The Rodeo, Ben and Heather come to San Antonio

Day 107 - San Antonio - Sunny and Low 60's:

This morning we packed up the campsite and planned to head to Austin for the night. Before getting on the road though we thought we should go check out a couple of the other missions (remember, the Alamo was a mission originally) around San Antonio. We were very glad that we took the time to head out to Mission San Jose because we got to take a guided tour and discovered the significance and reasoning behind the Spanish missions. They were not just churches but rather communities built around the church. The Spanish government was trying to build communities to convert Indians into Catholic Spanish citizens. By doing this in missions they could offer people shelter, a steady food supply, and community all while converting them. It was actually very smart because then they would send them out into the community with a little money to start a life and continue the Spanish way. It was an easy way for them to build their presence in Texas and all the while collect taxes from those who they have converted. While at San Jose we got to see a reconstruction of the living quarters, the church which is largely in tact from the time it was first built, and a working grist mill on the mission property. Much of the mission is always under construction because the idea was that missions were to be temporary. Just get the Indians converted and then send them off to live their own lives. In fact they were not intended to last more than 10 years. Mission San Jose lasted over 100 years. It was costing the Spanish government nothing to run these missions and in fact the missions were profitable often selling their goods to the Spanish government. Therefore they were left on their own. When it finally came time for the missions to go away it was done in a very orderly way...the members were given money and pieces of land to move and start their own lives. Apparently at some of the missions you can see where people built their new homes within the walls of the existing mission as a new starting base. It was an incredible learning place and we are so glad that we decided to visit. From San Jose we started heading north and stopped at Mission Concepcion and found this one to be a bit disappointing because it wasn't as large a the other mission and there was little to explore other then the grounds surrounding the church. It turns out that it is actually the most preserved of all the missions but while we were there it was under some renovation. Unlike San Jose the majority of the mission no longer exists...it's mainly just the church. As an aside, these churches still hold services. We were informed to be cautious and quite when entering because there are often people praying or services being held. If you are ever in the San Antonio area I really recommend visiting San Jose and getting the guided tour. After our mission visits we were back in the car and on our way to Austin.

Day 106 - San Antonio - Sunny and Mid 60's:

This morning we woke with anticipation of going to the San Antonio Stock & Rodeo Show so we had some breakfast and got ready. The rodeo is a big deal in San Antonio and offers over 1 MILLION dollars in prize money. It is a sixteen day event with competitions and playoffs leading to the final rounds in each event on the last night. We showed up at the Rodeo/Fair and quickly found out that there was no afternoon Rodeo, so we bought our tickets for the evening show. We walked around the fair for a bit a saw many true cowboys and many wannabe cowboys and almost bought some belt buckles to fit in...the displays were amazing. They had buckles for everything and everyone. We thought about getting Dad and Scott Lineman and Plumber buckles but they were sold out! We had a long time before the rodeo so we decided that we would head back into town to check out some of Aunt Sue's apparel, the grounds of the 1968 Worlds Fair and the Tower of the Americas.

Once in town we headed into the old village of San Antonio to visit the Village Weavers where my Aunt Sue sells some of her handmade pieces. Unfortunately there was construction going on and the store was closed. Sorry Sue, we couldn't collect any of your debts!! The area was very nice though and it sounds like they have concerts and artists outside often.

We then visited the site of the 1968 Worlds Fair. There wasn't much going on so we decided to hangout for a bit on one of the many waterfalls they have constructed throughout the park. Heather hadn't been feeling well so she took a nap and I just relaxed in the sun. Happy hour was then upon us and we headed into the Tower of Americas for some appetizers and drinks. We were informed by a local that instead of paying the $12 per person to go up to the observation deck you could go up to the bar one floor below and get some great drinks and appetizers during happy hour. The Tower of the America's is second highest observation tower in the United States at 750 feet tall. We got to see the city from above and enjoyed some great food and drinks.

It was getting close to Rodeo time, so we hopped on the bus and rode out to the AT&T Center to check out our first Rodeo. It was a great experience with all the classic events from Bareback Riding, Saddleback Riding, Steer Wrestling, Tie-Down Roping, Bull Riding, Team Roping and Barrel Racing. We enjoyed all of the events but Heather's favorite was the Muttin' Busting which is when the little kids came out and rode sheep like bulls. The kids ranged in age from FOUR to SEVEN. It was pretty funny watching them hang on for dear life as those sheep took off...who knew a sheep could run so fast. Along with the Rodeo there is a country concert after and even though I'm not a country fan we stayed to watch for a bit. It's pretty neat as they role out a portable stage bring some seats out...for the crazy fans who payed $200 a ticket, and use some flat beds for equipment. The stage rotates continuously through the whole show which seemed to use like it would make for a very dizzy band! The performer was Deirks Bentley and for the couple of songs we heard he was decent and if Heather was feeling better we probably would have stayed for the whole thing. We then had a short walk back to the KOA and called it a night.

Day 105 - San Antonio - Sunny and High 60's:

Today we got some breakfast from the Chuck Wagon at the KOA campground. It was some decent breakfast for being cooked out of a trailer. We then jumped on the bus and headed into town to visit The Alamo. Upon arriving at the Alamo we decided to purchase the audio tour because we figured we would get lots more information that way then just walking through the grounds. Originally named Misión San Antonio de Valero, the Alamo housed missionaries for over 75 years and was a pivotal part of the Texas revolution. It was here that David Crockett, William Travis, Jim Bowie and many more lost their lives if the 13 day battle of the Alamo that started on February 23, 1836 and ended with General Antonio López de Santa Anna's army conquering the mission on March 6, 1836. Even though the Alamo battle was lost by the Texans it gave the Texan army the "Remember the Alamo " rallying cry and gave them something more to fight for. In fact it was the turning point in Texan history and eventually led to Texas becoming it's own nation. It is said that the Alamo also led to expansion of the west including Arizona and New Mexico. It would take a VERY long time to explain the history of the entire battle and it's after effects but I strongly recommend...ESPECIALLY TO HEATHER'S STUDENTS that you do some research and learn a bit about this important part of U.S. History! It turned out to be a great tour and we learned lots.

It was a beautiful day out so we headed down to the Riverwalk to enjoy the Valentine's Day on the water. We decided to take a boat tour along the miles of canals and rivers they have in San Antonio. The boat ride was fun but the narration on the boat was rather disappointing because it was short and not very informative. After the boat tour it was time to head back to the campsite for a lovely meal. We made our way to the local grocery store and got all the goods for Heather's favorite chicken stir-fry. However, plans changed because when we went into the grocery store it was 68 and sunny and when we got out it was 50 and windy, and by windy I mean 30mph winds...so we decided against trying to cook and eat in the cold and wind.

We then decided to head out on the main drag by our hotel and see what restaurants were around. We came up to Big Lou's Pizza and the parking lot was packed and people we parking on the road, so we thought it has to be good and it's Heather's second favorite meal. Once we got inside it appeared that this was the place to be on a Sunday night. We ordered our pizza and noticed that they offered a 42 and 37 inch pizza. YES I SAID A 42-INCH PIZZA...we figured it must be a joke but we found out that it is indeed correct and its the biggest pizza either of us had every seen. I can't even begin to describe how big it is in person. If you can imagine your new 42-inch plasma TV and then spin it in a circle and that's the size of this pizza. I wanted to take a picture but felt a bit odd taking photos of someone's dinner. We saw two 42 incher's come out of the kitchen and the whole place pretty much stops because they have to clear everyone out of the way for the pizza get through the room. After talking with one of the regulars at the bar we find out that Big Lou's was #51 on one of the Travel Channels places to eat.

It wasn't the Valentine's Day we envisioned but it was a great day and some good pizza.

Day 104 - Houston/San Antonio:

Today we decided to check out a couple last thing in Houston before we headed west to San Antonio. Even though neither one of us is extremely into fine art we had heard a great deal about the Menil collection in Houston's museum district. We found out that The Menil Collection opened in 1987 to preserve and exhibit the art collection of John and Dominique de Menil. It is considered one of the most important privately assembled collections of the twentieth century, The Menil Collection houses approximately 15,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs and rare books. We took our time in exploring the museum and a couple of my favorites were the carved Elephant tusk, the Egyptian carvings and the many paintings from Andy Warhol. We then headed to the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum which has the only intact Byzantine frescoes (ceiling paintings) in the United States. These masterpieces from the 13th century where stolen from a chapel in the Turkish occupied section of the Cyprus in the 1980's. The Menil foundation with approval from the Church of Cyprus recovered the fresco fragments from the thieves and through a two year restoration project have constructed a chapel museum to hold and showcase the beautiful works of art.

It was then back into the car for a nice drive to San Antonio. We arrived at the San Antonio KOA in the afternoon and couldn't believe how packed the campground was with campers. We later found out that the San Antonio Rodeo was in town and with that came lots of people. We set up camp and then hoped in the bus to get some dinner downtown. Heather wanted Mexican and because "what Heather wants, Heather gets" we made our way down to the San Antonio Riverwalk and grabbed some delicious food. We then wandered around the Riverwalk which is lined with many shops, restaurants, and bars. We tried to get into Howl at Moon and Coyote Ugly bars but they were both charging a cover and packed, so instead we went into the Pat O'Brien's of Houston. My mom had informed me that I needed to try a special drink at Pat O'Brien's in New Orelans but we never had the chance so instead I had the famous Hurricane here in San Antonio. We listened to a local musician play the guitar and sing while keeping our eye on the TV for the Olympics. After just one Hurricane...because they are STRONG we headed back to camp for the night.