The Gulf Coast - Sat., Aug. 3

My turn to drive, so at 7:00 a.m. I was at the meet-up area for a San Antonio Hill Country Hikers day trip to Mustang Island State Park on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Two people rode with me: Mara and Glenn. Both were gracious and contributed to the gas fund.

We had lively conversation in the car for our 2-1/2 hour drive. Topics ranged from Comic-Con to Peace Corps to full time RVing to where everyone grew up to movies and much more. Bob did not attend today as his plantar fasciitis is still bothering him (it hurt to walk), and he had work to do.

Once we got to the beach different parts of our group set up at shaded picnic tables far from each other. Then Gary arrived with his ocean kayaks and drove waaaay down the beach near the jetty.

Mara

A visitor in Mexican ground squirrel clothing.

Mexican ground squirrel.

Laughing gulls.

Dave and Jessie pointing to where Gary put his truck.

Our table with a view.

Lilibeth

In an effort to get the group together, Theresa (our leader) came to let us know where Gary was and we were invited to join everyone down there. "Down there" (by the jetty) was approximately 1/2 mile away. We had two coolers, chairs, an umbrella tent and bags of towels, food, and clothes to transport. None of the six of us wanted to haul our stuff 1/2 mile, slogging through sand in the midday heat. We stayed where we were.

Mara and I walked to the water and waded out to our knees. It's the first time I've put my feet in the Gulf in Texas. The water was nice and warm, so different from the frigid Oregon coastal waters. Maybe next time I'll go swimming.

Our group certainly brought enough food! Mara packed chicken salad sandwiches, home-made chocolate chip cookies, jalapeno chips, Baby Bel cheese, apple slices and crackers. I brought mustard potato salad, Sun Chips, Chex Mix, fresh strawberries, paper plates and plastic forks, Jacob brought Bud Light, and Lilibeth brought onion-chive potato chips to share. We would not starve.

Later on some of us walked down to visit the rest of the group while Glenn guarded our stuff.

Amanda and Jake hauling out kayaks.

Theresa and Amanda.

Gary emptying water out of kayak.

Hilary.

Theresa and Gary heading out into the surf.

Looking toward our spot from where the rest of the group landed.

Now you can see why we didn't want to haul all our stuff. It was a long way!

Gary's kayaks were a hit. Jessie, Amanda, Jacob, Jake, Theresa and Gary took turns kayaking beyond the surf and coming back in on the waves. More people may have kayaked as well; I only knew about those mentioned. The kayakers said ocean kayaking really kicked their butts, plum wore 'em out.

While we were visiting Gary, Theresa, Amanda, Hilary, Jacob, Jessie and Gary, we saw a small import car stuck in the sand up to its frame. A park ranger hooked up tow straps and pulled it free. Two minutes later, after the ranger left, they were stuck again. The ranger saw them and towed them out again. According to Gary, even he got stuck in the sand in his truck on the way out. I'm glad we didn't try to drive across the sand!

Susan, Mara, Glenn

At 3 p.m., we decided it was time to leave. The six of us at our picnic table decided to eat supper at Snoopy's Pier just before crossing the bridge off Padre Island. Snoopy's Pier has an interesting history. You can read about Snoopy's Pier and the Redfish Wars here.

Mara and Glenn at the entrance to Snoopy's.

 They insisted on taking my photo too, hat hair and all. I look like I'm doing a scout pledge.

Yours truly.

For dinner, I opted for the shrimp plate with six deep-fried shrimp, fries, hush puppies (they call 'em "pups"), coleslaw and a drink. Jacob ate my hush puppies because I'm not a big fan of them. The shrimp were so yummy!

In addition to Snoopy's Pier, the same owners run Scoopy's Veranda next door for ice cream desserts. We were too full to partake of ice cream.

We headed back to San Antonio; a very relaxing day at the beach accomplished. Thank you to Theresa for organizing the event and keeping track of us, and to Gary for bringing sea kayaks, folding chairs and a tent or two for us to use. What a fun, thoughtful group to belong to.

Have a good week.

Travel Bug out.

Through the Woods - Sun., July 14

Our hike today with San Antonio Hill Country Hikers started on the Government Canyon State Natural Area trail at precisely 7:45 a.m. One of the attributes I like about this group is they start on time...no dilly-dallying.

We headed out into the frontcountry on easy trails to warm up before heading uphill into backcountry. The first part of the hike was on wide, flat trails. When we ventured into the backcountry, the trails became narrower and a lot rockier. Thankfully, most of the hike was in the woods. Woods = shade!

Hill Country Hikers at one of the park overlooks.

Trail distances. (Click photo to enlarge.)

Trail map. (Click photo to enlarge.)

Shade!

Nice logo on the spur trail signs.

Well, not quite. Paul took us down to an overlook.

View from the overlook toward park headquarters.

Brief break.

Paul describing the lay of the land.

Our group with Paul, our leader.

Gone to seed.

Nice tree trunk arch frame.

 Straw flower.

 

Horse crippler cacti.

Mountain lions inhabit area.

Saying our good-byes.

We hiked six miles this morning and learned a lot about Government Canyon: There are at least 40 miles of hiking trails, more acreage has been added to the park, and new hiking trails will be constructed; wild pigs live in the park as do rabbits and mountain lions.

There was talk of going out for pancakes after the hike and I was game, but a solid plan didn't materialize by the time we left. Instead, we stopped at Taco Cabana and each had egg and potato breakfast burritos with salsa from the Salsa Bar and a bottle of orange juice. What a great protein replenisher after the hike.

This afternoon our 5th wheel refrigerator stopped working. It's a Norcold and the display window is giving us a symbol like an "n" or upside down "u." We have tried turning it off, waiting a minute, then turning it back on. No go. We bought a bag of ice and put the most critical items in our Coleman cooler with the ice. Tomorrow I will call about our warranty and see when we can have the refrigerator fixed or replaced. Looks like we'll be eating out quite a bit until then ** or ** buying lots of ice!!

Movie review: Last night, we watched our Netflix selection, Side Effects, starring Jude Law, Rooney Mara, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The plot was very convoluted and involved prescription anti-depressants, a murder, medical ethics, and mental instability. Our rating was so-so, maybe 2-1/2 stars.

Now we're kicking back and relaxing. Thought about going to the San Antonio Missions baseball game, but the wind kicked up, clouds moved in and there's a chance of showers or thunderstorms. Don't want to sit exposed in a stadium with lightning bolts flashing around us.

Have a good week. Travel Bug out.

South Riverwalk photo blog - Wed., July 10

This evening at 7:00 p.m. we joined 31 other San Antonio Hill Country Hikers for a mid-week walk on Riverwalk South. We did five miles and had dinner at La Tuna upon completing the walk. A very pleasant evening even though it was quite warm.

Sun's rays behind Bexar County Courthouse.

Our leader, Paul, in bright yellow.

Yes, there are boat locks on the San Antonio River!

Brooklyn Bridge

Water flowing to the side of the locks.

Beautiful grasses along the bank.

Glimpse of downtown San Antonio

Unique architecture

A little waterwheel,  but no water.

Interesting pavement inserts.

Cardinal

Bob on Arsenal Street Bridge.

Me looking a little windblown.

That's it for today. Tomorrow I'm back to work for two days.

Travel Bug out.

10.2 miles Walked Yesterday, Wed., June 19

Yesterday was too busy to write my blog and I worked ten hours today. Here's a recap.

My intention was to walk early yesterday morning before the temperature became uncomfortable. Well, that didn't happen and at 10:20 a.m. I started my 10K (6.2 mi) Volksmarch in the Brook Hollow neighborhood. It was hot and humid. Since I have walked there a couple of times before, I'll tell you about a few cool things I saw this time.

1. A deer family was hanging out in two different yards across the street from each other. A young buck walked in front of me while as he crossed the street. There were also two does and two darling fawns. If you look closely at the photo of the young buck, you will see scratch or teeth marks. I didn't notice them until I got the photos up on the computer screen.
2. Purple martin chicks at the purple mountain bird houses in someone's yard.
3. A brilliant yellow, large, parakeet-like bird was flying around being attacked by smaller birds. It looked like a house pet that had escaped. If it was a parakeet, it's the biggest parakeet I've ever seen. In trying to get a good photo, the bird flew out of my frame. I captured it on the ground by an outdoor air conditioner. But you can only see a splash of yellow. Lame, I know.

Two fawns

Young buck...looks like he was attached by a cougar (?).

One of the does with grackles in the background.

Purple martin chicks waiting for lunch.

Purple martin parent keeping an eye on me.

Yellow parakeet? It was rather large for a parakeet. Lame-o photo.

After the walk, Bob took me to lunch at La Madeline. What a good place! We enjoyed spending time talking in the middle of the day. He said it was a nice break from work. Thank you, sweetie.

In the afternoon I watched my Netflix selection, Cloud Atlas. Bob was not interested in it. The cast includes Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant.

At almost three hours this was a long, jumbled movie. The movie starts out very disjointed - choppy - in its storytelling. One storyline would start, then another, then another, then another. The narrator, after the third storyline starts, says to be patient and all will be revealed. Each actor portrays different characters throughout time, their gender changes from female to male and male to female during different eras. Quite interesting acting for stars.

The reason I'm giving this movie two stars out of five are:

• Too hard to follow.
• Too much gratuitous graphic violence. I do not like to see people splat on the pavement (after falling from a skyscraper) with blood spurting out all over, plus even more very bloody scenes.
• Too weird for me. 
• Some plot lines didn't seem to connect to others. The movie lost me. (See first bullet.)

Cloud Atlas, the book, was written a few years ago. If I had read the book first maybe the movie would have made more sense. The making of this movie was an ambitious undertaking and one I don't think translated well to the big screen.

At 6:45 p.m., Bob and I met with San Antonio Hill Country Hikers at Pearl Brewery Complex for a four-mile walk of Museum Reach of the Riverwalk. This was a hot, humid walk. Luckily most of the walk was in shade. Bob and I love the Museum Reach of the Riverwalk with its art work, the dam and locks, plus views of  skyscrapers downtown. Thank you, Paul, for leading us on this walk.

Locks and dam.

I'm behind again taking pictures.

Paul leading us into the sunset.

Yellow-crowned night heron.

I love my job at the RV park office: there's variety, we've been busy, it's a great commute, and my boss is patient and a good teacher. My days are Thursday and Friday...maybe when then Winter Texans arrive in October I will have more hours.

While at work today, Snelling called to ask if I can work Monday and Tuesday doing onsite registration for a Technology in Education conference at San Antonio's Gonzalez Convention Center. They expect 16,000 attendees. Sure! Sign me up. Monday will be an early day for me - start time is 6:15 a.m.!

And that is that for the past couple of days.

Travel Bug out.