San Antonio, Texas

We wrapped up our visit in San Diego Monday, March 23, and on the 24th we were in Goodyear, Arizona (just outside Phoenix) for four nights. Initially we were just going to be passing through, but it turned out that friends of ours (Janness & Nate) were also traveling through the same time, and RV friends (Jack & Marge) who we met on the road in Mission, Texas had moved to the area, so we decided to stay a few days so we could visit with everyone. We’re glad we did, it was really great to see old and new friends, and catch up with what’s been happening in everyone’s lives.

March 26th found us on the road again, to Deming, New Mexico for one night, Balmorhea, Texas the next night, and San Antonio on the 28th. We planned ahead to stay four nights in San Antonio as we had not been here before, and wanted to do a little touring before going to Livingston for the following three weeks. We set aside Monday the 30th to tour downtown San Antonio, which included The Alamo, The San Antonio River Walk, and the Spanish Governor’s Palace.

The Alamo is right in the middle of downtown San Antonio, a humble structure from the past, a mission originally, surrounded by towering high rises, business people caught up in the work-a-day world, and tourists wandering through the grounds and buildings. No photographs are allowed inside the buildings, but we were able to get a few nice shots of the outside. Dan had just recently finished reading the book “Texas” by James Michener, so much of the historical information was fresh in his mind.

When we were done at the Alamo, we walked over to the San Antonio River Walk, (also known as Paseo del Río), a tree-lined network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River beneath downtown (one level down from the automobile street). The majority of businesses along the Walk are bars, hotels, and restaurants, and is a huge tourist attraction. You can walk along both sides of the river, or take a guided tour in a water taxi. Dan and I chose to walk and enjoy the beautiful scenery at a leisurely pace. After eating lunch at the Rio Rio Cantina, we headed out to the Spanish Governor’s Palace a few blocks away.

Originally built in 1722 to protect the mission (Alamo) and its surrounding colony, the Spanish Governor's Palace became the seat of the Tejas government and capital building of the Tejas (Texas) region in 1772 for the Spanish Province. The Governor's Palace is the only remaining example in Texas of an aristocratic early Spanish house. This was the residence of the presidio captain who represented the King of Spain (Ferdinand) in the Governor's absence. We also made a brief visit to the San Fernando Cathedral which was just a couple blocks from the Palace.

The pictures above are: The Alamo (front doors into Church section); a section of the River Walk; me sitting in the courtyard of the Governor’s Palace; San Fernando Cathedral.

USS Midway, San Diego, California

While we were in San Diego, Dan, my sister Jennifer, and I took the time to tour the USS Midway Museum, a retired US aircraft carrier docked in the San Diego harbor. Although the Midway was involved in many wartime activities, I was surprised (and pleased) to learn it was also involved in some humanitarian missions as well (rescuing 1800 Americans fleeing Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991; rescuing 3073 Saigon refugees in two days in 1975). In addition to the myriad aircraft on display, there were scores of other interesting details to the ship and how it operated. I seemed most drawn to how a crew of 4500 (including 2 doctors and a dentist) lived in this floating city. I found the logistics quite fascinating – where did the crew sleep, what did they eat? What did they do for entertainment? What did the captain’s quarters look like? Here are some interesting daily living facts: 10 tons of food (13,500 meals) served daily; 3000 potatoes daily; 1000 loaves of bread daily; 4500 pounds of beef when served; 500 pies when served. The chapel, the brig, the post office, the laundry room, the sick bay, the library all intrigued me.

The first thing that hits you about the Midway is how huge it is. It’s hard to imagine something this large and heavy can float. Obviously, I’m no engineer! Here are some numbers that help paint the picture of the sheer magnitude of this ship: 1,001 feet long; 4.02-acre flight deck; 18 decks; 18-foot tall propellers; 20-ton anchors; 2000 feet of anchor chain; 2000 compartments; 2000 electric motors.

Some other interesting facts… The USS Midway was in service for 47 years stretching from the end of WWII to the liberation of Kuwait in 1991. No other aircraft carrier served for the United States as long. It was the first carrier homeported in a foreign country, calling Yokosuka, Japan home for 18 years. The average age of the 225,000 sailors who served on the Midway was 20. The on-board library held 5000 books. From the deck of the Midway, you can look down into Mole Park and see the of “Unconditional Surrender”, a 25-foot, 6000 pound statue commemorating a famous World War II photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square, new York City, on August 14, 1945. I’ve included a photo of this taken from the flight deck, as well as various shots of the aircraft. Note the Coronado Bridge over San Diego Bay in the background of the helicopters photo.

Flower Fields (Carlsbad, California)

It’s been just over six months since arriving in Sacramento, and our time there (this time around) has come to an end. I know it’s a cliché, but it really is hard to believe that the time passed so quickly! We enjoyed spending time with our family, welcoming a new grandson to the world, volunteering at the Yolo County Grasslands Regional Park, and reconnecting with our friends. It took a little effort to “unspread” ourselves – after lighting somewhere for six months, you have a tendency to not only collect more than you need, you also spread out. So the last couple of weeks before we hit the road were spent sorting through everything, getting the rig ready to roll, getting rid of what we didn’t need.

We left Sacramento on Tuesday, March 17th on our way to San Diego. We stopped overnight in Bakersfield, and arrived in San Diego on March 18th (Dan’s birthday!). We were expecting some nice warm weather, but it was actually foggy almost every day we were there, except on Sunday, when it rained! But we managed to get out and do a lot of things during our five days there. We spent time with my sister Jennifer, visited the Flower Fields in Carlsbad (about 25 miles north of San Diego), ate at some nice restaurants, took a 5-mile run on the boardwalk in Pacific Beach, and toured the USS Midway (a retired aircraft carrier docked at the Navy Pier on the Embarcadero in downtown San Diego.) Our visit here was kind of like a mini-vacation, and a great way to start our Spring 2009 road trip!

I’ve attached pictures from our tour of the Flower Fields - 50 acres of extraordinary color in bloom on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Check out this link for the history of the Flower Fields: http://www.theflowerfields.com/index.html.