Von Ormy

by

San Antonio’s King William Neighbourhood

Today had perfect weather for a walking tour! Upon my host Teri’s recommendation, I contacted San Antonio Walks for their King William neighbourhood tour. They didn’t have any other takers for their 9:45 a.m. tour today, but they called me this morning to ask if I wanted to join the 1:45 p.m. tour. Indeed!

‘King William’ was actually Wilhelm of Prussia. This neighbourhood was mostly built by affluent Germans in the mid-1800s. There is a lot of focus on the Spanish influence in Texas, but not so much of just how much the Germans contributed to this state. And, yet, there is German everywhere, especially in the town names, such as Gruene.

The King William neighbourhood had a real downslide in the early 1900s but came back up in the middle of the 20th century and is now one of the most prized neighbourhoods in the city. It is filled with beautiful mansions and more modest homes, all abutting tree lined streets, and within walking distance to the San Antonio River and the Riverwalk.

Our guide, Gary, had so much information about the history of the houses and his beloved city and the architecture. I couldn’t even begin to try to summarize it. I put as much info as I could in the photo gallery, but, really, I can’t do justice to a two-hour tour that cost just $16!

I now feel that I can leave San Antonio. I would have had unfinished business had I not done this tour.

by

A Strangely Coloured Sky

We have sun today. YES!!!

I’m definitely staying in San Antonio a couple extra days since some unexpected projects came up. So now, my ETA in Dallas is Sunday afternoon.

I’m heading out to play tourist this afternoon, so check back for an hopefully interesting post later this afternoon.

Croft and Norma are driving through San Antonio tomorrow and have expressed interest in meeting up. Will we manage this or will they end up zipping past I-35 as I sit by it in a lawn chair to wave as they pass by? Stay tuned!

by

The Mail Is Here!

Wow, I really didn’t expect the mail to get here this week. I’m a little thrown off my kilter right now. 🙂

I’m too busy to leave tomorrow, so I’ll definitely be renewing to Friday noonish. I need to call Teri to see if she can set up that guided walk she suggested in a comment.

With the days being as long as they are now, I could easily leave mid-day and arrive in Dallas with daylight to spare. Google Maps puts the trip at being 4.25 hours. I think I could do it within 6, depending on traffic. It’s 288mi (464KM), so it’s definitely doable in one shot.

We just got tons more rain here, but Teri had nothing to say about the weather when she dropped off mail, so now that the sky is FINALLY clearing, I can relax about having to move to higher ground.

I’m down almost 60AH now, the lowest I have ever gone since getting the battery monitor calibrated. Knowing that I’ll have power in Dallas, I’m not concerned. Plus, I’ll get some charge in on the drive there.

by

Storm Aftermath

The storm that threatened to drench us last night appeared at about 11:00! It was very loud, with a lot of thunder and tons of lightening, but the rain didn’t seem to last that long. None of the other RVs seemed poised to move, so I stayed put. The ground is definitely spongey this morning.

The soak did both my truck and Miranda a lot of good. I still need to spray the underside of Miranda for salt, but otherwise her chalky layer is gone. I do see that both Miranda and the truck topper are due for some Poli Glow, but that won’t happen till I get somewhere with a ladder and plenty of water.

My host from Dallas phoned last night. It’s funny how I just about never get calls and I got three or four last night! At any rate, I am infinitely grateful to have secured such a good landing spot in Dallas.

Croft and Norma are a mere two hours away right now, but they’re too busy to drive two hours round trip to meet me halfway and I’m way too busy to drive four hours round trip to get to them, so I guess we’ll be like ships passing in the night. Dang! How can so close be so far away?

Today really doesn’t feel like my last day in San Antonio. I just have one more thing to do here and I need to talk to my host, Teri, about it. As per a recent comment, Caroline isn’t in Austin, so really, I don’t feel any pull to the city at all. So I may just stay here long enough to do one more tourist thing, and then do a straight shot to Dallas.

by

Sticky

I refuse to truly complain about the weather, but dang it’s humid out there! There was also zero sun today. I was down FIFTY AH at the start of this evening, so I ran the engine long enough go bring myself to 39AH down. Not great, but the voltage boost is much appreciated.

longdog2 just called to ask if I was aware of the weather forecast for this evening. Um, no. Thanks again for looking out for me!

There is apparently a massive thunderstorm rolling in from Mexico, which might be those nasty clouds from today. I just got info about the storm watch and I am below it, so I should be fine. I’ll still put the computers away tonight and clear the counters in case I need to pull out in a hurry and make a run for higher ground (a couple hundred feet from my spot).

Tomorrow is technically my last full day in San Antonio, but I really don’t expect the mail to be here by Thursday, so I’ll like be staying on a bit. That would suit me just fine since there is some tourism I haven’t done yet.

That said, one of you fine, wonderful, loveable readers has offered me prime parking in Dallas for a few days! So I’m much more motivated to head there than I was a few days ago. The weather has given me my fill of San Antonio and knowing there is power and SHOWERS waiting at my next two stops (Dallas and Wichita) is making me rather eager to get going.

I’d like to be in Dallas by Tuesday at the absolute latest, which is April 9th and exactly four weeks from when I have to be back in Canada. We’ll see if the mail cooperates. 🙂