2018 10 24 - 11 02 South Central & South West Texas (San Antonio and Waco)

Apologies for the lateness of this blog update. Phone service and wi-fi have been really bad lately. 

River Walk, San Antonio, Texas - Friday, 26 October 2018

From our campground we had direct access to the River Walk bike path in San Antonio. We stowed our hats in our backpacks and wore our helmets while we biked along for a couple miles.  

Some portions have paths on both sides of the river. There are several artist areas outside of downtown with galleries, shops and breweries. We didn't realize until too late that we could not ride the entire path into downtown and ended up having a choice of walking our bikes on the path or transferring to the streets and riding. We did both. Automobile traffic wasn't nearly as scary as all the scooter traffic which came flying along crossing streets willy-nilly with little regard to courtesy or rules of the road. 

Dia de las Muertas (Day of the Dead) masks and family tents honoring deceased relatives lined some streets.

Every shop and restaurant had decorations for Halloween too. 

The famous riverboats of San Antonio plying the waters while the captains spin tales of history and traditions.
Pictured is the famous theater with the stage on one side and the seats on the other. The Stage was decorated for the celebration. 

Walking the main scenic portion of San Antonio River Walk with its colorful umbrellas for patio dining. We walked on one side then crossed over to walk the other side so we could see some of the historical spots, i.e. the spring that fed into the river and several historical buildings. 

A local mariachi band plays for restaurant customers. I don't know enough Spanish to translate but it was still enjoyable to listen to the lively music. 

Driving School, San Antonio, Texas - Tuesday, 30 October 2018

Duane was an Over-the-Road trucker for 25 years and also has personal experience driving his own RV rig. He only needed to reiterate some driving safety tips for Bob since he has been doing it for over a year. Most of our time on Monday and Tuesday were spent with me driving since I had never done it. Duane was comfortable with my highway driving skills which aren't much different with the trailer as without it. Once we cleared the city, he took us around different turning conditions (always swing wide and watch your rear end). The last portion of Monday and majority of Tuesday was backing practice. The straight line backing for over 50 feet was a challenge to keep everything in line and not let the back end of the trailer swing in any direction. The 90 and 45 degree backing to simulate getting into a parking site was a real grind. And I do mean a real grind. Hard over to the left, hard over to the right, back and forth, pull forward to straighten, do it all over again. Pushing 40 feet and over 16,000 pounds takes a lot of slow maneuvering and patience. At last, we had completed our instructions and received our Certificates.

San Antonio Missions, San Antonio, Texas, Wednesday, 31 October 2018

While we could have taken our bikes in the opposite direction from downtown ans traversed to each Mission, it was a warm day so we drove. There are five missions in the area, all connected by the Mission Road. We had already seen Mission San Antonio de Valero, commonly called the Alamo. Late 1690s and early 1700s were periods of building to establish a New Spain within the northern tribes in Texas. Mission San Juan Capistrano (not the Capistrano in California noted for the returning cliff swallows) we established in 1731 in fertile farmland and pastures making it a regional supplier of produce. 

Santa Maria de Guadalupe statute outside the chapel. 

An interesting addition to he mission wall below the bell tower. 

The chapel is set lengthwise to the mission bell tower. A simple design which allows the chapel walls to be integrated into the compound walls. 

Even today, native families continue to use this mission chapel for services and it is staffed by on-site Franciscans since 1967.

Three Spanish Colonial-period statues that sat at this altar were stolen in 2000. The statues are constructed of carved wood that had been painted and are considered priceless due to their religious and historical significance. They have not been recovered. 

As we were driving past a small, private airport to the next Mission, we saw about 5 of these Scissors-tail Flycatchers (also known as the Texas bird-of-paradise) sitting on the barbed-wire top fencing. As they flew away, we saw the under-wing to be a beautiful salmon-pink color. Quite extraordinary. 

San Francisco de la Espada. It was the Spanish policy that missionaries make community life like a Spanish village. To develop a solid economy, they taught mission Indians vocations; weaving, blacksmith skills, carpentry, masonry and stone-cutting, in addition to farming and ranching. Espada was the only mission to make bricks which can still be seen in the topmost bell housing. This mission chapel also has a current resident Franciscan priest who continues to tend his flock, many families having solid roots back to the original native Indians converted into that Spanish village life.

Some say the broken arch over the Mission Espada doorway is a builder's mistake, but many parishioners find beauty in the unexpected inversion of the standard Spanish style lines. 

Simple furnishings for a local community with a rich history. 

The Espada aqueduct, the oldest Spanish aqueduct in the US, as it crosses Piedras creek. The Espada dam, completed in 1745, still diverts water into the aqueduct which was used to bring water to the fields outside the mission walls to growing crops. 

The main ditch continues to carry water to the mission and its former farm land and is still used by the residents living on the neighboring lands. 

Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aquayo, the best known of the Texas missions.It was a model mission organization and a major social center. It has the largest compound and massive stone walls for defense. 

The chapel (left) has major restoration work done after the collapse of the bell tower and the chapel dome. On the right is the unrestored living quarters for the missionaries, a two level set of rooms faced with open, covered archways for cooling breezeways. The courtyard in front is designated for use exclusively for the missionaries.  

Our very animated tour guide explaining the use of the open archway system. 

This is the largest of all the San Antonio missions and, as with all but the Alamo, continues to provide services to the local decedents of the original mission residents.  

The legendary Rose Window was originally used by the priests to preach to unconverted natives who were not allowed to participate in the services inside the church. The sermons were used as an inducement for them to convert and accept the changes to Spanish village life. 

The small domes behind the Rose Window cover the side door walkway for the priests to access their living quarters. 

The front of the church. Originally constructed in 1786 from local limestone. The church facade features from the top: a cross, representing Jesus Christ, St. Joseph (San Jose) holding the infant Jesus, St. Dominic and St. Fransic, Our Lady of Guadalupe (the Virgin Mary), and St. Joachim and St. Anne holding the infant Mary.

This is a representation of the original facade decoration. 

A lovely hibiscus still flowering in the warm days of San Antonio.

Waco, Texas - Friday, 2 November 2018

Driving back towards Waco we finally got our microwave replaced and only had to pay for shipping. Our decision to brave the awful driving conditions through Austin (keeping it weird) was to visit this little known National Monument. Only open since 2015, this paleontological site represents the nation's only recorded discovery of a nursery herd of Columbian mammoths. Visitors can view "in situ" fossils including female mammoths, a bull mammoth, and a camel that lived approximately 67,000 years ago. 

The herd found in a dried river bed was made up of only females and juveniles. Males are driven out of the herd similarly to elephants when they reach maturity at about 12 years. The herd is matriarchal lead and includes several generations. This herd was trapped by rising water and buried in mud. 

The massive male mammoth (inside the protective building) is actually found in soil tested to be thousands of years younger than the females and juveniles found outside the covered area (where we are standing inside).

The tusks are 11 feet long.

This is just a representation of what scientists believe the male looked like since they have no idea what the soft tissues really were. He stood approximately 20 feet tall and weigh over 20,000 pounds. The woolly mammoth would only have reached up to his eye. 

Artist's conception of the nursery herd.

The remains of a prehistoric camel which roamed with the nursery herd. It provided good vision to see predators from afar and in return, it received protection from the herd. 

Compare the standard human with an accompanying femur bone to the mammoth femur (replica).