Spent one day solving computer problems. Going between Verizon and Best Buy, that took up almost a whole day. At least problems resolved. We hope!!!  Before leaving San Antonio, we went into town to go to the Tower of the Americas. This is a 750 foot tower which has an restaurant, a lounge and an observation deck on the top. The elevator is outside which gives you a view of San Antonio as you ride to the top. The observation deck is enclosed in glass, and gives great views of San Antonio. My only comment is that they should designate north, east, south and west. It would have been easier for us to find which direction the campground we were staying at is located.
  Besides that, I am sure the views at night are spectacular from the observation deck. Off to Corpus Christi in the morning. We have always enjoyed ourselves in San Antonio.

    

Another day, we drove to town of Gruene, which is right next to New Braunfels. This is a great town with lots of quaint shops - a General Store,

inside general store

inside general store

antique shops, Cotton Eyed Joe's gift shop and Gruene Hall

which is the oldest operating dance hall Texas (since 1878). Majority of country singers have played here and still do. For those who remember the movie "Michael" in which John Travolta played an angel, the dance sequence from that movie was filmed at this dance hall. This is a real honky-tonk bar!!!

me on the stage!!!

You can probably go on You Tube to see the place.
  Next door  is the Gristmill River Restaurant & Bar. Great food. Since is it the holiday season, the restaurant has their Christmas tree hanging upside down as you enter.

entrance to Gristmill Restaurant

Skip had the fried shrimp. I had beef tenderloin sandwich. Huge!! Nothing is as big as their onion rings!!!

As our waiter reminded us, we are in Texas and there is nothing small in Texas!!!
  Afterwards, we walked off lunch browsing through the many shops. Would definitely come back here. Great place to shop and browse around.

About two hours north of San Antonio is area known as Hill Country. This is where many of Texas wineries are located. Up early and off we go. We brought Thumper along so she could check out the "terroir" of the vineyards. Ha-ha!!!!  First stop was Becker Vineyards in the town of Stonewall. Beautiful tasting room.

They grow some of the grapes on the premises; rest in other areas of Texas.

 Next we went across the road to Fat Ass Vineyard and Ranch. They have been in business for 18 months.

They are big on peach in their wines. Their sweet peach wine was not bad.  It was like moscato.  I purchased some Skip.

While I was wine tasting, Skip was outside with Thumper, who met the resident donkey. Skip said they got along fine. Unfortunately, I had the camera; missed this photo-op.  Afterwards, we pulled into Four Point, which is made up of three separate wineries that came together to make a joint wine.

  Afterwards, I stopped in Fredericksburg at the Kitchen Store. Great place!! On the way back to San Antonio pulled into a roadside stand selling lots of metal stuff!!! Skip loves browsing around these places.

Long day but fun. Will sleep well tonight.

Skip's cousin, Gary and his wife Lynn, live in San Antonio.

 

We went to their house and then out to dinner at Long Horn Steakhouse. It was good to see them. Had copies made and sent them to Aunt Betty for the LeRow family albums.
  The following night Skip and I went into town to see the Christmas tree at The Alamo

and had then to River Walk to see the lights and have dinner. We ate at Michelino's an Italian restaurant, which is connected to a Mexican restaurant.

Feliz Navidad was the song of the night. Since we have not had any Italian food in over 2 months, we thought it was good. Always fun in the River Walk area. Never know who or what you will meet walking around San Antonio! Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Tejas Rodeo Company. Located in Bulverde, Texas there is a Steakhouse that is open on weekends with live, professional rodeo on Saturday night. Since rodeos aren't prevalent on the northeast, we headed over. We had dinner at the Steakhouse. Wished we had brought our winter coats. Temps dropped - it was cold sitting outside for rodeo. We kept going over to the large fire pit to keep warm.  There is bull riding, team roping, barrel racing. Unfortunately, because of the lighting it was tough to take pictures.

Texas longhorns

bronco riding

Tejas' precision team

It was fun to watch.Walked around the pens. There were some mean bulls in the pens. Met Buttercup in the kid's riding area. My type of pony!

Skip found his way to a heater!!!

On a warm night, this would be fun!!!!

The day after Thanksgiving we took a ride out to the Mission District. The chain of missions were established along the San Antonio River in the 1770's. Together, these missions form the largest concentration of  Catholic missions in North America. These missions consist of The Alamo, Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose,

chapel of Mission San Jose

outside Mission San Jose chapel

compound in Mission San Jose

Mission San Juan and Mission Espada.

entrance to Mission Espada

Inside Mission Espada

Christmas tree outside Mission Espada

It is an easy drive to visit these missions. (They are well marked). In 1978, Congress created the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. By agreement with the Archdiocese of San Antonio, the mission churches remain active centers of worship.
As we were driving to the various missions,

we noticed that at the cemeteries along the route, the majority of headstones all had flowers.
  Also you come across the Espada Dam (completed in 1745) which is the preserved acequia system. It still diverts river water into a mother ditch, which is ten carried over Sixmile Creek via Espada Aqueduct (see picture - is the oldest Spanish aqueduct in the United States. Floodgates controlled the flow of water. 

Espada Aqueduct

Woke up to rain on Thanksgiving. Made coffee and watched the Macy's parade. Jonathan and Joan went to parade. They said it was great. Skip and I went to the Hilton in town for our Thanksgiving dinner. They had advertised a Thanksgiving buffet, with complementary glass of champagne (our waitress kept refilling) and free valet parking.

There was not an empty table. Skip and I were not the only ones dining out! The large ballroom was filled with tables. There was lots to choose from at the various food stations - appetizers, omelets, scrambled eggs, bacon, mashed potatoes, bacon, vegetables, rolls, and two turkey stations, and desserts.

One did not leave hungry from this dinner!!! Also had a harpist to entertain.

We did miss the family on Thanksgiving and wished they were here to enjoy it with us!!!!

  

Spent morning grocery shopping, getting car washed and cleaning up. Going through maps and brochures and saw Gustafson Stadium. Since it is my maiden name, off we went to find Gustafson stadium. Found it!!!! Don't know who C. Marvin Gustafson is or was. Will have to find out.

Part of a sports complex for track, baseball, swimming, etc. In fact just before we arrived, they were doing some track and filed for the Special Olympics. Too bad we missed it. Afterwards we drove down to The Market "Mercado" in town. Had lunch at the Mexican restaurant, La Margarita. In fact, this is the same restaurant we ate in a few years with Skip's cousin, Gary. Afterwards we browsed through some of the shops.

 

Arrived in San Antonio! We are staying at the Blazing Star RV Resort in the northwest section of San Antonio. Previously we had stayed on the other side of the city.

our site

pool area

We are about 13 miles from downtown area. Very nice campground - great satellite for Skip and great dog park for Thumper, and if weather warms up, may enjoy the pool. When we checked in, we were able to sign up for their Thanksgiving dinner which the campground does a week before Thanksgiving. Campground has been doing the dinner for years. I asked what the charge it for the dinner. I was told nothing. They enjoy doing it for the residents that are staying. We have met a few residents of San Antonio that have sold their homes an live full time in the motor coaches. Campground prepares turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. Campers bring side dishes or desserts. It was very good! We met lots of fellow travelers and had a good time.
  Over 1 million people reside in San Antonio. Unlike the northeast which is congested and tall buildings, San Antonio is spread out and congested at times. When leaving the campground, we enter the 1604 loop at 60 MPH. When not in traffic or construction, you move it in Texas!!
  Drove into town the following day. Finding our way in around the various loops and routes we made it. Parked the car in a lot (10.00 fee - a bargain compared to parking lots in a few other states) - walked around River Walk area. Overcast but nice. It is a nice area. Skip and I have always enjoyed coming here. Since we will be here for a month, we can just stroll around. We had late lunch at the Original Mexican Restaurant on River Walk.

 

 

I enjoyed the beef burrito which rice and beans and Skip had steak eggs. Afterwards we walked up to the Cathedral.