Tuesday, February 19. 2013
I decided today to go downtown San Antonio to the Riverwalk
and have lunch. I parked in a parking
garage because there was no on street parking. I still find it hard to accept that it costs
upwards of $20.00 to park a car for a day in big cities. Anyway….I started my trek thinking I was going to enjoy
it. I must admit the Riverwalk is
beautiful and unique and I did see areas I had not seen before due to the
inability to push Pati’s wheelchair places.
But it was just not enjoyable by myself, as I am finding most things I
do every day now are not enjoyable. I am
trying hard to get over this attitude or feeling and move forward but it is a
slow, if never ending, process.
I talked myself out of sitting at one of the many nice outdoor
restaurants where I planned to people watch so I just took a very long walk and
got in some good exercise with a different type of scenery than walking around
the RV Park with Dexter. I didn’t
realize how many up and down stairs there were going over the river and up and
down to the street exits so I took all of them and I must say it was
enjoyable. As I was going back to my car
at the parking garage I saw a WhatABurger so decided to have one of their big
Patty Melts. It was good but I can’t do
that too often. I can’t believe I
actually ate a big greasy unhealthy burger when I was considering eating at a
nice healthy meal at Landry’s like shrimp and oysters. I want to lose 30 pounds this year and I sure
won’t be doing it if I keep that up.
Maybe with all my walking it was a wash.
I visited the Pearl Brewery area just north of downtown San
Antonio while out also. That area has
been transformed into a very unique and beautiful area of shops and condos
right along the river. It was
interesting and reminded me of the Pearl District in Portland, Oregon. Developers transformed a former warehouse
area in downtown Portland into a major living area and it is spendy and
classy. When I give up my road roaming
lifestyle I may have to consider renting an apartment in that area of Portland
just to live my final days in a much different way surrounded by the big
city. I wouldn’t even need a car. I could order my food delivered from the
store and walk anywhere I wanted to go and if the kid’s want to see me, they
can come see me or pick me up and take me home for a home cooked meal….that
would be neat. Something to consider
when I get too old to drive anymore, hopefully ten or more years from now.
Rain is on the way tonight and tomorrow so I plan to hang
close and not get run over by someone out on the roads. I have decided to stay here at Fort Sam until
the first part of March since I have made some dinner obligations with friends
and it is a long drive back into town from where I am going to relocate at
Canyon Lake.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
The rain didn’t amount to anything but it did get windy and
cooler the past few days. Today I
decided I had best make some reservations at the military recreational RV Park
at Canyon Lake. I was told it was booked solid because of Spring Break so now I have to make different plans. I have to leave here on the 7th of
March. I will have to do a little
research and calling but fear I may run into a problem due to the Spring Break
issue in most places. I think I will try
to head NW into the Hill Country towards a little town outside of Kerrville
called Ingram. Pati and I used to love
driving up to that area and making a big loop back to our home through the
country. Ingram is an artist colony type
place, small with not much there but it is quiet and peaceful and the river
runs through it. Kerrville is about ten
miles away so close enough for shopping and other needs.
I got lucky and confirmed a two week reservation at a real
nice park in Ingram called Johnson Creek RV Resort. It looks nice on the web site and the reviews
are excellent from folks who have stayed so I think this will be just fine for
me. I told them I may stay a third week
so left that option open. From that location
I can just relax, get in some country walking, fish in the stocked creek (catch
and release but good practice), go to Fredericksburg and some other small towns
in that area and have some good country cooking. I am looking forward to it now.
Speaking of fishing, I read an on line article the other day
about how to set up a fishing pole for fly and bubble fishing. My good friend, Jeff, will find this of
interest. This is interesting to me as well because I want to learn to fly fish
but I need to buy all the equipment that goes with it and learn casting
etc. Since I already have two spinning
rods and reels with me and my basic fishing tackle box from long ago, I can
simply buy a water-weighted plastic bubble and some different wet and dry flies
and practice using my existing equipment.
I am going to re-string my reels as they have not been used in many
years and I don’t trust the line to be good.
Anyway, I am going to try this when I move up to Ingram next
month. The article explains how to cast
and present flies with this technique and gives tips on setting the hook and
holding the pole to prevent the fish from leaping out of the water and throwing
the hook. I hope to report next month
that I actually caught a fish with this method.
If it works here, I can go fishing while on my property sitter job in
April and May at Lake Tawakoni. I need
to get over to the Bass Pro Shop here and get supplies necessary to do
this. I may just buy a cheap fly rod and
reel too to practice with.
I have decided also to fly back up to Portland, Oregon to
visit with my sons and granddaughter and new grandson, the one I have yet to
meet. I checked my Alaska Air Lines
mileage plan and I have 47,800 miles. I
checked online to cash them in on a round trip ticket to Portland and it will
cost me 47,500 miles to go. Lucked out
on that one. As soon as I hear back from
my sister in Dallas that she will take in Dexter while I am gone, and my son
Josh that Ben will be home and available for a visit, I will get those tickets booked. I need to jump on this quickly to get the
flights I want.
This next week I have made plans to have lunch at our old
Glenwood neighbors, John and Dixie’s house, and to have dinner with a friend I
made while working Real Estate, Lisa and Harry, and then to spend the weekend
with some other friends we met when we first moved here, Rick and Sandy. I am looking forward to seeing all of them
before I leave this area this year. I am
very fortunate to have made some good friends throughout the country and it is
always pleasant to visit with them. On
my way up to Montana the end of May I am stopping in for a brief visit with
Larry and Nancy Cedar. They are one of
the couples I met while at Rockport and live in Kansas. I will
be driving right by their place. I am
also going to visit some dear friends we have known since we were neighbors in
California back in the early seventies, John and Linda Hayden. They live near Missoula, Montana, just south
of where I will be working this summer.
Sunday, March 03, 2013
I have been pretty busy lately. I had dinner with my friends, Harry and
Lisa. Harry is a recently retired Coast
Guard Warrant Officer and I sold them a house when I was working in Real Estate
down here in San Antonio. It was nice
visiting with them and they told me they are moving on to Florida in the next
few years.
I also had lunch with my old neighbors, John and Dixie. It was strange driving through our old
neighborhood and seeing our dream home we had to sell looking just like it did
when we left. I did enjoy my visit with my friends.
I also spent the night
with our good friends, Rick and Sandy.
We drank a lot of beer because Rick has a tap set up on his patio full
of Shiner Bock. It was a real nice visit
and they are such great hosts and made me feel right at home. I really enjoyed taking a shower in their
large home shower after taking showers in my travel trailer the past seven
months. Rick gave me a lot of great
fishing equipment and a fly rod and reel too so I have a head start on my
fishing gear. He said he is done with
fishing and had no need for it. They are
also talking about moving soon. They are
looking at California or Arizona. It is
difficult to adjust to other places after living in the West so I understand
their thinking. We will keep in touch
wherever they go. They sure loved Pati
and couldn’t tell me enough how much and how sorry they were for my loss.
This morning I went to church at a small Lutheran Church and
sure felt good about doing that. I have
been trying to go to church every Sunday but it is difficult when
traveling. I must say I am really
enjoying the Lutheran Church since I have been going to it for awhile. I may just continue with them if I keep
feeling as good as I do about attending their services. It actually feels good to get back into going to church services after not doing so for many years.
After church today I tackled giving Dexter a haircut. He was really looking shaggy so I clipped him
pretty short and he looks great and feels great. Now I need to bathe him and clip his
nails. He does not like me clipping his
nails but we get through it. He is such
a great little dog. I hate the thought
of losing him in the next 3-4 years, if we are lucky to go that long. He turns eleven in April. I do know I will find another doggie friend
to live with me when I have to face that day.
I have no intentions of trying to find someone to replace Pati but I
will replace Dexter so I can continue to have that king of unconditional doggie
love and joy to keep me from going insane alone.
I purchased my tickets to Portland so I will be going back
there April 3 – 8 to see the boys and grandkids and Pati’s brother and
sister. I really hate flying but I need
to see everyone, especially Ben, since I won’t get back until October. Speaking of October, I have decided to stay
in Oregon next winter instead of coming down here to Texas. I am going to hang out in McMinnville as long
as possible so I can take some winter trips to Bend and check out the real
estate market. I am strongly considering
going back to my original plan of looking for a manufactured home in a senior
park in Bend as my home-base. If I do this and get
too bored or cold in the Winter, I can always hook up the trailer and head south for a few
months. I really miss the Pacific Northwest, especially Bend. That is one great town and I am going to do all I can to live there. It is also close to family and I can fish until I am blue in the face, from fishing or the cold, whichever comes first!
For now I am looking forward to leaving San Antonio Thursday
and getting on with my plans. I will be
back in a few weeks or more to catch up with more pictures and less words.
