San Antonio….A Great Good Friday!

Early yesterday, we

pulled out from the Last Resort, leaving Rockport behind to head North.  First, we made a stop at Freightliner where we finally got

the recall part installed for the adjustable brake pedal.  We didn’t have to wait too long, and soon we were headed up Highway 37.

All along the way, we enjoyed the

beautiful Texas wildflowers that bloom along side the highways.

It wasn’t long until we fell in behind

Bob and Molly and Mac and Lynette.  We followed them until they turned off for a fuel stop and that is where we waved bye to them.  You guys have fun in Bourne…and we hope to see you soon.

We continued on and made it through San Antonio without any trouble and on to the

Stone Creek RV Park in Schertz.  Deb and Rod were not far behind us and settled in on the row just behind us.

After we all rested up from the travel today, we headed out to a great little Pizza and Sandwich place.  We then all called it an early evening.

Today, we were up early.  I made waffles for the four of us before we loaded up and headed out for a self guided tour of the San Antonio Missions.

First stop was at

Mission San Jose.  This is were the visitor center was located and

Deb and I got the official date stamp for our National Park Passport Book.  In addition, we got a stamp for each of the mission churches.

Once we had our books stamped, we were off to see each of the churches.

This is San Jose, it

was founded in 1720, and it is best known of the Texas Missions.  One of the things that caught my eye was this

beautiful window.  It is known as Rosa’s Window.

Next was

Mission San Juan.

This

mission was originally known as San Jose de los Nazonis in East Texas.  In  1731, it was moved to it’s permanent home on the San Antonio River’s east bank.  The fertile farmland soon made it a regional supplier of produce.

While here, we enjoyed

a back trail that took us down by

river.  We enjoyed lots of

beautiful flowers.

We were also entertained by

this little lizard, and this

little lady bug, as well as

this bee who was busy about his work day.

Well, we had to get on about our day as well…so it was off to

Mission Espada.  This mission was

founded in 1690, and was also moved from East Texas in 1731.  It looks nearly as remote now as it did in the mid-1700’s.  This mission was known for teaching the Indians a trade.  Men learned  blacksmithing, carpentry, masonry, stonecutting, and cloth weaving.  It was the only mission that made bricks.  These trades were a boon to San Antonio’s post-colonial growth and the mission’s artisans’ influence can be seen all through the city of San Antonio.

I so enjoyed all the beautiful

flowers that were planted around the grounds of the mission.  And, yet another beautiful

window.  Ellie, the windows are for you!

Last on the mission trail was

Mission Concepcion.  This mission

was transferred from East Texas in 1731.  The church looks essentially as it did in the mid 1700’s.  This church is being

resorted to show the beautiful designs that have faded away.

This concludes the missions that are listed on the National Parks Mission Trail, but we wanted to visit one more.  And, that was

Mission San Antonio de Valero.  Better known to us as The Alamo.  It was founded in 1718, and was the first mission on the San Antonio River.  And, we know the rest of the story!

By this time, it was mid-afternoon and our waffles had long since left us, so we headed to Market Square

and located

La Margarita where we enjoyed a great Mexican food lunch.  Afterwards we made a quick stop by Mi Tierra’s

bakery for a few goodies.

From here we decided it was time to head back to Schertz before things picked up pace…as San Antonio is the site of

a little weekend basketball.  LOL!

What a great day and how special it was to tour the missions on Good Friday.