Medina Lake with Alan and Lou

We aren't through with San Antonio yet. We are joined at a Thousand Trails preserve about thirty miles northwest of the city by our very good friends from Jojoba, Alan and Lou Flaum. They are on their way back home after two months of travel, while we're just getting started. The park is called Medina Lake, but "lake" seems a thing of the past. We were here six years ago and one third of the park was lakeside with a large boarding dock and launch facilities. Now with the lake at 3.7% of normal capacity (that is NOT a typo) the water's edge more than five miles away.




The lack of nearby water hasn't discouraged the local white-tail deer population, and a $10 investment in a 50# bag of deer corn guaranteed their attention.

The park is in the Texas hill country and close to Bandera, a small taste of the West in the "Cowboy Capital of the World." (Most everything in Texas is a bit of a stretch.) Some fun shopping along with a beer and barbeque.

That was followed by a trip to town to see the Alamo and stroll along the Riverwalk - some of the best that San Antonio has to offer. And it was all punctuated by the Spurs successful run for the NBA title.

While in town, we also took a trip down Jan's Memory Lane as we tracked down her high school alma mater - Alamo Heights - and two of her former homes.

One other side note. We knew our house batteries (2 of the six-volt deep-cycle variety) were on their last charges, so we took advantage of a Costco that was close, and exchanged them for fresh ones. Taking a lesson from Jojoba friends who recently posted similar repair challenges while on the road, I carefully photographed the situation before removing the old ones, and used the pic to assure the correct placement of the new ones. In went the first just according to the photo. Then the second. After hooking up the cables, my trusty repair assistant asked why there was so much sparking going on. I confidently told her it would quit when I tightened the wing-nuts. I quickly realized that I was the wing-nut when the batteries started heating up. A quick disconnect, end-for-end swap on the second battery, and reconnect (plus-to-minus-to-plus-to-minus!) corrected the problem. And I didn't even cook the converter. You know, ignorance has limits, but stupidity is a bottomless pit!

San Antonio Walton Family Fix

The highlight of the first part of our journey this year is our visit with our oldest child and his family of three in San Antonio. It has been four years since we have been together, and although F/B and phone keeps us in close touch, there's nothing like the actual thing. David (the III -  twenty now,) and  David (Jr) and Yvonne make a close and happy family, and a real joy to visit.


Yvonne is a San Antonio native, and they have lived here for over twenty years. They are part of a close extended "familia" with parents and four sisters, which makes for aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews and cousins galore. Our visit was touched by a terrible family tragedy which happened only six weeks before. Yvonne's kid brother, a veteran of two tours in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan, and the future patriarch of the family, became another of our brave soldiers unable to cope with the memories of combat. D3 considered his uncle Paul his hero and role model, and now wears Paul's dog tags.

Getting time together can be a problem, since all three work, D3 sometimes till 11PM, Yvonne on an 8 - 5 schedule, and David working four 14-hour nights as a shift manager followed by four days off. For us, it just complicates a one-week visit. For them, it's a fulltime challenge till David moves to days next February (or sooner if Walmart promotes him to store manager.) But we managed very well, getting quality time with all three - even D3's girlfriend.

Till next time. We might even get them out to SoCal next year.