Early days in San Antonio

January 4, 2023

We’re getting settled here in San Antonio, learning our way around the campground and the surrounding area.  We went to HEBs Plus the other day but we found a more favorable establishment we are familiar with called Sprouts Farmers Market.  Tuesday was a lazy day, at least in the AM.  Late morning we stopped by the office to provide them with additional info and had a few questions; the staff is very nice and friendly.

After completing a couple of loads of laundry, we headed out for some clothes shopping.  We didn’t anticipate the warmer temps and are in need of summer attire.  Former coworkers had put together an evening at a Wolf Pack game in Hartford high above the ice in one of Comcast’s luxury suites.  Mag couldn’t join me so I invited Harrison and early on in the evening they presented me with a Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s gift card.  We located a Bass Pro Shop about 10 miles north and headed that way.  Our shopping trip was a marginal success and by the time we left, it was approaching dinner time.  Earlier , we had decided we would throw together a meal with some food we had in the fridge but we were both a little tired and decided on grabbing dinner at Salata’s.  If you’ve never been, it’s cafeteria style; you pass down the line and let the server know what items you like in your salad.  All type of leafy greens, many vegetables, a good selection of protein, many add-ons, and lots of dressings.  We’ve been eating mostly vegetables for quite awhile now, I stray now and again but Mag is good about sticking to it.

We still getting acclimated to the traffic, the signage, patterns, and the habits of locals but we starting to get the hang of it.  Our location in San Antonio, nations 7th largest city, is on the west side of the city and our sense, originally, was that it was far enough out, on the edge of rural San Antonio, but it turns out, that is not the case.  We’re just off highway 1604, a loop around the San Antonio, about 20 miles from downtown.  Like many of the highways, interstates, loops, etcetera, are lined with frontage roads so, imagine 2 to 3 lanes on either side of 1604 which, of itself, ranges from 3 plus lanes on either direction, amount to 10 plus lanes total.  At times, there is plenty of traffic to fill all those lanes; we’re a little too close to the city that we would have liked.  We’re learning!

January 5, 2023

Thursday we found a park on the All Trails app and headed that way.  But before we head out, I called a local Ford dealership to set up an appointment.  Yesterday I had noticed the head of  a bolt about 5/16″ in diameter stuck in the tire tread of the driver-side front.  The tire is holding air but I’m extremely hesitant to yank it out for fear it would begin to leak.  Our appointment if tomorrow at 10 and we are already scooping our the area for activities while they work on the truck.  They will also change the oil because it’s about 1000 miles away from it next due date.

We headed off for our hike, packed with snacks and H2O.  It’s a 3.7 mile hike out and back which turns out to be an unusual one, for us.  The trail starts in a park with a couple of softball fields, some covered picnic tables.  It doesn’t appear to be very busy and the trail meanders though some brush and trees to, what appears to be a wash for collecting rain water.  It somewhat barren and intersects with the Helotes Creek Greenway Trail; I’m gonna investigate this further, we both brought our bikes.

As we drove to the trail, just off 1604, we noticed all manner of shops and big box stores.  I was still working on our TV issue so Best Buy and Lowes were stops for me, Mag was eyeballing Maurice’s, Marshalls, Sketchers, we went our separate ways.  I also noticed an In and Out Burger and was so tempted to stop.  What do you think?  Should I?  Back at the trailer, we threw together some tortillas/burritos with beans, rice, sauteed peppers and onions with salsa on the side.  I was able to solve our TV issue so that’s up and running.  I was also working on how, and where, to hang the toilet paper holder and should have that solved soon.  Mag need new foot attire and some tee-shirts.  We should be all set now.

Tomorrow it’s off to the Ford dealership for 10, the nearby Sprouts Grocery store, a car wash and whatever else we stumble upon.