Both kids are having a simultaneous, same-day birthday this weekend, Andrew turning one, and Hanna turning four. How much fun would that be?
We met Bill and Teri a long time ago when we all lived in Southern California, but then everybody went separate directions, and now we don’t get to see them very often. We did catch up with them very briefly in San Antonio last year and this year we got to spend a couple full days with them. We thoroughly enjoyed it!
They showed us some of San Antonio’s sights and the insides of a few very good local eating establishments.
One evening we went up to a small town near San Antonio, called, Boerney, and pronounced, “Burney.” This was a neat little town with lots of character and cute shops where Teri and I could have spent all day shopping. We didn’t get to do that, but boy! would that have been fun!
Last year when we stopped through here, I wanted to go to the River Walk that I have always heard so much about. Unfortunately, in addition to lots of rain, Don was having problems with his hips and really couldn’t walk. We grabbed umbrellas and saw a little of it anyway.
So this year we went with Bill and Teri, weather was cool, but beautiful. We had lunch along the river and a nice walk around the River Walk which is beautiful. River Walk is the Texas version of Venice…loosely speaking, of course. There is also some great architecture on the buildings along the river.
There are numerous gondola boats that take people on tours of the River.
It is interesting that you don’t see more people falling in the river as most of it has no barriers along the not-very-wide walkway. We did hear screaming periodically when teenagers threatened to throw their friends in, but no one actually got wet…at least not when we were there. It is definitely not someplace you would want to take little kids without hanging on to them very, very tightly.
There are lots of restaurants here and an assortment of shops. This one café had multicolored umbrellas along the river where you can sit outside in nice weather. It was so busy we could not get in here and we picked another one out of the many.
There was one group of elementary school kids taking a boat ride and singing as they went. They sounded great and it was fun hearing them as they floated the river.
One area is called La Villita that has small shops and galleries. We spent quite a bit of time here. There is some wonderful art work available in the galleries. We found a wedding gift for special friends who are getting married this spring. We won’t tell what it is here, but if they don’t want it, we are definitely keeping it.
One shop was a Copper Gallery with wonderful copperware. As we were leaving, we saw the coppersmith on the roof of the building polishing some of his pots. Apparently he does a lot of his copper work on the roof.
Then Don surprised me on Valentine’s day with an unusual copper bead bracelet that I had admired when we were the Copper Gallery. What a sweet surprise that was.
There is also an interesting small church in the La Villita area, called The Little Church of La Villita. built in 1879 and is currently still in use.
Plaque on the front of the church gives a brief history of the church.
We were sorry to leave Bill and Teri, but the road was calling and they have a very important birthday party to attend.
Driving through West Texas is a total un-experience. I swear we could put the RV on Cruise Control, go back to the bedroom, take a nap and not miss a thing. Of course we don’t do that, but in short, it IS a boring trip. Not even the cell phone works during a large part of this route, because NO ONE LIVES THERE!
Bill had told us of a loop route around El Paso, which we took. Beside missing a ton of El Paso traffic, there is one portion of this route that goes through the mountains, which provided some interest.
Overlooking El Paso, Texas.
Desert-like hills are in this area.
Then we arrived in Deming, New Mexico to spend the night in a truck stop.
This IS New Mexico, and as I look out the window, what do I see? Is it a flying saucer? It’s not moving. I take the picture and wonder.
After I zoom in on my camera, I decide it's a blimp. Oh, well. It’s Deming, not…Roswell, for goodness sake!
A little later I notice the sun is setting over the ol’ truck stop giving us a light show in the sky.
I am always amazed at the beauty of the sunset. I know it would be prettier if the truck stop signs and things weren’t in the way, but this is one of the great parts of RV-ing. Even if you are spending the night in a truck stop, you are where you can see sunsets more often than at home because at home we get too busy to look at the sky. In spite of the trucks in the picture, it is a beautiful sky.
“Thank you, Lord for the gift of beauty you give us.”
Next Blog: Benson, Arizona
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