400 Mile Drive, 10k Walk, and a Movie - Wed., May 31, 2017

The walking vacation has begun. Last night when I got to Susan and Darren's house, it was doubtful whether all our luggage would fit in the back of my Escape. I really wanted to take my car on the trip. 

Susan didn't think all the stuff would fit, but she humored me and we tried to squeeze it in. It quickly became obvious that three people's luggage (who had all packed for two seasons--summer and winter) was never going to fit in the back of the Escape. 

Sooooo, we ended up taking one of the seats out of their minivan and then we had plenty of room for everything. Everything! (Except the kitchen sink. LOL.) I think we are much more comfortable in the minivan than we would have been in my car.

We packed all we could last night and got to bed around 9 p.m. The alarms were set for 5:00 a.m. with a departure time of 5:45 a.m. We had showered before bed.

In the morning, Susan made smoothies for breakfast which were very good. They had chocolate protein powder, bananas, coconut-almond milk, ice, and peanut butter. As soon as we put the rest of our belongings in the car, we headed out in the rain. 

In looking at the radar map on the phone, we could see the storm coming up from the south, chasing us north. We outran the storm within 15-20 minutes and didn't have any more rain all day.

U.S. 281 was our highway of choice. It turned out to be a great way to go north to Lawton, OK. It was a pretty straight shot, too. We stopped for lunch at Taco Casa where U.S. 281 and I-20 intersected. We avoided all the traffic and construction on I-35, and had pretty scenery until we got to Oklahoma, where it started looking like west Texas -- scrub brush and flat.

Candlewood Suites in Lawton had a check-in time of 3:00 p.m., but we called ahead and they were ready for us to check in at 1:00 p.m. Perfect! We wanted to do our 10k walk. 

The motel is awesome. Our rooms have a kitchen in them with full-size refrigerator, two burner stove, dishwasher, microwave, coffeemaker, toaster, and all the silverwave, dishes, cups, etc.

Oh, in Mineral Wells, TX, one of the towns we passed through on the way north, we saw these banners. I thought they were unique. 

Our East Lake Scenic Trail 10k Volksmarch started at Prairie Park in Lawton. The temperature this afternoon was 89 degrees, but it was windy and not humid, so we sweltered a little, but didn't stop.

The trail went around a prairie in full bloom with what looked like black-eyed Susans. Thankfully, there was a little shade along this part. 

Susan and Darren - starting out fresh

Thistle with fritillary

A huge dandelion

Thistle starting to bloom - looks like art

Prairie with black-eye Susans blooming

Probaby East Lake...no signs

We lost the trail described in our walk instructions because a new development is being constructed. There were workmen who pointed us in the right direction.

What was really in the photo above!

Pretty waterway with new villas along the water

There's a sandpiper here, running away

Don't know the name of the hill, but it's a nice backdrop

Fountain and new homes

More mature neighborhood

I grew up on the West Coast, we didn't have tornado sirens there! We saw this in a neighborhood. This is a good reminder why I don't want to live in tornado alley. We were very lucky with our weather today. 

Neighborhood tornado siren

Awesome truck

We are dodging storms. This morning we escaped the storm heading for San
Antonio. Today, we dodged a storm in Wichita, KS, which is where we're headed to walk tomorrow. Wichita is expecting anonther storm on Friday. So far, so good with our weather!

After our walk and feeling completely hot and exhausted, we went back to our rooms and showered. Ahhhh!

Susan and I wanted to see the chick flick, "Everything, Everything." Darren opted to stay in their room and chill. At the movie theater, Susan and I had all-beef hot dogs for dinner which were freshly cooked and pretty tasty.

Both Susan and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and give it two thumbs up. The ending was a surprise. Character development was excellent and it made us care about the people in the film. The plot was well developed and didn't leave any holes. The story-line was easy to follow and made us root for the young couple. I can't say any more without spoiling the ending. We left the theater very happy with our choice of movie.

Next, we headed next door to WalMart where I purchased the ingredients for my breakfast smoothies that I'll make in my Magic Bullet. Now it's time for me get some shut-eye. Wake up call in six hours!

After our walk in Wichita, we'll overnight in Belleville, KS. Travel Bug out.

Downgraded Hurricane Patricia Did a Sideways Blow of San Antonio - Sat., Oct. 24, 2015

So much hype about Hurricane Patricia...we were going to have 8-10" of rain, it was going to rain for three days...the news broadcasters were having a field day describing the upcoming gloom and doom.

Here's what really happened in San Antonio. Thursday and Friday of last week we had off and on rain showers, not enough to even saturate the ground. Predictions from prognosticators finally narrowed down the impact to San Antonio as being 100% chance of rain and thunderstorms on Saturday.

Being the night owl that I am, I was awake when the rain started in earnest at 1:00 a.m. The wind picked up and the rains came down. The rain abated for an hour or so, then came back with a vengeance at 3:00 a.m. I finally went to bed at 3:30 a.m. Bob was up early because he had an 18-mile marathon training run he wanted to do, leaving about 6:00 a.m. It was still raining heavily so he came back to bed.

At 9:30 a.m. I woke up to cold, wet feet. A pesky leak in the vent cover over our bed was dripping away. The only time it leaks is when we have a massive downpour. We put a beach towel on the bed and a big stock pot on top of that to catch the drips. Of course with the rain and wind and cold, wet feet, I was not going back to sleep. It was time to get up. It quickly became obvious I wouldn't be leaving the 5th wheel today. We had ponded water up to our bottom step. I was perfectly happy to stay inside, out of the elements.

I made pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon applesauce on top (instead of syrup), and put fried eggs on top of the applesauce. They are so yummy! Just perfect for a stormy fall morning.

We then watched our Netflix DVD selection, "The Day After Trinity," a documentary about the makers of the nuclear and atomic bombs. Both of us had just finished reading, "Los Alamos" a historical novel by Joseph Kanon, so it was interesting for us to see the location of the secret campus where Oppenheimer and the other physicists, scientists and mathematicians lived and worked on the Manhattan Project. I slept through part of it.

Bob had some accounting work to do with the company he used to work for. He met the bookkeeper at 2 p.m. to work on quarterly reports and was home by 6:00 p.m.

We had a date planned to go out to dinner and decided on Zio's Italian Kitchen because it doesn't have a waiting line on a Saturday night. Bob loved his Chicken Amalfi which had a lemon cream sauce with dried tomatoes served over angel hair pasta. I opted for the rib eye steak, which wasn't as good as the last time i had it.

By the time we got home from Zio's, all the ponded water around our rig had subsided. We didn't need to get our feet wet going back in.

We were very lucky that downgraded Hurricane Patricia veered around us. To the north and to the east the damage was much greater.

Sunday morning, Bob ran his 18 mile training run and was home by 11:20 a.m. We went to see Bridge of Spies at 1:45 p.m. This was my second time seeing it.

Movie Review - Bridge of Spies: I thought it was excellent and very well acted by everyone. It's a tight Cold War thriller based on actual events. Tom Hanks plays an attorney (James Donovan) who is asked to represent Russian spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance). Donovan makes a plea to the judge of the case not to issue a death sentence; however the judge would not consider it. Donovan takes the case to the Supreme Court and pleads the case for keeping the spy alive in case any of our soldiers were taken into custody by Russia, the U.S. could trade the Russian spy for our soldier. The Supreme Court gave the spy a 30-year prison sentence.

Meanwhile, one of our airmen in a U-2 spy plane was shot down over Russia. The airman was able to escape the plane and parachute to the ground. However, he was captured, tried by the Russians and given a 10-year prison sentence. You may remember the incident involving Francis Gary Powers. The CIA recruits Tom Hanks as a private citizen and lawyer to enter East Berlin to negotiate for the exchange of prisoners. With Steven Spielberg directing and a script by Matt Charman and the Coen brothers, the movie has good lineage. The movie is very exciting and reading the facts at the end give you satisfaction with the way things worked out.

A quick update on my blistered feet: They are healed up and I'm ready to walk again. Yay.

Our weather today was absolutely gorgeous, but chilly this morning. We had blue skies, gusty winds, and the temperature made it to the low 70s by this afternoon.

Bob and I are getting ready for our cruise. We've booked our shore excursions, made reservations at two of the restaurants on board the ship, and filled out all our pre-boarding paperwork. Now we need to buy some new luggage and shop for some clothes. Getting very excited!

Lighthouse Trail - Palo Duro Canyon

Movie Review: Meru - Sun., Sept. 20

Meru is a documentary about three world-class mountain climbers -- Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk -- who wanted to summit 20,700' Mount Meru on the Shark's Fin route in the Gharwal Himalayas. It had never been summited before.

The movie jumps right into the portaledge (hanging tent) of the three climbers as they're hanging from a cliff thousands of feet in the air. That got our attention!

From there, the documentary takes us back three years and introduces us to the three climbers. We learn about their families, their climbing experience, their mentors, and the pull of climbing the mountain.

Climbing Mt. Everest is a hike compared to climbing Mount Meru. On Mt. Everest the Sherpas carry the gear. On Mount Meru, the climbers must bring up their own gear which  means limiting what they can take. Also, the climbers need to be very experienced in all types of technical climbing: mixed ice, big wall, overhangs.

Conrad Anker had over 30 years experience in technical climbing. Jimmy Chin had climbed with Conrad Anker before and trusted him. Renan Ozturk was a relative unknown to Jimmy, but Conrad knew of his climbing skills. A three-person climbing team is considered optimal due to the amount of supplies needed. They have to consider every single thing they take up the mountain with them, including amount of food, climbing equipment, camera equipment and personal hygiene gear.

The movie is intense. So many things can go wrong such as injuries, avalanches, rockfall, severe weather, loss of equipment, even doubting your own abilities.

This filming done for this climb was done for their own benefit; they hadn't considered making a documentary out of it. Jimmy and Ozturk filmed the climbs they made, but it was Jimmy who came up with the idea to make their film into a documentary. He wanted to share aspects of climbing that were important to him that other people might not understand.

The film is excellent. In addition to the climbing, which is breath-taking, you learn about the people who did the climbs as well as the support people in their lives. Bob and I love this movie. A cliffhanger! Five stars.

After the movie, we headed out to Random for pizza and beer then we headed back to the 5th wheel. Now Bob's watching the Seahawks vs. the Green Bay Packers.

The Liberty Bar - photo by Jamie A. (from Yelp photos)

The Liberty Bar - photo by Tricia P. (from Yelp photos)

Last night after work, I took Bob to dinner at The Liberty Bar. We had never heard of it until a guest at the RV park discovered it on a bike ride. The restaurant is on Alamo St. in the King William Historic District. The building housing the restaurant is bright pink. Years ago this lovely building was a convent. Now it is a well-kept-secret eatery.

I ordered Codorniz con mole verde (quail with green mole) which was served with roasted tomatoes and potatoes. It was wonderful, but a lot of work to eat! Bob chose a chicken salad sandwich with potato salad and he was very happy with his choice too. We will definitely return again and again to check out more of their eclectic, fresh, yummy food. I'll be recommending this place to Travelers World RV Resort guests!

Travel Bug out.

A Walk in the City and A Walk in the Woods - Sun., Sep. 13, 2015

Today is a day about walking. It was a blessed 65 degrees this morning when we left our 5th wheel! That meant we could start our churches 10k Volksmarch through downtown San Antonio at 8:00 am instead of 7:00 am. Bob and Darren accompanied Susan and I this morning. We met at the Holiday Inn on Cesar Chavez, the start point for this year-round Volksmarch.

As we started out, all of us were praising the cooler temperature. The churches walk took us past at least ten churches, all of them historic. Plus we walked a little of the River Walk on our way to the finish point. It's interesting to see the city from different perspectives. Normally when we walk downtown we're on the River Walk, but this walk took us on city streets for 90% of the walk.

San Francesco di Paola Catholic Church

Detail above door at San Francesco di Paola Catholic Church

Beautiful window at San Francesco di Paola Catholic Church

Cruising around the city streets we found interesting murals and scenes. Since Susan and I hang around together all the time, we playfully refer to ourselves as "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" from Dr. Seuss books. When we saw the mural below, we had to interact with it!

Susan and Susan (Thing 1 and Thing 2)

The guys got in on it too.

Just down and over a couple of streets, we found this set of three disparate murals grouped together...

Overlooking the parking lot of the Bond 007 Rock Bar

Hipster giraffes

Susan ID'd this as from "A Clockwork Orange."

With the San Antonio River and River Walk running throughout downtown, there are lots of different bridges, many built a long time ago.

Convent Street Bridge, 1929

Convent Street Bridge

View of River Walk from Convent St. Bridge

A bridge from 1890 made by the
Berlin Iron Bridge Co. of East Berlin, Connecticut

Detail of bridge post

Okay, so churches weren't the only thing we saw this morning.

San Antonio Central Library (award-winning design)

Hotel Havana

Hotel Havana

Fire Station #1 with beautiful concrete work

Hannibal Pianta concrete work on the
(now) AT&T building downtown

Tobin Center for the Performing Arts

Scottish Rite Cathedral

As we came up to the convention center, we saw banners for two conventions going on this weekend. This seems like a bizarre juxtaposition of themes. And, yes, we did see people in costumes for the past few days. A few Bob and I saw included Wonder Woman, Superwoman, Batman, Loki, and Darth Vader.

Alamo City Comic Con and Bridal Extravaganza

Concrete decor on the Empire Theater

Grasses along the River Walk

Flood control dam on the San Antonio River Walk

Bill Miller BBQ Sauce tower with a big straw.

The walk was finished and we were hungry, so we had a buffet breakfast at the Holiday Inn where our Volksmarch starts. Then we were off to see "A Walk in the Woods" with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte.

Movie Review: "A Walk in the Woods"

Funny, funny movie about two old codgers who decide to walk the Appalachian Trail. Mishaps and missteps abound. We laughed a lot. The movie isn't terribly profound but that's okay. Robert Redford and Nick Nolte play off each other well and there are lots of jokes about getting old. The scenery is beautiful as they walk through Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. All four of us enjoyed the movie. 3-1/2 stars.

P.S. Bob came up with today's blog title. I thought it was clever considering what we did today.

Travel Bug out.

Movie Review: No Escape - Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Tuesday morning, Susan and I walked Salado Creek Greenway 10k (6.2 mi.) Volksmarch again from Lady Bird Johnson Park. You may wonder why we do the same walks over and over. Here's why...San Antonio's temperatures are in the high 90s with high humidity and these walks have SHADE!

The bike/hike/walk trails in San Antonio are very well used. Thankfully on Tuesday morning most of the bikers either verbally warned us they were coming, used a bell, or played music we could hear. Many times on these trails, the bikers whiz by us at a high rate of speed and we don't hear them. If we accidentally walk just a little to the left, we could be run over by these bozos. So we very much appreciate any warning they give us.

After the walk, we ate lunch at Chili's. I had a Caribbean Salad and Susan had their mini-burgers with fries. I raced home, cleaned up, changed clothes, then headed to my hairdresser for a cut. I told her I wanted a pixie cut, textured on top and the hair thinned because I have so much hair. Well, she did all that. I don't have a photo yet. I'm waiting for it to grow out a little, which shouldn't take too long.

Bob thought he could meet me for a movie after my hair appointment, but he couldn't get away from work. I went to see "No Escape" starring Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, and Pierce Brosnan. What an exciting, terrifying, haunting movie. I actually liked it. Because it looked so violent from the previews, I didn't think I would. However, the non-stop action, the portrayal of what a rebellion could look like to Americans in a foreign country, and the way it made me care about the family, all made for a solid movie, in my opinion.

The movie starts out in a luxury hotel in an Asian country. We see a meeting take place between the Prime Minister and another man. As soon as the other man leaves, the Prime Minister is murdered and a rebellion starts in which many people are murdered.

Meanwhile, Owen Wilson and his family (wife and two daughters) are flying to this country. Owen is going to work on a power plant under the aegis of the United States and the whole family is moving there. On the plane, they meet Pierce Brosnan who finds the littlest girl's teddy bear down by his feet. They strike up a friendly conversation. At the airport, when the family's ride doesn't come to pick them up, Pierce offers them a ride to the hotel with his driver.

On the way to the hotel, troops can be seen running to the capital. But we don't know what's happening yet. The family watches but doesn't seem too concerned. After checking in, they head up to their room to sleep after their long flight.

In the morning, Owen heads out to buy a newspaper. He can't find a current USA Today, so he buys one that is three days old. As he is walking back to the hotel with his paper, he sees a group of heavily armed police at one end of the block and a group of armed, angry rebels at the other end of the block. He starts running toward the police as the rebels also surge forward to attack the police. He hides briefly next to a shop and protects a woman and her child. When it looks like there's a small break, they run for it and take off down narrow alleys, away from the fighting. Rebels are killing people all over the place. He stays out of sight as much as possible until he gets back to the hotel.

At the hotel, a screaming gang of rebels has a man surrounded. They're yelling something about Americans. The American they have is forced to his knees and shot in the back of the head. Owen runs away from them. They see him and give chase. There's an old-fashioned fire escape, just a flat ladder bolted into the side of the building. He climbs it as the rebels come up after him. When he gets to the second or third floor, he gives the ladder a hard kick, it comes loose from the wall, and the rebels fall backward.

The plot moves forward at a breakneck clip from this point. Insurrection abounds. Owen and his wife have to get their family to safety. But where is it safe? They are watching everyone get slaughtered. Pierce Brosnan plays an interesting role as he tries to help the family flee for their lives. The movie races along. There are haunting scenes, touching scenes, and the tension is palpable.

I recommend this movie if you aren't too squeamish. It really made me think about "What if?" scenarios. What if we were in a foreign country and there was a rebellion? What would we do? What if anything happened on American soil? Again, what would we do? How would we react? I give the movie four stars; minus one star for violence and sustained tension.

Here are kitty photos...I need a dose of cute after that movie! I hope you don't mind.

Travel Bug out.

Movie Review: McFarland USA - Sunday, March 15, 2015

On Saturday night, March 14, Bob took me to dinner at Red Lobster after I finished work. Our meal was very good and the service was excellent. (Our original intent was to eat dinner at Olive Garden, but the number of people waiting outside the restaurant nixed that idea. At Red Lobster, which is next door, we had only to wait for one couple to be seated before us.)

After dinner, we had a spectacular sunset...

Sunday afternoon was our movie date to see "McFarland USA," starring Kevin Costner. While you may think, "Oh, it's just another Kevin Costner sports movie, this one about a high school cross country team," you'd be remiss if you didn't see it. The cross-country story line, while an anchor point in the story, is only a fraction of what this movie is about.

Be prepared to laugh, to cry, to have your perceptions changed, to learn about family and community, to understand determination, what it takes to be winners, and to enjoy a well-written, heartfelt story.

The actors did a terrific job. They made it feel like the true story on which it was based.

Bob enjoyed it as much as I did, or should I say, since it's a "sports movie," I enjoyed it as much as Bob did.