River Walk II

On Monday, April 12th, I decided to walk into downtown San Antonio and wander around the river walk.  It is three miles from the RV park to downtown and the contrasting neighborhoods are quite different.  I took some pictures along the way to show the contrast.  Here are a couple:

This is not a walk you would do at night, but during the day it doesn't seem to be a problem.  If you would like to see all of the riverwalk photos including the River Center Mall and the Hemisphere Tower, just click this link: River Walk II

On Tuesday, April 13th, I drove out to hike Government Canyon State Natural Area, but found it was closed Tuesday - Thursday.  Marcie Plested had suggested Schnabel Park so I detoured to this area.  On the local map it looks like a very small park, but it has an extensive trail system and connects with other "greenway" trails.  You probably can't get lost in the area, but you can end up hiking further than you had planned.  I had planned to hike for an hour, but ended up doing two.  The trails, wildflowers and scenery were very beautiful.  Following are a couple of photos.  If your interested in all of them for this hike, click this link:  Schnabel Park

I spent the afternoon and evening visiting with Rob Plested and his family and we had a very nice steak dinner.  The Plested were very gracious during my visit to San Antonio and I look forward to seeing them again in the future.

On Wednesday, April 14th I departed San Antonio and headed for Houston, Texas where I will be visiting our nephew, Trevor Walden (Terry's son).  I will post from there later.

San Antonio

I arrived in San Antonio on Monday, April 5th and checked into the Traveler's World RV Park on South Roosevelt Avenue.  This is a very nice RV park just three miles south of downtown.

After getting settled I decided that I would treat myself to a nice steak dinner somewhere on the "River Walk" in downtown San Antonio.  I love the river walk and if you ever get to San Antonio it is a must day and evening out.  Following is a couple of pictures of me enjoying my steak and part of the RW.

If your interested there are more photos at this link:  River Walk  I did have a negative experience on this venture.  When I returned to my Durango, someone had smashed the front passenger window and stolen my GPS unit that I stupidly left suctioned cupped to the windshield.  I was lucky that they didn't steal all of my equipment, but it was broad daylight and I guess they just wanted the GPS.

On Tuesday, April 6th I spent the day visiting with my Air Force buddy, Rob Plested, his wife Denise and daughter Marcie.  They were kind enough to help me clean the glass out of the car and let me store my generator and other stuff that I had been carrying in the back of the Durango.  Rob barbequed steaks for dinner and we had a nice visit reminiscing about our AF days some fifty years ago.

On Wednesday, April 8th the mobile glass repair guy came to my camp and repaired the window on the Durango.  While I was waiting for this service I took the time to wipe the road dust from the trailer and do some other cleaning chores.  In the afternoon I took the bus downtown and wandered around the river walk for a couple of hours and then rode the bus back to the RV park.  This is much safer than leaving your vehicle exposed in an open parking lot.

On Thursday, April 9th I drove out to Boerne, Texas which is about twenty miles from San Antonio and hiked around the Cibolo Nature Center.  This is an absolutely beautiful area with giant Bald Cypress trees growing in the creek, turtles basking in the sun and fish swimming in the stream.

If you're interested in all of the Cibolo photos, you can see them here: Cibolo Nature Center.

On Friday, April 10th I drove out to my AF buddy's house in west San Antonio spent the morning hiking with his wife Denise and their daughter Marcie in a park near their home.  I spent the afternoon visiting with Rob (my AF buddy) and he made ravioli with Italian sausage for dinner.  We killed a couple bottles of wine and continued exaggerating our AF exploits.

Carlsbad II

On Sunday, April 3rd I decided to hike from White's RV resort to the Carlsbad Caverns visitor center.  By car it is 7 miles, but if you hike the ridgeline it is 4-1/2 miles.  It takes about 3-1/2 hours to do the hike, but you can hitch a ride back down with the shuttle bus.  However, the ridgeline trail is not well marked and I ended up following dear trails up the wrong ridgeline.  I figured this out when I reached the top and saw that to get to the right ridgeline I would have to hike down into the gully and then back up to the right ridgeline.  I had already been hiking for two hours, so I decided  to just hike into the gully and back to base camp.  It was still a very interesting hike with a lot of beautiful desert cactus, blooming yucca, other wild flowers and dear.  Following are a few photos.  For a better view simply click or double click on the photo.

After returning to my trailer I packed up and headed south into Texas.  Southern New Mexico and West Texas are full of wide open spaces, sand and sagebrush.  I stopped for the night in Fort Stockton, Texas, pulled into a dusty RV park and slept through another dust storm.  Heading for San Antonio, Texas tomorrow.

Carlsbad Caverns

On April 3rd I drove the 7 miles from White's RV resort to Carlsbad Caverns.  I had forgotten about it being Saturday and was glad I got an early start because the crowd was awful by noon when I was leaving.  The road up is very scenic and the "natural entrance" to the caverns is spectacular.  It takes about three hours to hike all of the cavern, but the path is well paved and there is a snackbar and restrooms at the 750' level so you can take a break.  The caverns are everything that they advertise, but the camera cannot do justice to what your eyes can see after they adjust to the artificial lighting.  Without the lighting it would be pitch black.  Following are two of the pictures that I took.  Again, most cameras cannot capture the beauty.  I think you are better off just enjoying the view and then purchasing a professional CD of pictures that they sell in the gift shop.

To see all of my cavern photos just click this link:  Carlsbad Caverns

NEW MEXICO

I pulled out of Safford, AZ early morning on April Fool's day and headed east on Hwy 70.  There is not much to see along this stretch, just sand, sagebrush and tumbleweeds.  I crossed into New Mexico around 10AM and merged into Hwy 10 at Lordsburg, NM.  Just west of Demming, NM, I ran into a dust storm that lasted all the way to Alamogordo, NM.  The winds were blowing 45 mph with gusts up to 55-60 mph.  Luckily they were blowing toward the east and provided a tailwind for me.  If they had been blowing against me I would have had to stop or have the paint sandblasted off of the car and trailer.  You can see the dust storm as I approached in the next two photos.

The wind and dust was still blowing when I reached The White Sands Missile Range, but I decided that since I wouldn't be coming back this way to stop and see the museum.  It is worth the stop if you're in the area, but not a special trip just to see it.  Following is one picture.  If you would like to see them all click on this link:  White Sands Missile Range

On April 2nd I awoke to calm winds and a beautuful sky.  I decided to leave early and tour the White Sands National Monument before the winds picked up in the afternoon.  I wouldn't have driven here just to see this park if I had not been on my way to Carlsbad Caverns in the first place, but if your in the area it is well worth the visit.  Following is a teaser shot of the dunes.  Tell me you don't think it is snow.  Double click the photo for a better view and if your interested, click this link for all of the photos I took: White Sands National Monument

After taking a couple of hours to explore the dunes I headed for Carlsbad by way of Hwy 82 from Alamogordo to Artesia and then south on Hwy 285 to Carlsbad.  This route takes you east through the mountains and snow country.  Here are a couple of pictures showing the mountain terrain and the ski lift in Cloudcroft New Mexico.

Carlsbad Caverns is approximately 20 miles south of the City of Carlsbad so I drove on down to the CC junction and checked into White's RV Resort which is only 7 miles from the Caverns.  They also have a motel, store, restaurant and gift shop.  Here are two pictures of this area.

My next post will cover my CC tour.


GaryTheSpy

The Crouses

I spent two weeks (3/17 - 3/31) in Apache Junction (Phoenix) visiting with Jim and Sharon Crouse.  I was in the Air force with Jim from June 1958 thru May 1961.  We went through basic training together, Air Police School and then were stationed at Ramey AFB in Puerto Rico for two and one-half years.  In 2008 Sharon and I went to the Ramey AFB reunion that was held at Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson, AZ.  She got to meet Jim and his wife Sharon (confusing huh?) and we all got along famously.  Here's a picture of the Crouse House in Apache Junction, AZ.

Jim and Sharon are jewels and made me feel like a member of the family.  Sharon even insisted on doing my laundry (it didn't take much convincing) and either fixing me dinner or finding interesting places to eat out.  We did spend quite a bit of time at the American legion and the VFW.  One of our favorite lunch spots was the Mamoth Steak House that had a magnificent view of the Superstition Mountains.  On this day we were joined by Sharon's mom "Marge" and their daughter Sue.

On my last day in Apache Junction Jim and Sharon took me to lunch at Tortilla Flats, AZ.  This sounds like a Mexican food restaurant, but in the 1800's it was a stagecoach stop between Globe, AZ and Apache Junction.  The road between AJ and TF goes through part of the Superstition Mountains and the scenery was magnificent.  Here is a one shot of the scenery and one of the restaurant in TF.  For a better view of the pictures, just click or double click on them.

If you're interested click on this link for a few more pictures of Tortilla Flats and the scenery along the way:  Tortilla Flats

I departed Apache Junction headed for New Mexico at about 1:30 PM on March 31st.  The mountains on the way out of town are alive with wild flowers.

Bubbles

On Friday, March 26th I flew to Sacramento to attend the memorial service for Sharon’s aunt “Bubbles” (Yoshiko Jane Keikoan) who passed away March 17, 2010, at the age of 82.

Most of us remember Bubbles (pictured above) from her later years as a doting aunt and were not aware of her accomplishments as a basketball star and champion bowler. She and her sister Abu (yes that Abu) played for the Youth Buddhist Association’s (YBA) Sacramento Saints basketball team.

Bubbles is the first girl in the back row, left.

Abu is in the back row, second from the right.

Abu is the second girl from the left in the bottom row

Bubbles is holding the ball in the bottom row

These young ladies were feared in the west and in 1950 they won the championship and then went on to beat the championship team from the State of Washington. Bubbles was known for her aggressive play.

After basketball Bubbles became a very enthusiastic bowler and in 1998 was inducted into the Japanese American National Bowling Association’s Hall of Fame.

Bubbles was the third child of Yoshisuke (Father) and Kane (Mother) Keikoan. She had two brothers (Rye and Shoji) and two sisters (Abu and Dorothy). Bubs is standing on the left in this family photo. Bubbles was predeceased by Dorothy and Rye and is survived by Abu and Shoji.

Bubbles (as did most of the Keikoan family) grew up with Pat Morita who later became a movie star. You will remember him in the Karate Kid movies.

Bubbles was a stunning lady in her youth. For a few more pictures click on this link: Beautiful Bubs

We love you Bubbles!  Hold a spot for us!