Time has certainly sped by since my last post.

On the occasion of my seventieth birthday, John thought a trip to a place of my choice would be fun.  We’d been to San Antonio once before and I loved the city and all the things offered there.  We flew from Moab “international” to San Antonio, via Denver.  Rented a car and headed on out.

Our first stop was on the east coast of Texas, Port Lavaca, several hours from S. A.  The first thing we saw in town was Half Moon Bay Light House,  sitting in the parking lot of the local civic center.  It had been moved from where it originally stood, out in the water of course.  A photo is included here.  If you’re a lighthouse buff,  just Google its name.  Near the beach, we saw a very bright mural on the side of Port Lavaca’s local theater.  It was certainly eye-catching so a picture of it is also included here.

Our trip took us directly south along the coast, through Corpus Christi, where we spent a night and had a wonderful meal of the most delicious crab cakes at Landry’s.  Our ultimate destination was Laguna Atascosa NWR because my goal was to see as many birds as I could to add to my life bird list.  I was not disappointed!  On the road before getting there we saw a red-shouldered hawk, and Caracaras.  At the NWR there were  green jays, great kiskadees, a green kingfisher, lots of mocking birds, an Altamira oriole, and Chachalacas.  The NWR is a lovely place with a seventeen mile drive with pullouts to view shore birds, javalinas, white-tailed deer and armadillos and the illusive ocelot, if one is lucky.  There was also an algae-covered alligator lurking in some leaves along a path near the visitor center.  We wondered if it was plastic because there wasn’t a twitch or eye blink from this fellow.  The question arose, “why would a NWR have a plastic alligator?”  We met a couple from Washington State who wondered the same thing.  The lady considered throwing a stick but then remembered that these creatures are very quick on foot.  So we’ll just assume it was real.

At one spot, I thought I’d get close to shore to take a photo.  John said it didn’t look like a good place, but being who I am, I thought I’d get as close as possible without getting into the mud.  As luck would have it, my very next step was into the muck, which sucked me in up to mid-shin.  While trying to extricate myself, my sneaker and sock were sucked from one foot.  It’s an unbelievable feeling having mud suck you in.  There must be hundreds of sneakers in the mire, a veritable mine of them, from previous attempts by people to take photos.  Here I am with plastic knife scraping mud off my pants.  Each day we are to learn something new.  Well, I did that day!

Our next stop was the Brownsville Zoo, a very neat place.  John and a monkey howled at each other.  The monkey got really excited and began doing all sorts of high-wire work, a really fun thing to see.  Afterward, we drove toward Mission, TX, to see an early Mission;  however, it was closed that day.  Continuing on, we went to McAllen, TX, and the Bentsen RGV State Park, another gem.  Once again, there were birds, including a Clay-colored robin to be added to my list.

There were just a few days left of our planned tour and we wanted to spend some time in the city of San Antonio.  We visited the five Spanish Mission churches, the grounds of which are now part of the National Park Service.  The NPS takes care of the paths, roads, parking areas and grass areas around the missions;  however, the churches themselves are separate entities, whose active parishioners care for and finance them.  We arrived at Mission Concepcion just twenty minutes before Mass on Sunday morning and wanted a quick tour.  The front entrance was under repair so everyone, parishioners and tourists alike, had to enter through the Sacristy where the priest was trying to robe for Mass.  While there, the Sacristan took us through the church pointing out various things.  When we got to the back, he showed us the baptistry which has a font built into a wall and has been used since the Mission was built in the 1700s.  Across the central aisle was another chapel in which the rope for ringing the bells hangs.  It was time to call the faithful so the Sacristan began to ring the bells and asked if John and I would like also like to pull.  We did, of course.  That memory will live in my mind forever.

The San Antonio Riverwalk is another great attraction in the city.  Everything was decorated for Christmas and beautifully lit.  Vendors were plying their gift wares and an atmosphere of fun and celebration was in the air.  There was also another bird to add to my list, a yellow-crowned night heron roosting in a huge tree along the walk.

Fredericksburg, TX, was also on our list of places to visit.  It is a tourist town to be sure.  In the early seventies, Main Street had many boarded up buildings and was about to disappear into history when someone had the foresight to ask that the shops and hotels be refurbished, with the help of town funds,  and that the town be advertised as a tourist destination.  It worked and Fredericksburg is now, a great place to visit.  There is still a very German influence as evidenced by the Christmas decorations in the town park.  An old German hospital  was now selling kitchenwares.  Admiral Nimitz was born there and the town has a museum dedicated to and about him.

Our last day was in San Antonio as we had to catch our flights back home.  We had such a wonderful time.  It was relaxed because we didn’t have a tight schedule.  Every place we visited got our full attention without hurrying to get somewhere else.  There was even time to see an exhibit of ancient, as far back as 1350 BC, carved jade at the San Antonio Art Museum.  The artistry and craftsmanship of these pieces was incredible.  Other attractions we enjoyed  were the Botanical Garden, the King William District, where German merchants settled in the mid 1800s and where there are beautiful ante-bellum houses still to be seen.  There is also a German men’s singing society and, because of the time of year, a Kristkindl Markt, where one can buy gift items for the benefit of a German civic organization.  There was also an incredible Japanese Tea Garden built on a old land fill across from Brackenridge Park.

Temperatures in San Antonio had gradually warmed up and it was very pleasant.  We walked everywhere we could.  When we arrived home in Moab, our weather was totally different in that the car was frozen and we had to defrost for a while before being able to drive home.

Thanks everyone for reading this very “windy” ‘blog.  I’ll look forward to receiving your comments.