san antonio

san antonio is another of my favorite us cities. the first three days were cold and rainy, if you can believe it, but the sun finally came out in time for anne's arrival. recently having moved to houston, she made the three hour drive to come spend some time with me.

my hotel was on the river walk, with the balcony overlooking the river below. it made for an easy two block walk to the alamo, the first stop for our day together.


we didn't spend too much time there as we wanted to get on a river tour before it got too hot and too crowded.

this is my second time doing the tour, and although i was annoyed that the price went up from $2 to $8.25 in two years, it's still in an enjoyable trip. best of all, it lets you see a large portion of the river walk without having to walk at all. for someone who clocks an average of 5 to 12 walking miles per day at these conferences (which i know thanks to the little pedometer gift i got from the show staff) extra walking is not on the top of my to do list. a nice scenic boat ride is more my speed!


we learned about the history of the river, saw some interesting buildings, and took a lot of photos.


after the river ride, it was time for another passport stamp. although anne admitte that she had been dreading this one, she agreed to take me to the san antonio missions national historic park. i myself did not know what to expect, but as i've often found, the national park organization is full of unexpected wonders. this was one such case.


we went to the main mission (there are 4 or 5 included), the san jose mission, and it was absolutely spectacular! anne was also pleasantly surprised, commeting 'who needs the alamo?!'


it was a super hot day, at least for me, since my de-adjustment to humidity, but despite the sweat dripping into my eyes (literally), there were to many great photos that seemed to be taking themselves.


after wandering around the grounds for a good amount of time, we made the next stop a nostalgic one. right around the corner from the mission was a sonic. since anne and i used to drive for an hour+ just to get sonic in virginia, this almost seemed to easy.


but on the principle of having to work for it...on the second attempt at taking the above photo without the weird arms crossed thing we both did for some reason, our awkward position prevailed and my rt. 44 strawberry limeade became a rt. 22 strawberry limeade, right before part of my shake ended up in out of the cup and in the footwell. it was pure comedy of errors.

it was back to the ranch at that point for a little more work, then a yummy dinner at a yummy steakhouse before calling it a night!

since i had to work the next day, anne and i said goodbye that morning and she headed home to houston while i wrapped up the conference, and headed home myself the next day.

i actually get to be home for almost an entire month now and i couldn't be more excited.