Turn Up the Heat Please! - Mon., Dec. 9

What happened to south Texas warm weather? Brr! Daytime temps haven't been out of the 40s and 50s, except one day this past week. Tonight is supposed to be 29 degrees. Today was a high of 47 degrees, but high humidity, fog/mist and wind made the wind chill temperature 43 degrees (per the National Weather Service). Who in their right mind would go walking in this weather? Oh, right, my friend Susan and I, that's who. More about that later.

Friday night, December 6, I took Bob to dinner at La Focaccia Italian Grill.

La Focaccia Italian Grill, San Antonio, Texas

A nice place, but very old school...super service, organ music such as New York, New York, I Did it My Way, Broadway show tunes, and dinner items made with lots of butter. I had Sicilian-style Filet Mignon: filet topped with sauteed mushrooms, green peppers and onions. It came with steamed vegetables, served with a side of spaghetti with marinara sauce. Bob had scallops served over spinach with a side of spaghetti with marinara sauce. We had only water to drink and the bill was close to $50. Plus a tip to the organist.


Saturday, we were going to drive 2-1/2 hours to Rockport, Texas, for their sponsored Volksmarch event called "Tropical Christmas." Unfortunate name for their walk. Temperature was predicted to be 45 degrees with 50% chance of rain and wind gusts to 30 mph. Pfft! Forget that. As my friend Susan pointed out, we could stay in San Antonio and walk.

We ended up not walking on Saturday. Bob played basketball and went to work. I went to see "Hunger Games: Catching Fire." The movie was excellent! Very exciting and followed the book well. I think it should win an Oscar for best costumes. Oh to be a costume designer and work on that series. Besides Suzanne Collins's great descriptions of the clothing in her book, the costume designers outdid themselves in making those descriptions come to life in the movie. They deserve major kudos.

On Sunday, we met Susan and Darren for a 10K Volksmarch along the north Riverwalk (Museum Reach). Time seems to fly by when walking with friends. We talked, walked, talked.

Water lilies blooming in the cold.

Cypress trees in fall.

Cypress dropping fall foliage.

Fall cypress at Brackenridge Park

Bob, Susan M. and Darren.

Susan and Darren at Pearl

 CIA (Culinary Institute of America) Bakery.

CIA Bakery

Pipe "leg warmers."

San Antonio River locks

Small "falls" on right side of the locks.

After our walk on Sunday, we "kidnapped" Susan and Darren to Random for beer and a food truck supper. Random has 46 beers on tap. I went for the Samuel Adams Chocolate Cherry seasonal beer. Had it last week and couldn't wait to have it again this week. Mmmm, good stuff.

Today, Susan and I decided to walk despite the weather. We did two 5K walks: one in Brook Hollow neighborhood, and one at Salado Creek Greenway. It was so cold and miserable I didn't taken any pictures. At one point on our Brook Hollow walk, I was walking on a city sidewalk and my foot hit some mud. My foot slid out forward from under me, time went into slow motion as I tried to keep from falling on my face. I stumbled forward, stepped off the curb, and was able to keep myself upright. Scary!!!

As we drove from Brook Hollow to our start point at Salado Creek, I had a very bad bout of vertigo. The world was spinning and it was hard for me to focus on the road, the curb, the dividing line between lanes. Normally if I close my eyes for a few seconds I can fight it off. Can't do that when you're driving! Susan was following me in her car. I slowed way down and tried to find a driveway to turn in. I saw an entrance to a business park on my right, turned, pulled forward then parked on the side of the road while I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. When it subsided, I did a U-turn and we continued to our start point.

We completed our second 5K walk in the cold/rain/wind and headed to Chili's for lunch. After that I needed to get warm. Each of us headed to our respective homes. When I walked in the 5er, no heat. It was 53 degrees. I went outside to check our propane. One tank was empty, so I switched over to the full one. Ahhhh, heat.

I sat down at the dining table to write my blog and promptly fell fast asleep. I slept for an hour sitting in the kitchen chair. Wow! The cold, wind and vertigo really took it out of me today. I am going to bed early to read and get a good night's sleep.

Susan and I plan to do it again tomorrow. At least it's supposed to be clear, but that also means it will be cold. Supposed to get down to 29 tonight.

Sorry about the lapse in my blogs. I worked Wednesday through Friday last week and have been walking a lot to finish my 100 walks in 2013.

Travel Bug out.