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.
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.
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.
