walk.
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| River Walk barge |
In addition to enjoying the view of all the bars and restaurants, we learned more about the history of the San Antonio River including additional canals put in place to avoid flooding.
There are many beautiful mosaics along the River Walk. This one symbolizes the coming together of the many cultures in San Antonio. Notice the 5 flags that flew over the city at some point in time.
This one is above the Convention Center and represents the history of civilizations in the Americas.
Here are a few of my other favorite historical markers along the River Walk.
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| Bells represent the 5 Missions in San Antonio |
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| Presa Street (iron) Bridge - commissioned in 1890 |
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| Statue of San Antonio |
Although I didn't get a picture of the historic La Villita area, we saw the oldest German house in San Antonio and learned that there was an influx of Germans into San Antonio in the mid 1800s when the city was under the Texas flag. The area was attractive due to the ability to farm in the area.
On a separate day, we explored a couple of the Missions. They are now run by the National Park Service. First, Mission San Juan.
It is an active Catholic Parish, so the clergy live here!
Since it was supposed to rain that day, our plan was to take a quick walk on the trail behind the church. Here is the San Antonio River running along the back of the Mission.
We knew that there was a great bike path that connected all 5 Missions (including the Alamo). We didn't bring our bikes because there was supposed to be rain. It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon and we were sorry we didn't have them. We took a walk along the path instead.
There was also an aqueduct system put in place when the Mission were being built to provide irrigation for crops that were grown. Part of the aqueducts are still there and along the walk/bike trail.
We also found the ruins of a small community called Berg's Mill. The river provided the power for the wool and cotton mills in the mid 1800s. Drought, floods and economic competition caused the population to severely decrease by 1940. This is right along the bike path too!
Since the weather held out we decided to go to the Mission Espada. The church was open so we went inside and it was a lovely, solemn place. We walked around the grounds at this Mission too so we could further learn about life here hundreds of years ago.
There is so much to see in San Antonio, we could have stayed for a month and not seen everything. But we got a good feel for the city and its wonderful people.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
More family! More friends!
Currently in San Antonio
Next Up: Austin, TX and then Big Bend National Park on our way to Arizona
My sister Cecile and her husband Bill live in San Antonio and we were lucky enough to spend the day with them. First, we remembered the Alamo!
While the Alamo started out as a Catholic Mission, it then became a military fort and was critical to the history of Texas. Texas has been under a total of 5 flags: Spanish, French, Mexican, the Confederate States and the United States. We got a bit of a lesson in the loading and shooting of muskets during the time of the Mexican siege.
The Alamo itself looks different from the other times I have visited. The church, the barracks and other ruins are still there, but the grounds are much prettier with the addition of a garden.
Later in the week we toured the church, San Fernando Cathedral, that houses the remains of some of the heroes of the Alamo: among them Bowie, Crockett and Travis. The Cathedral dates back to the mid 1700s and still has much of the original stonework.
We thought it would be fun to see the Texas Ranger museum too, since the day turned out to be somewhat cold and rainy. Off we went to the Buckhorn Saloon and museum.
The original owner would give a free shot of whiskey to anyone who would donate a set of horns.
Thus began a huge collection of animals that have been preserved through taxidermy, including this Irish Elk; the species has been extinct for 9,000 years.
He also created this collection of chairs made out of animal horns. Very unique.
Another cool thing in the animal section was the Tree of Life from Thailand. It took over a year of constant work for the artist to create it. Now I know why the Animal Kingdom at Disney has one!
Once we moved on to the Texas Ranger part of the museum, we learned a bit about the history of the Texas law enforcement. The Rangers were started in the mid 1800s with 12 men directed to keep settlements safe from Native Americans. Today they are a division of the Texas state bureau of investigation. The Texas Rangers were involved in bringing down Bonnie and Clyde.
This guy is still on the lam. They need to up that reward money!
I took a peek at this collection of law enforcement badges at the museum.
In the old days, the Rangers hung out at the Saloon - and so did we!
Finally, over the weekend we were able to catch up with some friends that we met at the rally we went to last May in Tennessee. We started out at the oldest bar on the Riverwalk - The Esquire.
And we moved on to a classic Tex Mex restaurant. So fun to catch up with this folks!
Next Up: Austin, TX and then Big Bend National Park on our way to Arizona
My sister Cecile and her husband Bill live in San Antonio and we were lucky enough to spend the day with them. First, we remembered the Alamo!
While the Alamo started out as a Catholic Mission, it then became a military fort and was critical to the history of Texas. Texas has been under a total of 5 flags: Spanish, French, Mexican, the Confederate States and the United States. We got a bit of a lesson in the loading and shooting of muskets during the time of the Mexican siege.
The Alamo itself looks different from the other times I have visited. The church, the barracks and other ruins are still there, but the grounds are much prettier with the addition of a garden.
Later in the week we toured the church, San Fernando Cathedral, that houses the remains of some of the heroes of the Alamo: among them Bowie, Crockett and Travis. The Cathedral dates back to the mid 1700s and still has much of the original stonework.
We thought it would be fun to see the Texas Ranger museum too, since the day turned out to be somewhat cold and rainy. Off we went to the Buckhorn Saloon and museum.
The original owner would give a free shot of whiskey to anyone who would donate a set of horns.
Thus began a huge collection of animals that have been preserved through taxidermy, including this Irish Elk; the species has been extinct for 9,000 years.
He also created this collection of chairs made out of animal horns. Very unique.
Another cool thing in the animal section was the Tree of Life from Thailand. It took over a year of constant work for the artist to create it. Now I know why the Animal Kingdom at Disney has one!
Once we moved on to the Texas Ranger part of the museum, we learned a bit about the history of the Texas law enforcement. The Rangers were started in the mid 1800s with 12 men directed to keep settlements safe from Native Americans. Today they are a division of the Texas state bureau of investigation. The Texas Rangers were involved in bringing down Bonnie and Clyde.
This guy is still on the lam. They need to up that reward money!
I took a peek at this collection of law enforcement badges at the museum.
In the old days, the Rangers hung out at the Saloon - and so did we!
Finally, over the weekend we were able to catch up with some friends that we met at the rally we went to last May in Tennessee. We started out at the oldest bar on the Riverwalk - The Esquire.
And we moved on to a classic Tex Mex restaurant. So fun to catch up with this folks!
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Art in Harlingen
Currently in San Antonio
Heading West!
The art work in Harlingen is on the sides of buildings! Some of the most beautiful murals I have ever seen. We saw at least 20 of them, although there are dozens inside and outside of buildings. The town is very proud of the murals.
This is a mural installation that shows the history of Mexico in murals, although they almost look like mosaics. The art was originally in Los Angeles at the California Museum of Science and Industry but is now permanently in Harlingen. It's not only beautiful to look at, but tells the story of Mexico from a unique perspective.
Finally, the Marine Military Academy is located about a mile from our RV park. It is a boarding school for young high school men. There is a museum where we watched a video about Iwo Jima and looked at some other artifacts. The statue below is the original plaster model of the bronze statue at Arlington National Cemetery in DC.
One of the soldiers in the statue, who died during the battle, was from the lower Rio Grande Valley. The marines were raising the flag high enough so all the soldiers on the island could see it and stay motivated through the long and bloody battle.
Heading West!
The art work in Harlingen is on the sides of buildings! Some of the most beautiful murals I have ever seen. We saw at least 20 of them, although there are dozens inside and outside of buildings. The town is very proud of the murals.
This is a mural installation that shows the history of Mexico in murals, although they almost look like mosaics. The art was originally in Los Angeles at the California Museum of Science and Industry but is now permanently in Harlingen. It's not only beautiful to look at, but tells the story of Mexico from a unique perspective.
One of the soldiers in the statue, who died during the battle, was from the lower Rio Grande Valley. The marines were raising the flag high enough so all the soldiers on the island could see it and stay motivated through the long and bloody battle.
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