DEC 27, 2015 HOUSTON, AUSTIN, SAN ANTONIO AND THE VALLEY

December 27, 2015

Left home  around noon,  heading to Austin to take Matt back so he can work a camp tomorrow.  Rain, at times heavy, most of the way.   Visited at Matt's for a little while then headed west and south to San Antonio.

Dark, rainy and windy by the time we neared San Antonio, so we decided to get some dinner and wait until tomorrow to explore the city.  High water on some of the roads.  We  decided on Cajun food at Bourbon Street Seafood Kitchen, a nice restaurant on the north side of town, then  spent the night at a nearby Walmart.  Most of the Walmarts now have WiFi in their parking areas!  Chilly night so we added a blanket - temps dropped to the mid 30's!


Monday, December 28

Woke to lovely blue skies and sunshine!  Yeah!  We noticed last night that there was something under the Trek that was scraping on occasion, so decided to have that checked out.  Walmart auto repair didn't have a pit and sent us down the road to Firestone.  Firestone didn't have one either, and sent us a little further to a body shop called Service King.   They took a look and found a heat shield that had fallen, and did a quick repair in about 20 minutes.  When finished they shook our hands and said Merry Christmas and Happy New Year - no charge!!

We headed to Mission San Jose, known as the Queen of the Missions, and one of five that comprise the Mission Trail.

We watched a short film about the Spanish missions and how they introduced not only language, religion and culture, but also crops and the raising of cattle, sheep and goats.  These animals were the basis of the whole ranching, cowboy culture of the west.   The Spanish had settled from Florida to California and as far north as St. Louis in the 1700's.  By the end of the 1790's, the missions were secularized and transferred to the local communities.  The friars continued as parish priests and all of the missions are still used as local church communities today.

Mission San Jose is quite beautiful.  The walls were reconstructed, but the church is original. There is an old mill on the property which was run by the water carried by an intricate system of acequia - waterways which carried water from the nearby rivers for irrigation, the mill and more.

Next we headed south to Mission San Juan, founded in 1716 in East Texas and moved here in the 1730's.  This and the other missions were important on trade routes, hosting pack trains that brought  spices, clothing, chocolate and other goods.

Mission Espada was next, a smaller mission with lots of pastureland and the only mission to produce their own bricks.  They grew melons, chilies, corn, squash, sugar beets and more.

Next, we headed back towards town and Mission Concepcion, which is the best preserved of the missions and includes some original wall paintings.

 The Franciscan Friars who ran the missions were impressive people who served as church ministers but also teachers, protectors, explorers, diplomats, cartographers, farmers, builders and scribes. The Indians who came to the missions for security (from bands of hostile Indians) and steady food supplies were taught Spanish and encouraged to adopt Spanish culture.

The last of the missions would be the famous Alamo, which we have visited a few times and opted not to go to again.

Instead we headed to El Mercado - Market Square - which has been a market area for at least 100 years.

 Many busy shops and restaurants featuring Mexican crafts, pottery, jewelry, clothing and more.  We bought a large bottle of vanilla, as the one purchased 15 years ago is almost empty.

Next we drove several blocks to the Riverwalk area.  It was very busy and someone told us this is about their busiest time of the year.  We walked for a while and decided to try some Mexican food while waiting for darkness to fall.  Lots of festive holiday decorations.  Tasty enchiladas, quesadillas and tamales.

And after dinner, the lights were beautiful.

 We walked some more and experimented with some night time pictures.  Many of the buildings, including the Tower Life Building, were illuminated, along with the bridges and trees along the riverwalk, passing boats and shops. Lots of people enjoying the walk, eating indoors and out (with heaters), riding the boats and shopping.


We left the Riverwalk and headed to another Walmart to the south of town on Military Drive.  There are many military bases in San Antonio.  Quiet evening, warmer than last night.

Nov 2, 2015 Mississippi to Louisiana

Monday, November 2, 2015
Mississippi to Louisiana

Woke early this morning and it is 70 degrees and humid already.   Very heavy fog.

We stop for a quick breakfast and then hop on I-65 toward Mobile.  I  wanted to take a photo of the bridge into Mobile, but by the time we were off the bridge and could stop, it was swallowed up by the fog.

 Since it is still early (8:00) we head to Magnolia Cemetery, an old Victorian cemetery started in the early 1800s.  It used to be outside of town, but town has grown around it.    There is still fog when we arrive, which gives an interesting aura.

Part of the grounds is a national military cemetery.

We see a few interesting statues

and markers and Greg suggests we stop by the office to see if they have any literature or maps or such.  What a GREAT idea, because there we meet Tighe Marston  ("friends call me Tiger" )whose official title is Municipal Cemeteries Manager for Mobile.  He gives us a map and marks a few things of interest as we chat a bit. He asks if we'll be around Saturday because there is a tour then.  When we say no, he grabs some keys and asks if we'd like to see the most beautiful mausoleum.  He then leads the way in his car and for the next  two hours or so we get a wonderful individualized tour!

 Tiger is incredibly knowledgeable, with stories about many of the folks buried here - cotton merchants, confederate soldiers(including General Bragg), the creators of Mardi Gras (one has a cowbell atop his marker), well-known local families, etc. - but also full of information on Victorian customs and the many symbols used in funerary art...

The inverted torches symbolize end of life.

.angels, Greek gods and goddesses, urns, laurel wreaths, obelisks(originally phallic symbols) both truncated (for lives cut short) and complete (for full lives), hour glasses, egg and dart decorations, the snake eating its' tail, and many many more. He explained how the archeological discoveries in Egypt and Greece influenced the Victorians.

 He took us into a few locked structures which have statues, stained glass and funerary chairs, among other things. I wish we could remember even 10% of the knowledge he spewed!

 Most of the markers and statues are made from white Alabama Marble, which is a little soft - great for carving but some is not holding up so well after 150+ years.

Inside one mausoleum

This one had a gorgeous full size marble statue inside.  No photos allowed.

Tiger explaining a charnal house piece.

view through cutout in metal door to one mausoleum

He even explained the different kinds of trees - live oaks, magnolias because they don't lose leaves so symbolize eternal life; cedar trees for the jewish which symbolize temples. Many trees were lost to hurricanes - at one point he said the cemetery was seven feet under water!

He said he often gives presentations and has begun to use some humor,  of which he gave us a few samples. And what a southern gentleman - he extended his hand to help me whenever there was a rough or uneven patch!  He really was charming and quite entertaining! Who knew cemeteries could be such fun?!

Much of the wrought iron was stolen by vandals during a period when the cemetery wasn't cared for.

After bidding him farewell with a hearty handshake, Greg and I continued to drive and look around for a short time and then headed into town to the Mobile Carnival Museum.

It was located in an old house surrounded by wrought iron fence, gates and trim.  Mobile claims to have started the whole Mardi Gras tradition of parades and music, although the first parades with rakes and cowbells (long story, google it) were at New Year's Eve.

Part of one float

The museum showcased many of the elaborate costumes from Kings and Queens of past years, photos and mementos, as well as some items from floats and parades.  The lady who sold us the tickets was very friendly and knowledgeable too.  We watched a short film and then wandered through the displays.  Did you know that they used to throw CrackerJacks (along with beads and such) but had too many complaints of injuries, so they switched to Moon Pies!

 A fun museum that made us want to return in February to see some of the 30 different parades held over 2 1/2 weeks.

Across from the museum was the Spanish Plaza built to commemorate 30 years of Spanish rule. Cordoba, Spain is their sister city.

We turned westward then, back to I-10, towards home.  The sun had come out briefly but we are back to dense cloud cover.  We found a restaurant called Dempsey's in Baton Rouge for our traditional shrimp Poor Boy (Poboy) sandwiches. These were great and I enjoyed some crab corn soup as well.

Greg drove for another few hours and we stopped for the night at the Atchafalaya Welcome Center near Breaux Bridge, LA.  A little noisy, as it is close to I-10, but, hey that's what earplugs are for!

Finally cooling down after reaching 80 today and the rain seems to have moved east. Tomorrow we will head home, about another 6-7 hours.

Alabama/Mobile

Sunday, November 1

Sweet Home Alabama

Greg rises early and manages to get a small fire going – how, with wet wood I’ll never know!  We walk a bit and then have oatmeal and bananas for breakfast.

We thought of staying here longer, but then the rain begins again, so we decide to move on.  We talk with the camp host as to best route and his directions are great – at every stop sign take a left till you get to route 78, then go right.  My kind of directions!   No phone or internet out here in the boonies!

On the way out we see a sign for the Shoal Creek Missionary Church, which was mentioned in the park information, so detour down a skinny, leaf-lined dirt road for about a mile to this hand-hewn log church, built between 1885-1890. Only used occasionally now - a sign advertised a hymn sing on Labor day.

Lock? on door

 Simple but hallowed-feeling.  Greg notices a small nearby graveyard and we walk through it.  Most of the graves are marked only with a rough natural stone at the head and foot. No identification.

  This one had identification, probably from a Civil War organization, since it belongs to a man who served in the Confederate army.

The few that had a date were from late 1800’s or very early 1900’s.  

The Trek is running fine and we are definitely off the interstates.  Winding through rural Alabama, we pass farms and pastures with cattle, horses and goats interspersed with fields of cotton, some glowing white and some already picked and packed in huge bales.

  Tiny towns with old general stores, occasional areas of kudzu, large chicken farms, and houses ranging from shacks to trailer homes to neat clapboards to large beautiful brick homes.   An occasional confederate flag or coondog.

The Trek turns 100,000 miles near the tiny town of Cottage Grove. It had 12,000 miles when we bought it from a couple in Florida.

Next stop, Jim ‘n’ Nick’s in Prattville for lunch and a sampling of Alabama barbque. A father-son team who used to run a dry cleaning business, they now have several restaurants in the area. We have heard about Alabama's "famous" white bbq sauce but are told here that it is generally used for chicken or turkey.

 We start with pulled pork nachos, recommended by our server.  Then I have southern fried chicken with white bbq sauce, while Greg goes for a brisket sandwich.  The nachos are good.  The white bbq sauce too spicy for my taste, and we agree that the brisket is good but tastes more like it was slow cooked in a crock-pot rather than a pit.  Don't want to be an obnoxious Texan, but they really don't know bbq.

Our RV Parky app tells us about a casino down the road, Wind Creek, run by the Creek Indians.  The review says that is “RV friendly”, so we decide to pay them a visit and spend the night there.  Still raining lightly.  We go inside for a bit and it is fairly small with just lots of slots.  Greg leaves Beth at the penny slots, where she burns through her allotted monies quickly :( and then they find a nice  quiet spot far out in the spacious parking lot. 

The security folks pass by and wave.  We are still full from lunch, so just have fruit for dinner, and then catch up on reading, blogging and such.  I finished The Midwife's Revolt which is about a friend and neighbor of Abigail Adams who is a midwife (and revolutionary) during the Revolution.

 Warm evening and we open windows when the rain stops (optimistically using "stops" instead of "pauses").  We are about an hour from Mobile, where we plan to spend some time tomorrow.