San Antonio Gallery

Gallery March 31, 2014 Angie

The River Walk

City Scenes

This is the place where the bones of the heroes of the Alamo rest. It’s inside the vestibule of the Catholic Church in the next picture.

The River Walk, again.

The Alamo

This tree was HUGE, and CRAZY. Many of its branches rest on the ground, on the roofs of nearby buildings, and on the wall surrounding the Alamo.

This cactus is enormous.

More of the crazy tree.

More River Walk

We took a boat tour and I’d recommend it. In the picture above, you can see one of the boats we took.

People have to fall into the water all the time. With twists and turns in the path like this, and the AMPLE drinking establishments along the way, people must fall in often. Luckily its only a few feet deep.

This building was made to look one dimensional from this angle. It’s a hospital.

More of the River Walk

The trees were full of these egret/heron-like birds. They were pretty big and very busy building nests.

This was so interesting. It’s a fig tree growing out of a wall. It doesn’t have a trunk or roots. It isn’t growing through the wall, it actually sprouted in the wall.

The Missions

What’s interesting about the missions is they are all working Catholic Parishes, except for the Alamo. In one, they had an active daycare. Keep in mind, these buildings were built in the 1700s!

Whenever we visit a National Park, I always get stamps for my “passport.”

Chick’N!

Southern US--Spring 2014, United States

San Antonio, Texas

March 31, 2014 Angie Leave a comment

1400 miles so far.

We’ve had a nice couple of days in San Antonio—and we have the sore feet to prove it. On Sunday, we walked along the River Walk and found some ice cream for dinner. On Monday, we saw the Governor’s Palace, the Alamo and a bunch more of the River Walk. Then we spent the afternoon exploring the other missions. It’s kind of amazing to think what it must have been like in the 1750s when the Franciscan monks walked to the area from their base in Mexico. At the time, the Indians were being killed by northern Indian tribes and they were dying of diseases brought to the area by Europeans. To live in the relative safety of the missions, they had be baptized and they were required to learn a European trade and adopt European habits. I can’t imagine what it was like for them to leave their life styles, their religion, their language and their culture behind. I’ve put some of our pictures of the day here.

I have to tell you about dinner. We ended up at a vegetarian cafe, which is very unusual for us. We wanted to try something new. Our waitress was adorable and so helpful. Because Bob often orders chicken parmesan when we go out, he got the Chik-N parm and I had the eggplant parm. Bob said it wasn’t bad and that if he didn’t know, he would probably think he was eating chicken. : ) Maybe I’ll go back again when I’m in San Antonio for the Romance Writers’ convention in July. Tera and Alison, are you game?

Two things to note about the drive through Texas. 1. The speed limit in Texas is 80 m.p.m. (Thank you!). 2. Especially in the western part of the state, the highway runs along the Mexican border. We were stopped at one station (kind of like the fruit check when you enter CA on I 15) to check for illegal aliens. It was a little weird.

Off Again!, Southern US--Spring 2014, United States

Southern United States–Spring 2014

March 29, 2014 Angie Leave a comment

We have a really big trip planned for the Spring of 2014. We are going to explore the South for the first time, as well as the Eastern Seaboard. One of the highlights for me will be Abby’s sorority pinning. When I joined Gamma Phi Beta all those years ago, I never dreamed that my sister, my niece, and now my daughter, would join me in the sisterhood. I’m a very proud mama!

The first month of our travels will be vacationing — sight-seeing, exploring, learning about new places, stuff like that. Most of the second month will be visiting family and friends, catching up, and playing with grandkids.

Check back every now and then and see what we’ve been up to. If you want to contact us, you can send an email to me at ashiroff@me.com.

Proposed itinerary:
San Antonio, New Orleans, the Florida Keys, Central Florida (including Harry Potter World!), Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Boston (for Abby’s pinning!), New York, Philadelphia, back to Boston (to move Abby out of the dorms), New Jersey, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Wichita, home!

Update in May, 2014

Now that our trip is complete, here are some of the statistics I tried to keep. I’ll try to be better in the future, but keeping track of this stuff over a couple months of traveling is easier said than done!

Miles Traveled: 5,250

Tolls paid: Who knows? $30 before we got to Virginia, after that, our EZ Pass is automatic. I know the GW Bridge alone was $13! Everything in the Northeast is a toll road and it’s not unusual to spend more than $100 on tolls during one of our trips.

Gas bill: (about) $900

States we’ve been to: NV, AZ, NM, TX, LA, MS, AL, FL, GA, SC, NC, TN, VA, MD, DE, NJ, CT

What books we’ve listened to: 1. Taken in Death by JD Robb; 2. Concealed in Death by JD Robb; 3. Fortune’s Pawn by Rachel Back; 4. Honor’s Knight by Rachel Bach; 5. The Witness by Nora Roberts.

Southern US--Spring 2014, United States

Day 1

March 29, 2014 Angie Leave a comment

800 miles today.
We drove from Las Vegas to Las Cruces, NM. It was a VERY long day — about 12 hours of driving. We stupidly relied on our Magellan instead of looking at a map so we ended up taking the longer route through Flagstaff.

The one perk was the Chick Fil A in Flagstaff where we ate lunch. I don’t know what it is about waffle fries and Chick Fil A sauce, but I’m addicted.

Once we realized the Magellan (aka Maggie) was being ridiculous, we adjusted course. She immediately protested with “Uturn. In. Three. Hundred. Seventy. Two. Miles.” You know how that stilted voice is. We just turned her off.

One of the perks of the drive was all the blooming trees in Phoenix. They were gorgeous. I especially loved the red bougainvillea and the bright yellow Palo Verde Trees.

I really love Palo Verde Trees. They’re willowy and interesting when they’re not blooming, and breathtaking when they are blooming.

Oh, and if you can tell me what this picture is, I’d appreciate it. It was quite a distance away and it kept reflecting the sun. It wasn’t moving, it just hung there. It wasn’t a cloud. It looks like a white balloon shaped like one of those fish crackers.

The Shiroffs' Travels

Monthly Archives: March 2014