We Have Visitors from Houston! - Saturday, March 23, 2024

And not just any visitors! Rich and Kristin are part of our family. They moved from New Jersey to Missouri City, Texas, 2-1/2 years ago. He worked for Costco and got transferred to Costco Business in Stafford, Texas. Kristin also works for Costco in their Optometry Department. 

We visited them in Missouri City when they first moved to Texas. That was a fun trip and we explored parts of Houston together.

They are settled into their home now and have time off together. We are thrilled they are letting us show them San Antonio this weekend. Rich has never been here before.

When they arrived, we stored their bags at our place until they could check into their hotel and took our car to Cheddar's at Brooks City Base for lunch. We then took them to see Espada Dam, Mission Espada, the Acequia, Stinson Airport, and Mission San Jose.

At Mission San Jose (known as the Queen of the Missions) in San Antonio, we watched the 25-minute video. Um, I think Bob, Rich, and I fell asleep. Kristin saw most of it. The soothing voice and music put me to sleep when I watch it. It's very interesting, though. We live 1/2-mile away from the mission and I have watched the movie multiple times before, so there's that.

The curious keyhole door at Mission Espada.

Bob, Kristin, and Rich at Mission Espada.

Inside Mission Espada.

Mission San Jose - "the Queen of
the Missions."

Bob at Mission San Jose.

Mission San Jose - "the Queen of
the Missions."

Rich and Kristin at Mission San
Jose - "the Queen of the Missions."

The ornate entryway to the church
at Mission San Jose.

Inside the church at Mission San Jose.

This explains the symbology of the
ornate façade of the church at 
Mission San Jose.

Mission San Jose - replica of a room that shows
how the Native Americans lived at the mission.

The arches of the granary.

Inside the granary at Mission
San Jose.

Kristin and Rich were tired from the 3-1/2-hour drive today. We agreed we all needed a break and would get back together at 6:45 pm to explore the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio and have dinner.

Randall, our son, joined us for the evening exploration. A parking garage was our best bet for parking on Saturday night! 

We walked the Riverwalk downtown at night. It is beautiful and crowded. We found The River's Edge Café & Patio Bar where we had dinner.

Then we walked the Riverwalk some more. "San Antonio: the Saga," a history of San Antonio, was playing at the San Fernando Cathedral. It is a 25-minute laser light show projected onto the façade of the cathedral accompanied by music. 

When that ended, we walked across the street to the Bexar County Courthouse. It looks awesome at night!

Randall, Bob, Kristin, & Rich in front
of the Bexar County Courthouse.

The Lady Justice in front of the 
Bexar County Courthouse.

We walked down Houston Street, past the Majestic Theater, and back to the parking garage. The weather was excellent all day and evening. We ended up walking 4.4 miles, according to my phone. 

Tomorrow, we will show them the King William Historic District, The Alamo, The Pearl, the Japanese Tea Garden, and whatever else we can pack into a few hours. We're happy they were able to get away for the weekend!

Home Again, Home Again - Thursday, March 21, 2024

With an early-morning flight from Kona, Hawaii, I was up at 4 am, finished packing, showered, and woke Bob at 5 am. On the way to the airport, we stopped at Costco to fill the rental car's gas tank, returned the rental car, and took a shuttle to Hawaiian Airlines baggage check. Our flight from Kona was on time at 7 am and there were no issues flying to Honolulu. 

Bronze Hawaiian hula statues at
Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport. 
"Hula Kahiko," by Lark Grey Dimond-Cates.

I could not find this exact image, but it
looks like Hawaiian vintage poster art.
The poster was enlarged on the wall
in one of the airports.

At Honolulu International Airport our flight was also on time, but we had some delays at the gate. Before leaving, a sensor had to be replaced in the cockpit. Our flight time is supposed to be 7-1/2 hours non-stop to Austin. We were an hour late leaving, but Hawaiian Airlines is good about making up time in the air. 

We arrived in Austin on time, but an aircraft was at our gate. We had to wait about 45 minutes for the aircraft to move. Then we collected our luggage, retrieved our car from long-term parking at a hotel, and drove back to San Antonio. We arrived home after midnight. This was a long day!

We'll be home three weeks until our next trip. When we leave in mid-April with our 5th wheel, we'll be doing four different vacations in one: Ruidoso, New Mexico, for our West Texas Trail Walkers planning meeting (for walks in October 2024), a visit to Aunt Sally, Charis, and Mike in Phoenix, a trip to Las Vegas to spend time with Bob's mom, Louise, and a week-long camping vacation to Silver City, New Mexico, with our long-time friends Rick and Jan Roemmick.

Those blogs will be coming soon, along with a week's worth of catch-up blogs from our New Zealand cruise! Wheee!

Walk, Walk Talk; Walk, Walk Eat, and Enjoy Life! - Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Our Walua walk yesterday was so lovely, we didn't know if we could outdo that today. But, we did. 

To fortify ourselves for the day, we went to brunch at Island Lava Java along the seafront of Kailua-Kona on The Big Island of Hawaii. Restaurants like this one are hard to come by. Granted, it was a Wednesday, but we were seated right away. The hostess and wait staff made us feel like Ohana (family). We had a table on the lanai overlooking the ocean and Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America cruise ship. Breakfast was served in a timely manner (for Hawaii). We call it "Hawaiian Time."

Our table for brunch at Island Lava Java
in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

NCL's Pride of America in Kailua Bay.

After seeing their extensive brunch menu, I realized my dream of ordering and eating a tropical breakfast: Pineapple "Upside Down" French Toast! OMG. My mouth was watering at the description..."Egg-dipped house brioche, fresh pineapple, toasted pecan pieces, house-made cinnamon & brown sugar syrup." 

Pineapple "Upside Down" French Toast.

Bob was thrilled, too, when he found Fresh Fish Benedict: "Island Eggs Benedict with fresh salmon and rustic potatoes."

Island Eggs Benedict with fresh salmon and
rustic potatoes.

Both of us exclaimed "ono!" (da best!) while we ate our breakfasts. This restaurant gets two thumbs up from us.

Then Bob wanted to take me for a walk at the Old Kona Airport. I was lukewarm on the idea because who wants to wander around a large expanse of hot concrete? He was insistent, said he had been there before, and thought I would enjoy it. 

"Oh, okay, I'll try it," I muttered, not wanting to get super heated walking in the hot morning sun.

At the old airport, we had to drive across the old, broken-up, pot-holed, cement and gravel tarmac. He drove across about a half mile. Immediate minus points for a really bumpy drive to the trail. 

The area with the trail had shade trees and lots of plants: bonus points. Add in artwork and cats and this walk ended up being way better than I had ever imagined! Good job, Bob! Thanks for insisting that I would like it. Let's take a walk around the old Kona airport!

"Which way do we go, Bob, which way do we go?"

This rocks! Artists come to the garden for
inspiration, create their art, and display it here!

Trail etiquette (rules). [Note the rule about
not feeding the cats.]

A Rotary International Bench.

Yellow finches.

A few photos in the Succulent Garden...

There's a huge succulent garden with all
kinds of cacti and succulents.

The tall yellow cactus is Giant Foxtail 
(Agave attenuata), AKA Dragon-Tree or
Spineless Agave.

Column Cactus
(Coleocephalocereus goebelianus).

Epostoa lanata cephalium*.

*Cephalium is a frequently brightly colored structure of wool and bristle at the growing tip of certain cacti. It is most commonly found on cacti of the genus Melocactus. The cephalium will only grow when the cactus reaches a certain size or age.

Giant Barrel Cactus (Echinocactus
platyacanthus).

Agave sisalana or False sisal Century Plant.

Stenocereus heptagonus.

Art adorned the trail from local artists. Sit back and enjoy this art gallery en plein air.

A beautifully painted picnic table.

Beautiful tropical flowers graced the trail as well.

Common Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe 
rotundifolia).

Yellow Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus).

An interesting geological feature is in this park: an anchialine pond. This is rather fascinating. 

When we were almost at the end of the loop trail, we came to the baby mongooses and the cats! Soooo cute!

In Hawaii, there is a big problem with stray cats. When people move away from Hawaii, many leave their cats behind. Volunteers feed them every day. It is a sad situation. I love cats and am happy the cats are being trapped, neutered, and released.

Stray or feral cats.

A baby mongoose (we saw two).

This cat was a stray; it was friendly and let
us pet him. Ferals are not people-friendly.

Bob, thank you for dragging me kicking and screaming to this quite wonderful trail. I'm glad you insisted.

After we rested and cooled off in the timeshare, Bob wanted to go snorkeling at Kahalu'u Beach Park. We walked a half-mile to the park. I read the surf report and decided to stay on shore while he braved the currents and waves. The lifeguards warned people to stay on shore and keep their kids close. 

Bob is an experienced swimmer and surfer, so he didn't have much trouble. He did say the currents were strong and "surgy." Also, the surfers were out on the other side of the bay!

While I was taking photos, a couple of big waves came ashore that completely covered the beach. I was happy that parents of small children were on the beach. They had to pick their little kids up out of the water.

Here is evidence of Bob snorkeling.

Bob snorkeling at Kahalu'u Beach Park on
the Big Island.

It sprinkled on us when we walked back to the timeshare, but it was 80 degrees outside, so it was refreshing.

We spent the rest of the day packing to fly out tomorrow. It's been a great trip to Hawaii. When we figured out it had been eight years since we were last here, we vowed to come back every year from now on.

Aloha!