Yea! A Longer Stay in San Antonio

   We left the Whitney CG at 9:00.  It was sunny, but a bit chilly.  We stopped at a fairly new truck stop at 10:00 called Road Ranger.  It was so spacious and beautiful!!

Gas was $1.99!!

  By the time we got thru Austin at noon it was 80 degrees!

Traffic got a little heavy here, but not bad.

 

This RV dealer's roof-top decoration certainly
catches your eye!

  We drove into Ft Sam Houston, an Army base in San Antonio at 1:00.  We had trouble finding the CG because the online address did not match the actual physical address.  We finally found it and pulled into our site at 1:45.  It is a beautiful CG with full hook ups and cement pads for the RV and the patio area.  And ALL 74 sites are pull throughs! 

This set up was super easy.  Doesn't Harvey look happy?!?

We were set up by 2:30 and then headed out to the commissary for groceries.  Shortly after we left the CG we heard a jingly, metallic sound in the back of the Jeep and then we heard it a second time.  We didn't hear it after that, so we just chalked it up to something inside the back hatch.  Well...when we got back John couldn't find the keys to Harvey.  We couldn't find them anywhere in Harvey, so we thought he might have left them on top of the spare tire when he took the bike rack off and maybe we heard the sound of them falling down inside the tire and then off during the trip to the commissary.  John drove out to retrace our route and look for them, but no luck.  There is an elementary school on the way very near to where we heard the sound, so we are going to check there tomorrow to see of anyone found them and turned them in.  We did check the CG office.  John grilled some kielbasa for supper and then we did laundry.  We tried to sit outside and read, but as soon as the sun started to go down the mosquitos started biting.  We went in and played a game of 5 Crowns and John won AGAIN.  I watched "This Is Us" and worked on the blog.  John watched TV in the bedroom and then fell asleep.  I turned in about 11:30.
   Wednesday, John got up very early...about 5:30.  He couldn't sleep thinking about the lost keys.  He decided to walk all the way out to the small exchange store where we had stopped to help a fellow camper find the CG.  It was still dark and he thought if he took a flashlight the keys would shine and he might find them easier.  He also stopped at the elementary school on the way back to check if someone might have turned them in.  There is also a golf course along the way so we called there and the base police department.  But no luck :(  Fortunately the only key we seem to be missing is the one that opens the outside TV compartment.  When he got back he cooked a delicious breakfast.  We hadn't checked out the PX yet so we headed over there.  From there we went to Costco in Selma about 9 miles from here.  We were hungry, so we stopped at a Chinese buffet.  Unfortunately, it wasn't very good, but that DID keep us from eating too much!!  Then on to Costco.  We bought mostly meat.  Their seasoned pork tenderloin medallions are de---licious!!  Back to Harvey and I packed up the meat for the freezer and John took a walk.  When he got back he opened the door and told me to come outside.  I glanced outside and he was opening up the TV compartment.  I yelled, "oh my gosh...you found the keys!  He said, "No, I found another 35K Bounder in the CG and asked if I could try his key".  And it worked!!  He also told us to call Fleetwood and they could just send us a new key.  So that's what we did.  Whew!!!  Another lesson learned!  Alexandra called and we chatted for a while.  Todd's job is going well, but she is having some trouble with hers.  And her car is also acting up.  Looks like she will be looking for a new job and a new used car.  John and I played 2 games of 5 Crowns (I won both) and then we talked for the rest of the evening...no TV.  We talked mostly about Christian beliefs vs. scientific studies (viewing the 65,000 yr old mammoth skeletons spurred that discussion).  We came to our own conclusions and then, of course, solved most of the world's other problems, too :))  Then we went to bed...our brains were tired.  Well, at least mine was!!
   Thursday we decided to go do some sight seeing in San Antonio.  I made pancakes, bacon and eggs for breakfast figuring, that way, we wouldn't have to worry about lunch.  We got showers and got ready to go, but it was still pretty chilly and the gusty winds made it feel even colder.  So we waited another hour to let it warm up.  I did pack a lunch for us in case we were out longer than we expected.  We took off about 12:30.  John dropped me off at a local Goodwill store while he washed the filthy Jeep.  I sure had fun and found some shorts, capris and slacks that was looking for since my weight loss.  I'd like to lose more, so I thought buying new ones at Goodwill just makes sense.  Of course, if we keep eating the way we have been that probably won't happen.  Actually, we have been doing much better than other years, especially with portion size!  Ok, enough about that!  We arrived at the Witte Museum at about 2:00 and decided to eat our lunches right there in the parking lot before we went in.  Then I talked to Mom.  Dad is about the same.  The doctor who saw him on Tuesday agrees that she thinks another fistula is brewing and ordered compresses just as Dr Rommel had done.  Mom said Dad actually went outside on his scooter yesterday.  That's a good sign!  The first building we went into was the Body Adventure.  It was full of interactive activities you could do which basically dealt with health.  It was fun! 

This was outside the entrance to the museum.

 

This was the digestion exhibit.  I'm not going to say anymore!!

 

Then we went to the South Texas Heritage Center on the grounds.  It was full of historical accounts and artifacts.  That was neat, too. 

A sculpture outside the center.  I especially
enjoyed the cactus.

A Texas longhorn.

An Eagle feather war bonnet from the 1870's

These hair combs were huge...about 6-8 inches high!

Notice these cards have no numbers or letters.

A stuffed pack mule.  He looked very real!

A portable cell.  It's missing the fold-down iron cot.

Notice that the dog in the foreground was used as a pack animal.

Another Texas longhorn.  I wonder if his
neck ever got sore from holding up those big horns?!?

While we were there Melissa called.  Chuck and Melissa are full time RVer friends from Tennessee we met thru Bonnie and Ken.  They are in San Antonio for a while, so we made plans to get together this weekend.  It will be fun to see them again!  Then we went over to the Research and Collections center where they have over 300,000 artifacts on display.  But it had just closed...shucks!!  We were able to go inside the lobby area and peek into one of the display rooms. 

This is a bench that had been along the river walk
where in 1951 Johnny Cash carved "Johnny loves Vivian".
They married in 1954 after he came back from a 3yr
assignment in Germany with the Air Force.  He wrote,
and dedicated the song, "I Walk the Line" to his new wife.
They were married for 13 yrs and had 4 daughters.

  Well, just after we got back on base, there were 2 cars stopped in the middle of the road...one was a taxi.  We thought it was a fender bender until we got closer.  The taxi driver and the woman driving the car were practically laying on the road looking under the car.  I looked under the car and saw an animal.  We stopped to see if we could help.  A small dog had run out onto the road and the car ran over it.  The dog didn't appear to be hurt, but he wouldn't budge from under the dead center of the car.  And, of course, he/she was scared.  Another young girl stopped and she crawled right under the car.  But the doggie kept trying to bite her.  I blocked the front of the car with a windshield cover so the dog couldn't sneak out and John got his jacket and laid down on the road to keep it from sneaking out the side.  (we didn't want it to get hit again)  It was 5:00 now and Revelry started, so everyone stops there car and gets out to salute the flag and pay respect.  When that was over the young man in the car right by us came over to help.  The doggie was now right by the inside of the left front tire.  John was able to grab the dog with his jacket even though the doggie was biting.  The young man grabbed the doggie, while getting bit, by the scruff of his neck and pulled him out.  Then we all looked at each other and said, "Now what?"  We didn't know if the doggie was hurt or not, so we offered to take it to the vet on base, but the young man holding it said he would do it.  Wow...now that was an adventure.  We are going to check on the doggie tomorrow.  We had leftovers for supper and played a game of 5 Crowns.  I won again.  John decided he wanted to play Black Jack instead.  He creamed me!  We watched some TV and then went to bed.  It was a good day!!

   John got up at 5:30 on Friday to go to the graduation at Lackland AF Base about 30 minutes from here.  The graduation was at 9:00, but guests were to be there by 7:15!!  He wanted to check out the BX and CG, too.  I did laundry and worked on the blog while he was gone.  He got back about 12:00 noon.  He kept mentioning how cold it was at the ceremony with 50 degrees and wind gusts, but he really enjoyed it.  I'm glad I decided not to go!! 

 

 

There's that provocative "nose art" again.

 

A monument to the Military Working Dog Teams

 

Some of the planes on display.

 

 

Uuh-0h...more "nose art".

 

The Air Force Core Values

 

That's the band in front and all the groups of
graduates following behind.

 

There's one of those military working dogs
keeping the crowd protected and under control.

 

It was a large crowd!

 

 

The Airman's Creed.

I kept working on the blog and he took a nap. We both had a snack and then decided to go visit the Ft Sam Houston and Army Medical museum, both on base.  But, FIRST, we wanted to find the vet's office and check on the doggie from yesterday.  We asked the gal at the desk about the dog and she told us that they don't see emergencies and they weren't even open yesterday.  But when we described the dog she told us that she had gotten a call from the owner who was trying to locate the dog.  She gave us her name and phone number...and the dog's name...Riley.  We called her and relayed the whole story.  She said the military police had the name and ph# of the young man who brought the dog in to them, but he was not available for a phone call until 5:00 today.  So she was anxiously awaiting a call from him to find out where the dog was.  He wouldn't have been able to keep the dog at his barracks.  We asked her to give us a call when she got any news.  We didn't get to the museum until 3:30 and it closed at 4:00, so we didn't see much.  BUT in the courtyard of the "Quadrangle," a huge square working military complex that dates back to 1876 , were several dozen peacocks, ducks, chickens and deer roaming freely.  The brochure says the peacocks have been there since 1897 and the deer since 1886!  We could walk right up to the peacocks.
Some of them were pure white.  We could get pretty close to the deer, too although they were a bit more skiddish.  I was almost freezing by the time we got to the car.  We'll go back tomorrow to finish going thru the museum and dress a little warmer so we can spend more time outside with the animals and birds.

They were all over the place!  Some were pure white.
According to a website, they aren't necessarily albino, but
it's caused by selective breeding.  It's common for captive peacocks
to buck the iridescent trend for all white feathers.  Who knew???

They are so pretty.  Well, the male is!  The females
are in the background.

See the birds up in the tree?

See how cold it was outside.  this duck
is wearing a hat!!

This deer was only about 6 feet away from me!

  We stopped at the commissary again for a few things and then went back to Harvey, the RV.  We played Racko...I won.  We had flat bread pizzas for supper and then we played 5 Crowns.  John won that one.  We hadn't heard from Riley's owner, so we texted her.  She got right back to us to let us know she had just located Riley at a local shelter.  But he was quarantined for 10 days because of having bit the young guy.  Luckily, Riley wasn't hurt at all!!

Here's Riley.  I think they should change his
name to Lucky!!

  John thinks we should change our blog name to "the dog rescuers" :))  John went to bed and I stayed up to upload pictures and finish today's blog post.  I finally finished at 12:46.  I thought doing the blog only every 4 or 5 days would be easier.  Not sure about that.  Me thinks I might just include too many details.  What do you think??