Great New Friends! - Mon., Dec. 2

I just can't tell you how thrilled I am to be making new friends in different walks of life. My new Volksmarch buddy, Susan M., is willing to walk as much as possible. She and I hit it off on one of the neighborhood Volksmarches she organizes and have been walking together since. Today we did a 10K walk from Mission Concepcion north along the Riverwalk to the Blue Star Arts Complex. Along the way we spotted birds, turtles, and watched as parts of the San Antonio River damaged in the May 2013 flood were dredged to put deeper channels in the river.

Canvasback

Northern shoveler female

The photo below is the downstream end of a water divertment system. It helps channel flood waters away from downtown San Antonio. Below is what it looks like today. The second photo is taken from an informational board on the Riverwalk showing what this area looked like during the Memorial Day flood of 2013.

Today

During May 2013 flood.

Sunning turtles.

Half-way through our walk, at the Blue Star Arts Complex, we stopped to have lunch at Stella Public House. We shared a farm-fresh salad and a wild mushroom pizza. The menu lists where their ingredients originate, all local fare. From my vantage point, I watched the pizza maker twirling and tossing the pizza dough into the air. And, no, he didn't drop it on the floor! We had already tucked into our food before we remembered to take a photo.

Large house salad and wild mushroom pizza.

Our walk started and ended at Mission Concepcion (which we drove to after we signed in at Mission San Jose).

Back at the ranch (Travelers World Carefree RV Resort), I watched the birds loading up on seeds in advance of the coming cold front (again!).

Female house sparrow (adult, non-breeding)

White-winged dove.

Our temps today and tomorrow are in the 80s. By Friday, the arctic cold coming from Alaska via the Pacific Northwest will make our temperatures plummet 40+ degrees by day, and our first hard freeze of the year is predicted overnight on the weekend. Oh, and throw in a 60% chance of rain on Friday with wind gusts to 30 mph to really make it miserable. We have roller coaster autumn weather here in south Texas! At least we're not dealing with snow/ice up north!

On to more pleasant topics...this evening we drove to Seguin to meet Keith and Brenda, fellow RV bloggers who are currently Winter Texans in Wimberley. (Winter Texans = snowbirds in other parts of the country.) Keith writes Damn Near Perfect Couple. You'll have to head over to his blog to see why they call themselves that.

Keith recommended Casa Sol Mexican Restaurant for dinner, saying they have never had a bad meal there. It's a nicely decorated place and my dinner was outstanding. (I had Pachuga de Pollo with mushrooms and onions sauteed in a brown sherry (?) sauce served with Spanish rice, re-fried beans and a small salad.) Yummy on the taste buds! Bob ate enchiladas verdes. We forgot to take photos of our plates full of food.

Dinner conversation was so much fun. Before we knew it two hours had passed and it was time to head back to our respective RV parks. We're making plans to visit them in Wimberley and for them to visit us in San Antonio in the coming weeks. Thank you, Brenda and Keith, for a great evening!

Bob, Susan, Keith, Brenda at Casa Sol, Seguin, TX

Casa Sol interior decor. Brenda wanted the stars off the wall.

Another dining room in Casa Sol.

Neon sign outside looks like it's floating in the night sky.

What a great day.

Oh, yeah, I have one more new friend: Sharon, who lives at our RV park. Both of us are movie buffs and we've been going to see movies together regularly.

Our good friends, Jim and Peri, should be back from their cruise. They are in San Marcos which isn't far from Wimberley. We may have to introduce them to Keith and Brenda. We can all play Sequence, explore local towns, and try interesting restaurants. Sounds like more fun on the horizon.

Then last week, I was invited to lunch with a group of RVing ladies at Cheddar's in Schertz, but I got called to work that day, so had to bow out at the last minute. We can thank Colleen of Traveling with the Long Dogs for organizing those luncheons.

Susan M., walking buddy, invited me to a Cookie Exchange at her house on Dec. 15. She even said I could come early to make cookies in her kitchen before everyone else got there. What a sweetie. She thinks of everything.

When you open yourself up to new people and new experiences you never know where you'll end up...but it beats sitting at home cogitating. We're living life to the fullest within the confines of our present reality.

Rock on. Travel Bug out.