Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Haven't posted in a couple of days. We had a very nice Thanksgiving. There were about 50 people dining.

Started the blog but took a quick break for ice cream sundaes at the lodge. Back now.

O.k. talking about Thanksgiving. The food was great. Had all of the standards plus a few more dishes. The only really odd item was the gravy. There was northern gravy and southern gravy. Southern gravy had hard boiled eggs and the giblets. Guess which one I took. Right. Northern.

That night there were leftovers. Had my traditional turkey sandwich. Sharon didn't go back. Still too full. I think it was more about watching football. However, they did have the football games on the big screen at the lodge.

Friday, we finished cataloging the cds. Have more cds than cases. So ordered a couple more. Told Sharon I needed to buy one more Christmas CD. Only have 99. So far we've listened to 10 of them. Only 89 more to go.

Yesterday, we went fishing. 5 of us plus 4 dogs. One truck. You are correct, it wasn't our truck. Here's a picture of the fishing pier. We were at the Randolph AFB rec center on Canyon Lake.



There was also a marina.



Sharon, Flo and Tammy went fishing. It was really windy. That's why the fish weren't biting. But then it was Sharon, Flo, and Tammy who made the statement. Sharon only got a few nibbles. Flo caught a small perch and a 12" large mouth bass. Tammy caught one small perch. Couldn't keep the bass. Had to be 14". Everyone had a great time.



A couple of deer came visiting.



Who knows what this next week will bring. Getting haircuts and color for sure. Also decorating for Christmas and hopefully attending a Christmas parade by the end of the week.

Tuesday, November 24

Woke up to wind. Roughly 20 miles an hour gusting up to ..... Doing some chores today. Went on line this morning to find a salon. I definitely need a hair cut. And you wouldn't believe it but it's starting to look like a different color. So, I read the reviews and picked a salon. Next Tuesday, I'll be getting a cut, color, and highlights. Hopefully the place is as good as the reviews said. And I'm very thankful for GPS. Not knowing the various cities around - it's only 20+ minutes away.

Finished visiting the missions yesterday. We saw Mission Espada and Mission Concepcion. Packed a picnic lunch. The weather was beautiful. A slight breeze and plenty of sunshine with just a few clouds.

This is Mission Concepcion. It has the original church.



Tomorrow we'll be making our potluck dishes for the Thanksgiving Dinner. Well, not the scalloped corn. I'll make that on Thursday. I'm thinking this year I may get to see all of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Friday, we'll get out our Christmas decorations. Can't wait to start playing Christmas music. Cataloging our Christmas music CDs now. We're up to 40 CDs and still counting. Love that Christmas music.

On Saturday, Sharon is planning on going fishing - weather permitting. We're hoping to go to Canyon Lake. I'll take the camera and binocs. This might be the only day she'll be able to go this year. But January isn't that far away. One of our new friends has a nephew (lives close by) that knows all of the fishing spots. So we're hoping.

We're checking out the birding spots. The state parks here have an entrance fee. If you fish at a state park - no license required.

Have a great Thanksgiving. If you're driving or flying - safe travels.

Gopher Eating

Yep. Sharon and I both ate gophers this afternoon. What you say! How could we do this. Very easy. In Texas, they're candy. Tastes like pecan pie wih a dollop of milk chocolate. Gotcha.

It's been raining all day. Went to Camping World this morning to get tire extenders. Didn't happen. Apparently the hubcaps on the truck pop off and could slice the extenders should they come off. O.k. so they recommended an alternative. There's a company in California that makes extenders that will fit the truck. They send the kit, then we'll have someone install. Who knew it would be so hard to fill the tires with air. We found another place that would install but no guarantee on anything. Not spending any money without guarantees. Next step - look up CA company to send kit. Maybe we can get this done before driving north for Christmas.

After Camping World went looking for a place to have lunch. The roads are strange here in Texas. When you exit the interstate they have frontage roads. But they're one way. So if you want a business on the other side of the road, you need to travel to the next exit, turn around, and come back on the other frontage road. We thought we'd have lunch at Applebees but couldn't figure out how to get to it on the other side of the road. So we ate at a "Smokehouse" in New Braunfels. Excellent. They're smoked meats were very very good. They also had everything from candied jalapenos to pickled okra. Thought about bringing some back for our Christmas dinner donation. lol Sharon wouldn't let me.

Well, guess it's time to surf the web. We're eating homemade Chicken and Dumplings at the campground tonight. For dessert, they're having peach cobbler. And all for $3.50. Excellent dining day.

Take care. Have a great weekend.

Thursday Update

It's been a couple of days since I last posted. Just a normal type of week. We did go to Camping World on Tuesday. There's one in New Braunfels. About 45 minutes from here. Wanted to get some tire extenders for the truck. Having a hard time putting air into the dualies. Did you know there is a whole section on tire extenders. Couldn't believe it. They can even be attached to the hubcaps. My oh my. Well, we made an appointment and will be going back Friday morning for them to install the right ones for the truck. Always say - if someone else can do the work - all the better. :)

Signed up for the Thanksgiving Dinner here at the campground. We'll be taking an apple salad, scalloped corn, and a pumpkin pie. We're hoping for leftovers.

Today, I got my Christmas present. A new camera. It's a Nikon coolpix. Wanted a camera that I could keep in my purse. Last Tuesday we stopped in the town of Gruene (pronounced green) for lunch. What a great little place to shop and eat. We ate at the old gristmill. Looked through a few of the stores but needed to get back. Wished I had a camera with me. Now, I will. The camera's real small and thought it would be great for some of those indoor type pictures. Definitely won't replace the cameras we have. Since it fits in my purse - it fits in the camper. :)

We ordered Sharon's present earlier this week. Now, we can shop for others. Still haven't found gifts yet. We're hoping to go to Fredericksburg (German town) over the next couple of weeks. Heard they had some very interesting stores there.

Not much going on. Just cleaning, cataloging, laundry - you know the normal household chores. Then it's resting and playing games the rest of the day. It's real hard getting used to this life. lol

Well, tomorrow it's back to Camping World and maybe the town of Gruene again. Or, we may find somewhere else to stop along the way.

As I said, not much going on.

Warm Saturday PM

Guess what! Sharon's watching Iowa play. Very pleased so far with Iowa. Wasn't expecting them to do this well.

Took this picture of a sunset here at the campground. Pretty nice, isn't it. Don't know why but we're hoping to not turn on the air this afternoon. Supposed to be in the 80's.



Heard coyotes last night. Kind of early, too. Before 10:00 pm. They sounded kind of eerie. Sharon has heard them in the middle of the night before.

Boo Hiss. Ohio State just scored a touchdown. The windows are open so she's not yelling too loud. lol

Thought you might like to see a picture of our friends here at the campground. Took this picture on the River walk. In order from left to right. Dana, Flo, Tammy, Sheree, Donna, and of course Sharon. We met Dana, Flo, and Donna at the driving school. Tammy is a friend of Flo's and lives in San Antonio - she works at the air force base. Sheree is our neighbor. She moved in a couple of weeks ago.



Apparently the game isn't going very well any more. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy day. Will probably catalog the cds or work some more on the calendar in the afternoon. They have ice cream sundaes on Sunday afternoon for $1. Bet we do that.

Hope you're weekend is going well.

El Viaje Retreat

Yesterday, we went to El Viaje Retreat. It's a retirement retreat. Only people age 55 & older are allowed. Guess, I just made that one. :) A couple of women we met at the convention purchased this retreat last Fall.



Most of the people have park models and travel in RVs throughout the year. The retreat is located in the hill country near Medina. It was beautiful The leaves were starting to turn on the Cedars.



They have horses, goats, chickens, and a burro. All are in this picture.



They have pecan and oak trees. The nuts were starting to fall. And I don't mean us. Ha Ha

All in all - a very pleasant day and made some new friends.

Market Square

Went to market square in SA yesterday morning. We were a little disappointed. Had read and heard so much about it. Almost all of the stores seem to have the same type of items. Did find one store with some very nice onyx pieces, a couple of leather stores (didn't need a new purse), and some very nice jewelry. Didn't buy anything. How disappointing is that.

Day brightened up when we went to lunch at Mi Tierra. Wonderful Mexican restaurant. The food was fantastic. They also have an excellent bakery. Stopped by the bakery as we were leaving. Came out with a BOX of goodies. The girl was very nice explaining the different types of pastries and candies. So, of course, we had to buy some. Gave us a sample of toasted coconut candy. Delicious.

Still early in the day and downtown, what to do next? Went to the Tower of the Americas. Yes, I rode up in a glass front elevator. The tower was 750 feet tall. It was like a little museum inside. Included a 4D ride about Texas. This included having a bull blow water in your face and I truly did feel that snake go under my chair. :)

So the day was saved with food and a great visit to the Tower. It was a clear day and we felt that we did see forever.

Today, we're off to get Sharon's blood work done, pick up more scripts, and back to the grocery store. Need to stop and get diesel fuel today. Going on a road trip tomorrow to a ranch about 1 1/2 hours from here. A couple of ladies we met at the convention own a "retirement ranch" west of here. We're invited for lunch and a look around. Should be fun.

Oh, no pictures of yesterday. Didn't take the camera since we thought we were just going to shop. Oh well. Hopefully learned our lesson on this one.

Ramblings

The last few days have been kind of slow. Stayed around the campground. On Friday nights the park has dinner for $3.50. Sharon and I went down. We had lasagna, salad, garlic bread and brownie with ice cream for dessert. Met some new campers. All of them fulltimers. Had nice conversation.

Saturday, Sharon watched football and I played on the computer all day. Working on charts, calendars, etc. Since going to rain on Sunday we decided to grill NY strips on Saturday night. Had baked sweet potatoes to go with them. The meal was outstanding. The steaks just melted in our mouths. Also, last of the Iowa steaks we brought with us.

Sunday, it rained off and on all day. Opened up the TV to watch football but played games all afternoon. The TV station was showing the Bears and Cardinals but since such a runaway game went to the Greenbay game before half time. The afternoon started off nice and quiet but as you can imagine. . . . Sharon had a bad weekend - football wise. Iowa and Green Bay both lost.

Colds and allergies are doing better.

Yesterday afternoon decided to take a drive. Took the backroads. For a little while thought we should have taken the GPS with us. But figured out where we were. Drove down Military Drive - several military planes were flying over head. Of course, had to stop at the DQ.

Today we're going down to the historical market with a couple of friends. Maybe do some Christmas shopping. Who knows?

Alamo and River Walk

After running to the store yesterday morning, went downtown SA with some friends. They had been to the Alamo so Sharon and I spent some time there and met up with them on the River Walk.

The Alamo was amazing. Only a small portion of it's left and it's in the city. Here's the front of the shrine. It's part of the original church and has the room where survivors were found (women & children). I posted some pictures on our Kodak site in case you're interested.



The museum/gift shop was very nice. The museum pieces were interesting. It also included a diarama of the battle. We picked up a brochure. This morning we realized we missed a corner. Guess we'll have to go back. We missed looking through the barracks. This is a picture of the barracks.



We then went down to the river walk. By the time the afternoon was done, neither Sharon or I wanted to climb anymore stairs. As we were leaving we found the elevators. Oh well, we survived. Here are a few pictures. As we were descending the stairs to the river, there were several waterfalls. This is the first scene we saw when we got to the river.



Had a great time. Decided to take a river barge ride. This is what it looked like.



We learned about the history, various historical buildings, plants and trees, and other places of interest along the route. The round trip tour lasted about 35 minutes. Here's a couple of pictures of what we saw. I posted all of them on our Kodak site, in case you're interested.







I guess that's all for now. Doing a little housework today. Sharon caught a cold and is nursing it.

Monday Catch-Up

Had a very full day yesterday. Went to tour the missions. There are 5 including the Alamo. We were going to see the other 4. Managed 2 of them. Others from here saw all 4 in about 4 hours. We left a little after 10 and took a picnic lunch with us. We were at the first mission, San Jose, for about 3 hours. Took a tour and saw a short film. Very interesting. Learned that missions were like small self sustaining communities.



After the docent tour, we walked around the grounds. This mission had a mill. It was the first mill in Texas. They used water from the San Antonio River for the mill and irrigation. Still had quite a few ditches remaining.


After the film, we then followed the river route to the next mission. Had our picnic lunch next to a small water fall.



While driving to the next mission saw some yard ornaments made out of hay bales. Pretty wild, isn't it. Had to stop and take a picture.



The next mission, San Juan, wasn't as large as the last one. Two of the stone houses were private residences. One was a parish house. Mass is said at this church, also. We were amazed at the stone work at both missions. Some had restorations done in the 1930s.



We were tired so headed back home. We'll catch the other two another day.

After we came back, got together with our neighbors. Met our new neighbor last night, also. The new park hosts stopped by on their walk to get acquainted with the campground. They're originally from Iowa City. So the Hawkeyes was the topic of conversation.

All in all, a very full day.

Sunday Musings

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Sharon watched the Hawkeyes win. Thought her heart may give out before the game was over. Thinking about keeping the windows open all the time that she watches football. Seems it was a little quieter. lol

Did some baking yesterday. A casserole, apple bread, zucchini bread. Actually did the clean up, too. Amazing.

Later this afternoon it will be Green Bay & Minnesota. Should be interesting.

This pm will probably work on cateloging and storing the dvds, hopefully get to some cds, too. Mornings have been kind of cool. Needed the furnace yesterday to take the chill off. By the time done baking thought we may need the ac. Oh well. That's just the way it goes.

Late pm getting together with some friends in the campground. Think I'll take some ciabatta bread and seasoned olive oil for dipping. Wonder if Sharon will tear herself away from the game to join us or maybe we'll see her at halftime. :)

No update on the house, yet.

We're thinking we'll go to the missions tomorrow. Should be a very nice sunny day. Need to get out and see some of the area before it's time to leave. Amazing how the time is flying by.