October 13, 14, 15 and 16, 2008
New Mexico and Texas
We left Santa Fe on the 13th and drove as far as Carlsbad, New Mexico. On the way, we stopped at Roswell, NM, home of the UFO's....................... Even the local WalMart has aliens everywhere you look!!!
Roswell, NM WalMart which is owned by the "GREEN" family!!!
Members of the "GREEN" family. Teeheehee
While we were in Roswell, I worked on our family genealogy. I was amazed to discover a link between my family and the "GREEN" family. Carolee and I met one member of the GREENS on the street in Roswell and he assured us that we are related!!! :>) He told us they were doing DNA testing at the "clinic" up the street and if I wanted to see if we were REALLY related, I could go up and be tested.
Well, here I am at the "DNA" clinic and they told me I am definitely related to this little guy!!! Personally, I can't see too much resemblance, can you???
Carolee and Chuck with our little "cousin".
I think these little guys are the "white sheeps" of the family. Teeheehee
Carolee and I in front of the Roswell UFO museum on main street in downtown Roswell, NM.
This sign was hanging in the museum and I am considering having OUR family reunion there at the same time Loretta has theirs!!! :>)
After we left Roswell, we drove on to Carlsbad, NM and spent the night in a WalMart parking lot. (what else???) We left fairly early the next morning on the 14th so we could arrive in San Antonio before dark. The drive down was uneventful. We were still driving miles and miles without seeing anything except huge fields and an occasional oil rig or windmill.
The closer we got to San Antonio, the greener the landscape became and we started seeing more and more trees.
We also started seeing more mountain ranges and the trees were getting much larger. We saw a lot of live oaks, which is one of our favorite trees.
The leaves were beginning to change in some areas we came through.
We were still seeing a lot of windmills and water tanks. As we came closer to San Antonio we also saw more fields that were being irrigated.
Mae and Regena were already at Mae's son Larry;s house. Larry had made arrangements with his church for us to park on their parking lot while we are in San Antonio. They have RV hookups here because they have camp meeting, etc. and sometimes need a place for RV's to park. It was awfully nice of them to allow us to stay here. We're about a 10 minute drive from Larry and Candy's house. We went over to the house for awhile and had a great dinner of vegetable beef soup with cornbread and biscuits. Mae had been cooking up a storm all day. We were too tired to stay late after the long drive, so we went back to the RV before it got too late.
On the 15th we went over to Larry and Candy's and visited with them again. By the time we got there, Howard and Irma were already there. Mae had been at it again, she cooked a big pot of pinto beans (our family's FAVORITE meal) and cornbread and she had also made fried apple and cherry pies. Since it was Wednesday night, we all went to church with them. Larry and his family sang and another group at the church sang a song and Mae coerced Merrell and I into singing one too. We really enjoyed meeting their church family. They were all so very friendly and made us feel right at home.
Chuck is still having a time with his shingles, so he didn't go over to Larry's and didn't get to go to church with us.
Today (the 16th) we went into San Antonio and took the boat ride at the River Walk. It's such a beautiful spot. It's amazing to see a river and boat tours in the middle of a large city and have it surrounded by restaurants and a HUGE mall.
Donna, Carolee, Howard, Mae and Regena at a waterfall on the River Walk in San Antonio.
Donna, Carolee, Howard, Mae and Regena and a better view of the waterfall. LOL
I think Carolee was showing Regena how the chair turned over with Carolee in it!!! :>)
Merrell and Donna at the River Walk waterfall. I'm sure I was saying something really, really important when they interrupted me by snapping the picture!!
The whole gang at the waterfall. Donna, Merrell, Tiffany, Larry, Candy, Mae, Josiah, Regena, Howard, Irma, Carolee and Chuck!!!
Howard and Irma at the waterfall on the River Walk.
Merrell and Donna in front of the Alamo sign.
Right inside the entrance to the Alamo courtyard area there is this awesome live oak tree. According to the sign it was transplanted there when it was around 40 years old and that was in the early 1900's. It's amazing that they could transplant a 40 year old tree without all of the equipment it takes us to do it now. It's even more amazing that it lived. We transplanted one when we built our house and we had the big "boy toy" equipment to move it and it still DIED!! Left an awful blank place in our yard. :>)
Carolee and Chuck with the Alamo Shrine (church) in the background.
Mae and Regena in front of the Alamo Shrine.
Josiah, Larry, Tiffany and Candy Keeney in front of the Alamo Shrine.
Merrell and Donna in front of the Alamo Shrine.
The Alamo has some beautiful gardens and walkways. Mae decided to play hide n' seek in the bushes.........................
Mae convinced Regena to play hide n' seek with her in the Alamo Gardens.
Mae and Regena in the Alamo gardens.
Mae and Regena behind the Alamo Shrine.
We ate lunch in a Mexican restaurant on the River Walk. The food was great, the view was wonderful and the music was so COOL!!! Authentic movie style Mexican musicians. I felt like I was in one of the old movies I watch on tv. I wanted to get up and dance, but I couldn't find a rose to put in my teeth!! Teeheehee
Josiah and Tiffany in the Mexican Restaurant. I didn't even have to bribe them to sit that close together............................
This was taken from the tour boat at the River Walk.
Another view from the tour boat.
And yet another view from the tour boat. As you can see, the water way is beautiful and the landscaping is wonderful. You almost feel like you are floating down a jungle river (I know, I know. I have watched entirely too many old Tarzan movies). LOL
It was a wonderful day. The weather was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold. Larry's friends had loaned him a 15 passenger van, so we were all able to ride together, which made it much nicer than if we had taken three different vehicles. AND, Larry has lived here long enough that he knows his way around so we didn't have to worry about getting lost. Merrell was also relieved that I wasn't sitting in front with him and using the brake that is on the passenger side of all of our cars!! :>)
Tomorrow we are going over to Larry's and just have a "together" day before we head to Marble Falls on Saturday.
I guess that's all the news and pictures I have for today.
Take care,
Love, US
