Missions Accomplished! (San Antonio 03-03-11)

 






San Antonio has 5 missions, one of which is the Alamo (Mission San Antonio de Valero).  We didn't go to the Alamo this time around since we went there last time we were in San Antonio.  We walked to Mission San Jose a few days ago, and then on Tuesday we got out the bikes and rode to Mission Conception.  Mission Conception is missing most of the outside walls, but more of what is there, is original, which made it more interesting.  The church has been recently restored and is still in use as an active parish.  It was interesting to see the melding of the old and new.                                                                             

 

Mission Conception

                                                                                            After we left that Mission, we got a little lost.  There was road construction, with signs that said "road closed" but we thought they meant closed for cars.  But nope, they meant closed as in completely impassable, so we had to turn around and figure out another way to get to Mission San Juan.  Eventually we found it, but I am not sure it was worth the effort.   The church at this mission wasn't open, so we just wandered around a little bit and looked at empty buildings.  There had actually been  3 churches on this site, but the third one was never finished due to lack of laborers. From there, it was on to Mission Espada. There wasn't too much to see there, except some empty buildings. All in all, we rode about 20 miles, and had an enjoyable day.  Later on we took two steps backwards however. After our ride, we went out  to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant (Nicha's), so we piled back on the calories, but the food was some of the best we've had in a very long time!  Great enchiladas and sopapillas and the chips and tortillas were freshly made.
  Wednesday was a housekeeping day for the most part.  We rented a carpet cleaner and cleaned the desert out of the carpets and they look so much better!  We gathered up our tax information and realize we are still missing one piece of information, which is very annoying, so we'll have to wait to get our taxes done.



    Later in the day we felt lazy but decided since it was our last night we really should go to the Rivewalk. 

            It turned out that our RV park was in a very convenient location, overall.  Not only could we walk and bike to the missions (and downtown, if we had wanted to) but we are on the bus route.  So, we took the local bus to the Riverwalk- it's the first time either of us have been on a bus in a very long time, but it was fun.  After walking around for a couple of hours, we ate dinner at The Republic of Texas.   We pretty much just stopped at restaurants until we found one that had a table available right outside on the water.  I really love the Riverwalk.  I love all the restaurants, the atmosphere, and also the fact that the locals use the area too.  There are many walkers and joggers along the walkways.



The Riverwalk



     Today we left San Antonio and planned to stay at Lake Corpus Christi State Park, but when we got there, they didn't have a site available that is large enough to fit us, so we kept going and we're staying in an RV park in Corpus Christi.  This afternoon we waded in the Gulf of Mexico!



Mustang Island