Life is Grand in San Antonio,Texas

The Music of San Antonio!
First the music!  The old Spanish, the new Spanish and the all-American!

 

Adam Irigoyen
The young girls were screaming for him at the
Spanish People Festival

 

 

The Temptations



Hot date to the Majestic Theatre to hear
The Four Tops and The Temptations



Unbelievable Majestic Theatre
The ceiling was sprinkled with stars!

Getting to San Antonio from Gulf Shores, AL

Alabama Au Revoir!

We had about 700 miles to cover when we left Alabama on a stormy day (August 10), driving through terrible traffic and weather until we pulled into a Walmart 

The coach tucked in.
After travel we put the
generator on and get
dinner n a movie!
(at home :)

lot west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

We had planned to get further, but after having put eight hours on the road, we had to yield to our safety limit (at least when we're driving two vehicles).

Walmart out the front
window at night.

For those who don't know, Walmart and Sams clubs have an invitation to RVers to dry-dock in their parking lots overnight.  It's great because we can stretch our legs, stock up and be safe. We have a generator and all the food and water we need...we can even get a movie from Redbox while we're there. (And food, and hey, maybe a new dining room table?)

Other places we sometimes stay on the road are at Interstate rest-stops (if we know the area) or our friends tell us they stay at Flying Jays.

 

For hours we drove I-10 on an elevated highway across Louisiana
swamplands. A tractor-trailer on the other side had spilled its
logs in a multi-truck accident. There was no escape for them!

 

Texas!  Big sky state!
(Hoping to be in time for the Perseid Meteor Shower of Aug 11
but we didn't see anything.)

Here we are on Sunday, August 11th in San Antonio, Texas and it's hot! 101-degrees F almost every day and not a cloud or drop of rain to be seen.  We have shade! Three trees worth!

We want to just sit inside the air-conditioning every day doing music, but the culture and beauty wins out over the Texas heat and we make it out to the pool, the bike trail or the tennis courts every day. Our RV Park, Traveler's World, is right on the bike trail! We can go North to downtown on our bikes, or South to the missions!  The trails are full of wildflowers and workers who keep the water and grass flowing and growing.  We felt very safe and moderately challenged on the trails. There weren't that many people on  them except on the weekends so overall, Texas seems very quiet, hot and dry.  Good thing there were a few breweries on the trail, too!


Bike Trail along the River
(There was new landscaping all along the trail.)

  





Kim at McFarlin Tennis Center
We played just as much on the Alamo College courts.



Fine Dining at Culinary Arts Institute




The Missions of San Antonio
"The missions of San Antonio were far more than just churches, they were communities. Each was a fortified village, with its own church, farm, and ranch. Here, Franciscan friars gathered native peoples, converted them to Catholicism, taught them to live as Spaniards, and helped maintain Spanish control over the Texas frontier."
-San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department



I'm going to remember this!

We love the Moorish influence in the Spanish architecture!







Remember The Alamo!
At the Alamo we learned that after about a week of fighting Santa Anna, the men became aware that they were facing death in the next battle. The commander drew a line in the sand and asked those who were willing to risk their lives to defend the freedom of Texas to step over it--all but one did. Out of respect for those brave men who did indeed all die to defend their countrymen's right to be free of oppressive rule of Spain, we "Remember the Alamo!"  Thanks to the women and children hiding in a room within the walls, we know about the stories of their desperate days.  ...Sometimes the things that happen in our lives are someone else's story, not ours.

 

The Alamo is downtown and once included a large courtyard, which is now a fun street with shops.


Mission San Jose
This mission is still an active convent in addition to an active 


Indian Dwelling ...Sweet!

church community. The yard was well preserved.  It's so cool to see the inside of the Indian Dwellings, built into the walls around the courtyard.








Mission San Juan
We saw this one the most because we went down this bike trail the most. The main wall has been restored and white-washed and the church is still active in the community.

Active Prayer garden behind Mission San Juan Church

Mission Espada
This mission created a series of aqueducts to get the water from the San Antonio River to the labores (farm fields) surrounding the mission. 

We rode along the aqueducts and fields a couple different days, always with a big thermos of ice water.








Mission Concepcion
The church at this mission has the best preserved wall paintings. 

Artists Rendition of Mission Concepcion

Inside, the service equipment (digital organ and Bose sound system) have been added. The acoustics are excellent without them!



Murals over the library doors.





RIVER WALK!

This beautiful cultural setting is what drew us to the area!  We could see that there would be fine dining, shopping, architecture, culture and music.

 

 

 

Tex Mex!

 

Margarita!

 

La Villita Theatre on the River

 


La Villita Theatre at Night
from the boat ride.

 

Can you believe the city almost filled in the river
to save money? Concerned women acted together,
persuading them to make it the jewel of Texas instead!
How did they do it? A puppet show!

 Tiny Houses of Texas

Re-using salvage materials makes each tiny house
very special.

The Ranch Grandfather's Antler Collection
contributes to the staircase!

Huge collection of doors, windows and doorknobs!

Darby's House

A ranch house for 3-5 Cowboys

loft for sleeping area!

 

996 Miles to Mesa, AZ Next.

Surprise--We're Staying for the School Year!

Since Dede was hoping to get to teach in the 2013-14 school year, she transferred her teaching license to Arizona back in April. A big culture shock was learning that she is only qualified for a Provisional One-Year License because she doesn't speak Spanish. Really!? To become fully qualified, she will have to take a class on "Structured English Immersion" (AKA English Second Language). This is the way of things in the South, folks!  We're sure it's for the better, especially after being in Texas and feeling less than bilingual.

 

One morning, sipping coffee and thinking whether to go on a bike ride or a swim, Dede was on the Music Educator's website and noticed the "Job Center" button. Here she found four (4!) music teaching jobs posted for Phoenix, AZ.  Only hours after filling in the online application she got a phone call and only a week later was offered a job, starting ASAP.  That's the fastest and easiest job hunt either of us can remember!

 

So, yes, we'll be in CA as soon as a chance comes up! Our next posting will have pictures of our feet in the sand of the Pacific Ocean with Kim's children and Grandchildren playing along side!

 

You never know what's around the bend .... so Keep Your Spirits Up!