San Antonio, TX

Fri., Feb. 18, 2022 thru Mon., Feb. 28, 2022

Sad morning on Friday, Feb. 18th. We had to say goodbye to (brother) Andy & (sis-in-law) Linda. We are now going in different directions, but we’ll see them again in three short months. However, Linda & I still shed a few tears. We always do. Cheryl & Joe and Gary & I left Bayou Segnette State Park and traveled 123 miles on I-10 heading west. Part of the trip was over an 18.5 mile elevated bridge over the Atchafalaya Swamp. It’s called the “Louisiana Airborne Memorial Bridge.” Very cool! We’ve done that drive before, and so interesting to see cypress trees, egrets, herons, ducks and other swamp plants and wildlife. We arrived at Cajun Palms RV Resort in Breaux Bridge, LA. Huge campground with 450+ sites. None of us would opt to be here in the summertime with 3 pools and lots of kids! But the pool and hot tub area was pretty sweet! We arrived on a Friday night so the campground had music at their tiki bar. We walked up with drinks in hand and got nicely scolded by the 17-year old bouncer, who said we really weren’t supposed to bring drinks. (They want you buying theirs.) But it was ok for tonight, just don’t do it again. Okey dokey. Cheryl & Joe were hoping to be able to dance, but it was more like folk music. But we were able to talk and enjoy listening to the singer/guitar player. A fun evening.  

Saturday dawned to hearing what sounded like dinosaurs roaring. We thought we were hearing things until we realized that there is a “Prehistoric Park” located right next to the campground. Billed as “12 acres to explore steel and fiberglass dinosaur replicas.” Think Jurassic Park. We did not pay the $10 per person to visit. Hysterically funny to hear roaring dinosaurs intermittently throughout the day. That was a first! Beautiful sunny day…. we all did laundry and joined up later for Happy Hour.

Sunday, Feb. 20th, we left Cajun Palms and and traveled 225 miles west on I-10 to land at Eastlake RV Resort on the eastern outskirts of Houston. You know Texas is big when you pass a sign that says “Beaumont 25 miles, El Paso 857 miles” so clear across the state is an 857 mile ride. In New England you could pass through 5 states by then! 

We are here at Eastlake for two nights just to chill on our way to San Antonio. It’s a nice campground with a lot of oil workers staying here with their families. While towing our tiny home from Louisiana, we stopped at a TX Welcome Center Rest Stop and came upon a husband and wife trucker team hauling the “world’s largest radial tires.” They were manufactured by Bridgestone in SC and the tires were headed to Laredo then on to Mexico for a mining operation truck. They were huge! We took a pic. At the same Rest Stop, there was a 650 ft long boardwalk thru scenic wetlands. We never know what we’ll encounter on any given day… always interesting! 

On that same travel day leaving Cajun Palms RV Resort, Cheryl & Joe left just a little ahead of us. If either of us comes across any awful road conditions or tricky signage, we try and alert the other couple. I was just reading Joe’s text message about watching out for a bumpy spot at Mile Marker XX when WHUMPH, we hit it. WOW! Our teeth raddled on that one! When we stopped for the day and we opened the door, we saw that wine had fallen from the kitchen cabinet and landed on the floor. This is the reason we buy boxed wine. Thankfully it hadn’t opened or we would have had a really interesting red stain on the carpet which might be hard to explain. Also the toaster oven door had opened and the tray had landed in the kitchen sink. That REALLY was a big bump we hit.

We had a quiet few days at Eastlake RV Resort… we re-stocked on fuel and groceries, walked the campground, and did some admin stuff. From here it’s onward to San Antonio for a week. Very excited about that!

Tuesday, Feb. 22nd, we traveled 225 miles through the outer belt around Houston and all the many highway flyovers which boggle the mind on I-10 to arrive at Travelers World RV Resort not far from downtown San Antonio. On the drive into San Antonio we passed fighter jets landing at a nearby base. Pretty cool. Great campground! There’s a bus stop right outside to take you into town if you don’t want to drive, and we’re on the Riverwalk bike path. Sweet. Although the campground does tell you to put your bikes into their locked shed, otherwise they will be stolen. Lovely. Temps in the afternoon were a sunny 85 degrees. We were actually a little hot! But definitely enjoyed sitting outside in the shade with Cheryl & Joe and adult beverages in hand. 

The following morning, Wednesday, Feb. 23rd, it was 35 degrees. Wow! Talk about a temperature swing! We had plans to meet Meigs & Paul at Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. M&P are longtime friends and neighbors from Nottingham who relocated several years ago to nearby San Marcos, TX. As we were driving to meet them, we saw highway signs flashing “ice protection.” There were road crews out putting a treatment down on the exit/entrance ramps off the highways. Didn’t expect to see that here. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the Wildlife Ranch! It’s billed as  an “African Safari – Texas Style.” We were able to do a 6-mile drive through the ranch and see and throw food to potentially over 700 animals from over 40 different species. We did see quite a few different animals! Not all wanted food. The animals seem to be well taken care of. They roam at will. 

After the Wildlife Ranch the four of us headed off for lunch then visited Natural Bridge Caverns, the largest caverns in TX. The name is derived from the 60 ft. natural limestone slab bridge that spans the cavern’s entrance. The temp inside is a comfortable 70 degrees, although the humidity is practically 100%. Awesome experience! Beautiful… a mixture of narrow passageways and large cavernous spaces filled with amazing formations. Different than Luray Caverns that we visited in early October but equally dazzling. Fabulous day hanging out with dear, dear friends!

Afterwards we said goodbye to M&P for the day and headed back to the campground and were happy to see that cousin Dale and his delightful wife Delilah had arrived. They had driven up from Corpus Christi with their small Casita RV to spend time with us in San Antonio. I made a Spinach Tortellini Soup for dinner which ended up being rather spicy! D&D were troopers and ate it anyway! A fun time catching up with both of them! Delilah was in love with our new faucet that turns on and off with the touch of a hand…. that girl is easily pleased! 

Thursday, Feb. 24th, dawned with more icy roads. What the heck?! We were due to meet Meigs & Paul again this morning in downtown San Antonio but held off our get together until later in the morning due to icy roads over by where they live. We met them for lunch at The Chart House rotating restaurant at the top of the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio. Fabulous experience. A fun server, delicious lunch, and lava cake for dessert. Does it get any better? Many of you know I suffer with motion sickness sooooo to be on the safe side I took a bonine (motion sickness pill) that morning. You just never know how fast those rotating restaurants are going to spin! 😂 Big thanks to Meigs & Paul for treating us to such a spectacular lunch at a truly special location!  Afterwards we headed to the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures and met Cheryl & Joe and Dale & Delilah there. A good thing to do on a cold, raw day. Had no idea soooo many different nationalities influenced Texas culture. Very interesting. We said goodbye to Meigs & Paul as they needed to head home. In the evening we enjoyed Happy Hour at our tiny home with C&J and D&D, followed by pizza (thanks to D&D) and salad (thanks to Cheryl) afterwards! A lively conversation about art made for an interesting evening. 

On Friday, Feb. 25th, we visited four Missions in San Antonio with Cheryl & Joe. It was a frigid, raw day to go roaming, but we did. All four missions are part of the National Park Service, yet all four are fully operational churches with weekly services. Amazing. The missions were originally created to “protect” the local native Indians from the more aggressive Apache/Comanche tribes. The missions were not only churches but communities. Each was a fortified village, with it’s own church, farm, and ranch. Franciscan friars gathered native peoples, converted them to Catholicism, taught them to live as Spaniards and that helped maintain Spanish control over the Texas frontier. Not exactly the most altruistic motives, but wonderful to see these fabulous structures. The missions are a favorite photo spot for San Antonio brides. I had made a stew Friday night for dinner. Good night for it! Cheryl & Joe joined us, and Cheryl had made a delicious dessert. We played Rummikub afterwards. It was Gary’s first time playing. He enjoyed it, although he and I both need more practice! 

The weather wasn’t great on Saturday so we did chores and caught up on some things then played cards with Cheryl & Joe later in the afternoon. Sunday, Feb. 27th, was a gorgeous day… finally… so we headed to the River Walk in San Antonio with Cheryl & Joe. Such an amazing offering right in the heart of the city. It runs 15 miles in length and was built in 1929 to control flooding of the San Antonio River. The downtown portion is about 5 miles long. We started with drinks at The Esquire Tavern featuring a vintage bar over 100 ft long. The tavern is the oldest on the River Walk, built in 1933 after prohibition. Our friend Mary was in San Antonio visiting a cousin and joined us at The Esquire Tavern just as we were finishing up our adult beverages and Plantain Chips. We headed off together to enjoy a Riverboat Cruise on the River Walk. Afterwards we walked through historic La Vallita Historic Arts Village, the oldest neighborhood in San Antonio, to admire the historic houses now housing arts and crafts. Joe & Gary enjoyed live jazz at an outdoor free concert while the girls shopped. 

Later we all enjoyed a fabulous Mexican “linner” at the Iron Cactus where they made homemade quacomole table side. Yum. From there we said goodbye to Mary for the day, and the four of us headed to the top of the Tower of the Americas for dessert and a cocktail and to enjoy the city lights. For dessert we all shared a Grand Manier Souffle and a sampling of 3 different kinds of Creme Brulee. Dessert took soooo long to arrive (over 1 1/2 hours) that the server brought a free round of drinks. We made out on that deal since the guys were drinking expensive cognac while the girls were drinking cheap white wine. Fun experience for sure… particularly walking back thru River Walk at night with lights on and so few people. Just beautiful! Great day with fabulous friends! Awesome to catch up with Mary again in this great city!

Monday, Feb. 28th, was Gary’s and my last day in in San Antonio. Cheryl & Joe headed off in their tiny home in the morning to Livingston, TX to take care of registering their vehicles. Gary & I made plans with Mary for one last day together visiting The Alamo. Originally built as a Spanish Mission to convert the American Indians to Christianity, it ultimately became a military fortress and was famous for The Battle of the Alamo in 1836 where Davey Crockett (among others) was killed. We couldn’t visit this great city without making a pilgrimage to the Alamo. Afterwards we visited San Fernando Cathedral. Founded in 1731, it’s the oldest continuously running church in TX and also the site of the final resting place of Davey Crockett and other Alamo heroes. A beautiful church. 

By then it was time for lunch. The weather was picture perfect and River Walk was busy! We ended up with a late lunch at Dick’s Last Resort. Funky place! Best to go with a sense of humor and not to be offended easily (see photos below)! Then we had to say goodbye to Mary once again. We were going to be traveling in different directions, and not quite sure when we’ll see this lovely lady again. We all absolutely loved San Antonio and would come back in a heartbeat! We particularly would come back to take advantage of the bike trail along the River Walk. The colder than normal temps for most of our days here this trip made the idea of bike riding especially unappealing. 

Later in the day we returned to our tiny home and enjoyed sitting outside and taking advantage of the beautiful weather. Tomorrow we hit the road to arrive in Galveston, TX for two months for our annual pilgrimage of taking care of doctor’s appointments.