Back in San Antonio

Back in San Antonio Safe and Sound.  Drove on Monday from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday.  Started again at 6 a.m. and got to the house at 9:30.  Jim did all of the driving.
It was a long day at work today and Jim had a long day here unpacking and drying out/washing things that were in the back of the truck.  It rained a lot so the stuff in our suitcases in the back got soaked.  The tarp ripped around the bikes but everything got here safe and sound.  Our backs and butts were really sore near the end and we were very stiff.

It was really nice visiting with everyone.  The house was good when we got here and the heat turned on over night so we know our furnace works now... no more air conditioning now we need heat.

See everyone next year when we come back again.

Air Show Randolph Air Force Base

Thunderbirds were in town for the Air Show.  It was a joint show for all the bases.  Awesome day.  Lots of planes big and small doing lots of  tricks, skydivers doing tricks, lots of planes to go through and then it was topped off by the Thunderbirds.

All ok after Hurricane Patricia

We are fine here.  We were a little scared with everything that you see on the weather news but it ended up going around us.  We had a lot of wind and rain for an hour yesterday and just rain the rest of the early part of the day.  No rain last night and just drizzle this morning.  Went for a 10,000 step walk this morning around the neighbourhood to see if there was any damage but just a lot of mud on the streets in the construction areas but the rest of the streets are fine.
You can see pictures on line of streets under water as well as Olmos golf course.  Those streets.. Basse, Mccullogh etc are about a mile or so from where I work.  They go under water all of the time if it rains.  One Zumba night... it started to rain just as zumba started - lasts an hour and then I drove home and those same streets and golf course were under water.  There is a big Aquaduct that drains into that area and puts it under all of the time.
I saw streets under water up in Dallas and that makes sense since the path of Patricia went that direction.  We are in the South of San Antonio so didn't even get much of the Rain.  Grass is still brown but we have a few days now that we don't have to try and water it.
Thanks everyone for the emails, texts and phone calls.... We are perfectly fine.... just missed out in the company picnic yesterday.  We were supposed to go to Six Flags for the picnic like last year.  Now we just get the two passes to go on our own with a free meal there.  I have a season's pass so we will go when James comes down at Christmas.  They have a togoggan hill there for christmas... they bring in snow somehow so I just have to see how they do that.
Take care everyone - stay warm up there.  It is actually cooler here now since patricia went through so we are wearing sweats and can open the windows for fresh air.

More Beach Aquaduct fan fruit spider etc

We have gone to the beach the last three weekends.  A great way to relax and try to get the rest of the feeling back in my toes.  I guess that I hit them sometime a couple of weeks ago so two were turning black and I had a spot so I went to a Dermatologist - no cancer just trauma in the toes and the spot was benign.  With no feeling in the toes I guess I hit them and they turn black and I don't remember them being hit.  I have feeling in the soles of the feet but the toes and finger tips are still an issue.  I have an iphone for work so trying to get the screen to feel my fingers is tough sometimes...

We bought a fan/light for the back deck for our anniversary present so now I am sitting out here at 8:30 at night and it is very comfortable.  The fan helps cool it down and also gets rid of some of the flies and mosquitoes.  James sent us pictures of it snowing a little this weekend back home so I guess we can put up with a little heat.  The waves were huge at the beach yesterday so I recorded them so am going to try to attach the video to this blog.  Maybe I will figure it out some day.
We had a huge spider trying to live on our deck.  Jim threw it over the fence and the next day it came back.  He threw it over again today and we will have to check to see if it comes back tomorrow.  Today is the first day since we moved in that it has been cool enough to turn off the air conditioning and open the windows.  It is now over 80 in the house but it is starting to cool down outside so hopefully it will be ok for sleeping without turning the air back on.  We have a fan over the bed so hopefully it will be ok.
Took Sparky to the river bike trails by the famous aquaduct this morning before it got too hot so you will see pictures from there too.  Not sure what the fruit is lying on the ground growing beside the trail... oranges or lemon like but on a ground vine.  I also picked some pecans up off the ground from some pecan trees and also took a picture of a banana tree growing wild on the side of the trail.  We are going to bring our bikes back with us so I am looking forward to going further down the trail since now I keep doing the same section when we walk.  Jim golfed this morning with some of his friends so Sparky and I got to explore on our own.

Jim and I on our 28th Anniversary on the Beach

Our big spider visitor

As Jim says we don't need hallowe'en decorations

Pretty good work all in one day since Jim took the previous day down.

Info on the aquaduct that was built Years ago  Amazing what was done way back then

This is the duct but even reading it and seeing it ... not sure how it works

This is the top of the duct and it is all full of water

Here is the name of the Aqueduct so maybe if you google it you can figure it out.

This is the bike path that we walk on next to the river

trusty map to know how much further to the next mission etc

you are walking/biking along this see up in the middle the path winding along.  Kinda like the path from Billings Bridge to downtown.  This one goes from our area through the missions to downtown Riverwalk.

Do the stones look familiar... same ones as on the front of our house and the ones we took for the garden.  The white stones are natural stones everywhere here.

Mystery fruit growing on vines beside the path

closer up picture of the fruit... see the deep green one I think it is not ripe and they turn yellow when they are ripe but what do I know.  I took two and will take them to work and hopefully some one there will tell me.

More of them... they were everywhere

Banana Tree

Closer up picture - see the bananas now - top middle

At the very top above the purple bell thing hanging below them

Our new fan - had the strips hanging for all of the flies but now we should be able to take them down

Octoberfest and garden growing

I added some purple flowers from the end of the street.  Not sure they will survive but it is worth a try.  A lady at work was getting rid of some aloe vera plants so got 5 of those to put in the garden.  The one hibiscus is starting to bloom now so it will survive.  The other one has lots of buds ready to open but none yet.  Just sitting here in the back yard going through a box of kleenex reading my book.  My allergies hate me being outside but you can't sit inside when it is this nice out.  We went to the beach yesterday where my allergies are non existent... should put sand in our back yard instead of a garden I guess.... Thurs night we went with people from work to an Octoberfest.  Didn't get a picture of it but they brought out the big long horn... alphorn ... you see in on the ricola commercials.  He was really good on it.  His lips must have been so sore since no valves or rotars on it... all lips and embouchure...very cool

Lots of flowers blooming now The picture said the one plant
would have many colours but so far they look the same or similar

Lots more buds  will be out soon.. grey on side are my
dieing purple flowers you will see alive lower down

This is the other hibiscus... lots of buds but no flowers yet

Aloe vera plant which should grow large

Another Aloe Vera - I took 5 of them

purple weed flowers before they died

OOMPAH Band

First one to bloom

San Antonio is in a Drought so we can only hand water.
Based on your address you get one night a week you can
use a sprinkler.  On the other times you can water so long as you
hold the hose so here is Jim not breaking the law

Cactus flower bed enhanced

Another one of the bigger houses with stone on the front finished this week so there were spare stones left at the end of the street, free for the taking.... so we took some to make a nice bed for the cactus.  Walked to Walmart at lunch on Friday and there were lots of plants on sale so got 6 fountain grasses and 2 hibiscus shrubs.  Yes I can have hibiscus outside year round here.  I still want an Orange tree but that won't be until spring.  I still need to get the blue flowers at the end of the street and put them in the bed too but too sore now... maybe later today or tomorrow since we borrowed a shovel from someone at work so will need to take it back next week.  We have a shovel on the list of things to bring back with us in November.

Spider Very Big

Hard to see him... black legs and yellow body... he really blends in but was huge