Days 63 & 64 - San Antonio, TX

Bobbie was stationed in Del Rio, a short drive south of the city.  During my days of incarceration in Texas I visited San Antonio many times and tubed the rivers as well.  It's been well over 20 years now for both of us.

Day 63 - Today we drove into the city, a short 20 miles away and visited the Witte Museum, had lunch on the Riverwalk, and strolled around the city a bit.  We enjoyed a Tex-Mex luncheon of high fat foods and then suffered for the rest of the day, well into the night, and most of the next day.

I was tempted by the bike on the rope but passed.  Now that I am writing this I wish I had.

Day 64 - Today we hung out in the camper for a day of resrt and recuperation. In the afternoon we went out for some Christmas Card supplies.  Bobbie is in the middle of her annual process, this time with a special gift enclosed in each envelope.

We ended the afternoon with a movie - Fantastic Beasts - and then headed back to camp for a quiet evening watched cable TV - yippee, some NCIS time!!!!!

Days 62 - New Braunfels, TX

After breakfast we said goodbye to the kids as they headed back to Houston and work.  We'll see them again in a few days.  We decided depart the interstate again and travel south through the hill country of mid-western Texas.  The drive was lovely passing many small and historic old towns.  We drove through Crawford where George and Laura Bush have a ranch.  The town of Meridian had a county seat building in the town square that was amazing.  We reached New Braunfels late afternoon and settled into an RV park right on the Comal River.

The park was quiet and we were given a site right on the river bank.  The river is known as the shortest river in America.  It's source is an underground spring. The amount of water that comes out of that opening is staggering.  Our site is right across from the Wurst Festival Hall.  In the summer this place is hopping.  Right now the German settlement famous for beer, brats, and tubing the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers is pretty quiet.  That is of course, with the exception of the train that traverses the park overhead.  A freight train has crossed over no less than once an hour for the entire time we were there.  Interestingly enough the noise was not an issue  The train bridge has high side walls and inside of the camper it was simply a lullaby.

Full hookups and all this for $18 a night.  It doesn't get much better.

Days 60 to 62 - On to Dallas and Old Friends

Day 60.  We departed Memphis mid-morning for the six hour drive to Dallas/Fort Worth. A major thunderstorm hit about halfway and we were forced to slow to a crawl in order to the see the road.  The drive across Arkansas and halfway across Texas was uneventful.  The traffic in Dallas was amazing!  We settled into a really nice RV park outside of Arlington for two days.

Day 61.  We slept in a bit and then did some shopping in anticipation of Rick and Susy's visit  The kids left Houston very early for the four hour drive to Dallas. Today is a special day.  We will visit our long time friends Bailey and Lou.  We have been friends for over 35 years and they are two of Rick's favorite "uncles."

Early this afternoon we headed over to their place where we enjoyed a grand reunion for several hours before getting a nice dinner at a local haunt.  What a grand time seeing old friends.  They loved seeing Rick again..it had been about 15 years, and in meeting Susy for the first time.

Rick and Susy stayed the night with us in the camper.  In the morning we had a traditional Alaskan Leopard breakfast before heading out toward San Antonio.

Days 56-59 - Memphis, TN

The drive to Memphis was short, only four hours.  We crossed the Mississippi River and found an nice RV park on the river bank in West Memphis, Arkansas. We set up camp and settled in for the night.

We started off the next day with a visit to the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid. Interesting building devoted to the retail giant.  The pyramid is hollow and enclosed the retail space, a hotel, a fishing pond, shooting gallery, and an elevator to the apex for views of the city,  It was quiet and no crowded and we took advantage of that to do a little shopping for some good walking shoes and a few tops.

Later that afternoon we headed out to the Botanical Garden for a bit of serenity. The gardens are a bit out of the city center.  It is a really nice park with manicurred paths and plantings as you would expect.  There were maybe ten cars in the lot and we did not run into more than that many people in the several hours we enjoyed the park.

On our thrid day we took in the National Civil Right Museum.  That was sombering and interesting.  A huge museum.  An experience to remember, especially standing where MLK was shot.

The Metal Museum was closed today and we did not feel like music or Graceland so we did a bit of shopping and headed back to camp for dinner and a bit of TV.

Our last day in Memphis is going to be a rest day in the park, maybe a bike ride, some laundry, some trip planning, and a lot of TV and TLC.

Days 54 to 56 - Off to Nashville, TN

A quiet morning in utter disbelif over the election was followed by the drive to Nashville.  It was lovely with more beautiful country and lots of small towns. We chose to use the Interstate system this time around instead of local highways.  We reached the northern suburbs of the city early afternoon and settled into a small, quaint RV park about 15 miles north of downtown.

First up the following morning was a visit to the Tennesee State Museum.  What a great operation.  Lots of interesting displays on the prehistoric and modern times.  Afterward we walked up to the capital building and then toured the military museum.

Being lunch time we headed over the music part of the city and enjoyed some pulled pork BBQ at a famous haunt.

Afterward we walked down to the Frist Museum of Art to view the Samari exhibit.  That night we treated ourselved to another movie before retirind back at camp.

Today we visited the Parthenon.  This building is not only an exact replica of the original in Athens, but also serves as a fine art gallery.  The statue of Athena was awesome as was the rest of the park.

It was a lovely day but there was little enthusiasm to go more so we found a movie theater close by and went to see Arrival.  That helped a bit.

Day 53 - The Election

We enjoyed a rest day in the park.  We took a five mile bike ride down a quiet country road and visited an old cemetery along the way.  We went out shopping and enjoyed a movie.  Bobbie got her Christmas card stock ready for the task. We returned to camp in time to watch the returns..and you all know what happened next.

Sigh.....

Days 51 - 52- Lexington, KY

Lexington is Horse Capitol of Kentucky.  Our short two hour drive from Louisville was over beautiful still green rolling hills lined with the preverbial white and brown flat board fencing.  Countless horses dotted the pastures.  Lexington is a beautiful city, well organized and well maintained.  The homes are spectacular and we spent three days here.  We found a great campsite at the Ft. Boonesborough State Park right next to the historic fort reconstructed from Daniel Boone's days.  UPon arrival we got to a movie theater to satisfy our hunger for a great film.

On our first day we visited the Mary Todd Lincoln home, wandered the historic downtown and had a taste of Bourbon Ale at a local pub.  Lots of the tourist sites are closed on Monday and Tuesday so we wandered quite a bit and then took in another film.

Day 49 & 50 - Louisville, KY

We got up early and headed into town to visit the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum and the Muhammad Ali Center.  Both were great to visit.  The center was especially well planned and informative.  We spent a couple of hours viewing the five floors, dozens of videos, and stunning exhibits on race and boxing.

Then it was baseball time with a tour of the factory and museum.  We even got a couple of miniature bats.  They will make great fish bonkers upon our return to civilization in many years.  Now where to start storing souvenirs we promised each other we would not purchase of collect!

The next day we spent time in the historical neighborhoods and toured a magnificant h ome followed by a nice walk through the myriad of historic homes.

This afternoon we toured the Louisville Mega Cavern.  This limestone mine is massive, was purchased in 1996 by the current owenr and converted into a wonderful activity center.  We decided to to the zip lines in the dark.  Six lines and two suspension bridges...none for the faint of heart.  What an exhillirating day.