San Antonio, TX

After looking at the list of potential outings, we elected to go to Fort Sam Houston, which is a modern, active military base.  I have never actually been on a military base, that I can remember. Fort Sam Houston headquarters the Army's medical department and medical command, among other things.  There are two museums there- one is a medical museum, and the other houses the history of the base, along with some other information, such as the history of the army uniforms and the meaning of the "chevrons" or insignias (ie. Sargeant Stripes) and all the changes that they have been through over the years.  The stripes used to be a dull color, then years ago changed to a shiny gold color, but in Vietnam, it was determined that they were too bright and the soldiers had to have new ones made locally that were not as bright.There was a display that showed all the potential medals and ribbons that can be awarded, and where on the uniform each one would be placed. Not sure why I found that fascinating, but I did. The medical museum had army helicopters, jeeps and trains outside in the courtyard in addition to the information inside the building. I found it enlightening to see the military and warfare from  a different perspective.

After spending the day there, we rested up for a bit, hemmed and hawed about whether we really felt like going out again (it was 6 pm) and finally did go back downtown to walk the riverwalk at night. It has a whole different feel to it, and will be even more neat when the Christmas lights are turned on. We ate at another Mexican restaurant, strolled around for a bit, then called it a night.

Sunday we spent relaxing, food shopping etc. We had things we had intended to do but really when we got up, we felt like just having a lazy day.

We are really lazy this week- today we just did some cleaning, then spent the afternoon doing errands and lazing by the pool. It is one of the only days the weather has actually been warm enough to do that! We did try to work out, but their idea of a fitness center was pretty laughable.

Tomorrow we leave for a two day drive to Big Bend National Park. We keep hearing about how remote it is, “bring food” “there are no services anywhere near there”. Yikes. We finally talked to someone today who just came from there- they said there is diesel fuel in the towns surrounding the park, and that was our only real concern, so I feel better. We can buy food before we get there. We certainly won’t starve to death anyway….

I was very excited to find out that the Leonid meteor shower will take place while we are in Big Bend, one of the most remote, least light-polluted areas in the country! Apparently there will be thousands of meteors per hour, the morning of November 18th. We will definitely get up for that one! I’ll practice taking pictures of the sky before that night, so I get a better idea of what settings to use. I did get good pictures of the lunar eclipse last year, so I should be able to do it. Apparently the Milky Way is completely visible as well. I am starting to look forward to stargazing!

ahhhh, San Antonio, TX

Two days later we arrived in San Antonio. We spent the night along the way, in Beaumont Texas. Keystone (the manufacturer of our 5th wheel) called us to ask how things were going, and make sure we were ok, which was nice. No one is convinced that the 5th wheel is really 100% ok, because it’s still flexing, but it isn’t as bad as it was- at least, so far. Paul isn’t too worried safety-wise, but if it continues to flex, then Keystone wants us to bring it in to another dealer, probably in El Paso. If it doesn’t get worse, then we can wait it out and see what happens. We arrived in San Antonio with no issues, and it was 83 degrees outside! Yay! What a beautiful day! We sat outside with brochures and made some decisions about what we want to see while we are here. There are some things that are obvious, like the Alamo, but we’re here for 5 days so we have time to do other things as well. We started off by doing some of the obvious today- we went to the Alamo. I must say I was a little apprehensive, since all I have ever heard is how out of place it is in the middle of the city, and that it isn’t worth seeing….Well, it didn’t cost anything, so that right there makes it worth it! There was more to it than I thought. There are several buildings still standing, and the courtyard is still there. I think it was one of those “expectations” situations. I expected that it wouldn’t be that good, so it exceeded my expectations very nicely. I don’t think you can grow up in this country and not know the words “remember the Alamo”, but today I learned a lot more about what made it so special, and what role it played in history. Its amazing that those 200 men were willing to take a stand and fight so hard for what they believed in, against such odds. Of course, they were hoping for reinforcements, but they did have an opportunity to get out, and chose not to take it. After the Alamo we walked down the Riverwalk, and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, sitting outside so we could people watch and enjoy the sunshine. We’ll go back to the Riverwalk again at night to see how different it looks. Probably tomorrow night, since there is a Latin Music Festival near there all day tomorrow, so we can check that out at the same time. Our final tourist event of the day was the Tower of the America’s. It’s a tower that was built in the 1960s for the Worlds Fair that took place in San Antonio. You can take an elevator to the top, where there is an observation tower, and a lounge. I think most big cities have their version of the Tower of the Americas. This one was ok- we could actually see our truck where it was parked a few streets away. There was a 4D movie about Texas that we saw as well. An amusement park type ride, but it was fun. We specifically didn’t make plans for the evening because the RV park we are at serves dinner on Friday nights. For $3.50 per person you get Lasagna, salad, garlic bread, a drink, and dessert. More importantly, it’s a way to meet other people who are staying in the park, so we wanted to go. We met and shared stories with a nice couple from Canada who are on their way to South Padre Island for the winter. We also met today, another couple who are fulltimers- they are on the opposite trajectory from us- headed from West to East, and will spend the winter in Alabama. Really nice people- too bad we met them the night before they are leaving, but we did exchange information. We’ll see what we decide to do tomorrow!

New Orleans/Hammond, LA

There were thousands of people walking the streets of the French Quarter on Halloween. I am sure there were parties galore as well, but it seemed like the main idea was to walk up and down the streets, to see and to be seen. Most people were in costume, although we weren't, much to Paul's disappointment. Anyone who knows him knows he LOVES to dress up for halloween. We saw two parades, one of which just kept winding around the streets. There was another one later, nearer to midnight, that was a wedding celebration. At the very last minute we accomplished one of my goals in New Orleans. We found Cafe Du Monde, THE place to get beignets, which are a doughnut, unique to New Orleans. They were very good, similar to Navajo fry bread or fried dough. We also ate dinner at Bubba Gumps, because it sounded like fun. The food was great, which kind of surprised us. The people of New Orleans definately discuss things in terms of "pre Katrina" and "Post Katrina". We didn't see that much of the city outside the French Quarter, which essentially sustained very little damage from the hurricane because its on high ground. The most damaged part, the ninth ward, is where some of the poorest live, which is the part that is below sea level. We drove by parts of it, and it still looks like about every 3rd or 4 th house is abandoned or destroyed and has not been fixed. We have heard that people would love to come back, but can't afford to get back here. The last two days have been pretty stressful. Last week we noticed several problems with the trailer, and we made an appointment for Monday, at a dealership in Hammond, LA, to get them fixed. A couple of the problems were minor and easily taken care of, but two were more serious. We had an issue with water coming in, onto the carpet, when we drove in the rain. Luckily no major damage, and they were able to find the cause and fix it. The other problem is the one that has kept us here . The outside fibreglass, where the front panel meets the side panel, has shifted, breaking the caulking seal that keeps the water out. They thought they had it fixed yesterday by pulling off the outer skin and putting more screws in, to hold everything in place. We didn't make it out of the parking lot before the seal gave way again. There shouldn't be any flexing, especially enough to keep breaking the caulking. There is a possibility that the interior frame is broken, causing everything to shift. Tomorrow they will open it up again and put longer screws in. If it doesn't work, we will have to head to Goshen Indiana to the factory and have them look at it. We would rather do that now, while we are reasonably close, rather than later, when we are in Texas or California. Hopefully the new screws will do the trick- Paul thinks they might. Meantime, the RV dealer has a great setup- sort of a mini campground, with 4 spots that including electric, for new customer orientations. They have let us spend the last two nights here, so they have access to the Everest first thing in the morning, and we don't have to drive anywhere. On the plus side, it saves us a little money on campgrounds! One way or another we should be back on the road to somewhere tomorrow.