Walking for a good cause

We are lucky that a college friend of mine moved to San Antonio with her family a month before we did so we have some good companionship in this new city. We would have been luckier had they moved here a year ago so I could hit them up with more questions about Texas, like what's the deal with all these ants? Anyway, Stephanie's youngest daughter, Chloe, is unlucky in that she has juvenile diabetes. She is eight years old and everything a little girl should be, charming, funny, and very smart. We walked to raise money for research as part of her team, Chloe's Cupids. It was a beautiful day and everyone, even Davy Crockett, was in attendance. Apparently, in San Antonio, you can never forget the Alamo.

The girls visit San Antonio

Olivia had one and only one request for her visit to San Antonio and that was to go to Six Flags. So, off to Six Flags we went and my cervical spine is still objecting two weeks later. I made the mistake of agreeing to ride the Tony Hawk Big Spin with Olivia. It's a roller coaster with a big cart that spins around as it goes up and down the tracks. Insane. The rest of the visit was less injurious with a stroll on the River Walk, enough cheerleading to scare a cat, and shopping at the Puerto Rican store to express some orgullo.

San Antonio Botanical Garden

Since Luis is constantly working or traveling, I've been spending a fair amount of time exploring on my own and my new favorite place is the San Antonio Botanical Garden. It has formal gardens from around the world plus some special and very lovely gardens based on Texas ecosystems.

San Antonio, Chapter One

On July 29, 2010, Luis and I loaded up the Rav 4 with one terrified cat, a selection of houseplants, and enough clothes to last us for a week or two. Then we drove for 13 and a half hours on I-35 to arrive at our new home in San Antonio, Texas. Strapped to the luggage rack on top of the car was a suitcase that wouldn't fit in the car with us. It was filled with odds and ends as well as a variety of items that couldn't be packed by the movers such as bleach, ammonia based cleaning products, matches, and batteries.

About halfway to Texas, it occurred to Luis that perhaps packing all of our most explosive possessions together and transporting them with maximum exposure to heat and jostling was not the most sensible move. The remainder of the drive was slightly tense as we drove down the highway with our own little IED strapped to the roof of our vehicle. We made it safely to San Antonio with the only casualties being a shower curtain and a pair of Luis' pants that were ruined by some bleach that leaked out of the bottle.

The remainder of our things arrived uneventfully the following Tuesday and now, three months later, we are fairly settled into our be-carpeted suburban mini-mansion. We've only started exploring the surrounding areas and, although Texas is no Hawaii, there are plenty of interesting things to do and see.