San Antonio area (2-26-11)

    Today is our daughter's 21st birthday. Unfortunately we couldn't be with her, but a bunch of her friends came down from Michigan to Indiana for the weekend, to help her celebrate.  And of course, her fiance is there, so I am sure she is having a great time. I just wish I could be there.   This picture was taken last year in Las Vegas.  We flew her in for spring break and while at Margaritaville she had the brilliant idea of having this balloon hat made to try and get into a club.  When she got "carded", she was very disgruntled at wasting $5 on a hat.  I thought it was quite funny, since it's not like she hadn't already had a Margarita that day.  She said it was more about being able to enjoy the atmosphere of the club.
     I remember when  my son turned 21.  He was living with us at the time, so the 4 of us went out to dinner to celebrate and let him order his first "legal" drink.  The thing about my kids is that they are like Mutt and Jeff.  She is just over 5', and looks young, and he is 6'1" and has looked 21 since he was 16.  So on his birthday we were going to take him to his favorite restaurant, but he said he wanted to go to a steak house instead.  We thought that was strange, but thought he was just being nice, haha.  On the way home he admitted that the restaurant/bar that he likes so much has been serving him alcohol for months, so he didn't want to go there and make a big deal about it being his 21st birthday.  Argh, kids.
     So, anyway, San Antonio.  We're staying in a different park this time (Traveler's World RV Resort).  This one is in the city, and the bus stops right outside the park, so we don't have to drive into the city if we don't want.  We haven't been in yet, but I'm sure we will.  Yesterday we walked to one of the 4 missions in the area- Mission San Jose.  These missions were built in the 1700s by the Spanish Franciscan missionaries, who were sent to this area to convert the locals to Catholicism, and teach them skills that would financially benefit the Spanish monarchy.
So, why would the locals "fall in" with this plan?  Before the Spaniards arrived, they were hunter/gatherers, with no permanent home, living off the land, and they were quite happy that way.  However, just  around that time, the local population began suffering attacks from the Apache, who had made their way here from the north, and, contact with Europeans coming up from the south had exposed the locals to several diseases that began killing them off.  The Franciscans offered them shelter, safety, and cures for the diseases.  All they had to do is give up their way of life, their religion, and even their names (they were given Spanish names).  Everything worked out well, except they couldn't eradicate the diseases and eventually they contributed to the downfall of the missions.
  Two of our 3 packages have already arrived, so we are just waiting for the parts to fix the landing gear.