San Antonio Rodeo and Stock Show, more than we expected.

Lunch at Casino El Camino

I thought Rodeo, and Singers is what we may see, but before you even get in the gate the Ferris wheel is so prominent you know that a fair is here, with as we remember from our fair experiences past, and more. Done in just a little different ways, as this is Texas. Ford has a corner on the market here, and many ford ads and displays. San Antonio is in all you see, and Texas is everywhere too. Country gear from boots to all kinds of clothing and leather goods. Cowboy hats are on most every head, and boots on every child, woman and man. So much to take in here, my head keeps turning for many different sights. I'm on overload, and just love it. People are very friendly, and we always sit at picnic tables to eat, always meet someone there.

Yesterday we met a couple as we ate our brisket & sausage dinner that have been here most of there lives, the guy is from German background, and the woman seems like was from Mexican background, but a ways back. They had much to tell us about the city, and suggestions for what to see, and where to go, and what to try for restaurants. They work in service industry, her for the state, he in a hospital. I ask Polly there names today as I just didn't pay enough attention, she says "Oh god no!" Can't remember all names, we meet so many people, and so nice to say hi, just cant remember all.

Went to the pig races, was so much fun, and we see so many young families here. Plastic Pig noses were the thing, so Polly got a couple and we wore them through the races. Shopping is a big part of what we saw, and I'm not much of a shopper, I just follow and say yes that's nice honey. Got to see some big animals, cows that were so big! Saw a porcupine up close for the first time. Will go next time and look through the stables.

BBQ everywhere in Texas

After shopping we went into the stadium and got to our seats and Don and Chris were there already, we were on the end and had many ups and downs as people passed by to there seats. We are in the nose bleeds but for $30.00 still good deal. Rodeo is good, and we kind of know what to expect as this is our 3rd time here, and the routine is same each day. one thing different today, had a few very close calls to the cowboys today, one guy hurt his leg bad, had to be trucked off. Another had his hand caught in the rope on the bulls neck, that was very close to be a huge problem, but he finally got away. The clowns are so good about taking the bulls attention away from doing damage, so good they almost get run over too.

Friends for many years here

Bull riding on the mechanical bull

After the bulls finish, and things pack up there, they proceed to get the stage and all the chairs, and amps out and in place for the show. Stage is a revolving type, and has its own motor and wheels to propel itself in as the setup is done. Quite an interesting system they have developed for this daily show.

We have now seen all the shows as of my writing today. Took a little break in writing this blog post.

Choosing the best and biggest!

Now for the show, and everyone has been different, lighting pretty much the same, but the performance always different. Seats were different each time. Chris has started grading the performances, and some get a very high score. Our first was Darius Rucker, and he has the highest score, 9.5 says Chris. She has the most experience when it comes to country singers, and we all agree he was the best of all we have seen here, Brad Paisley next, we haven't put them all in a list yet. Maybe today as is last day we will be here in San Antonio, and tomorrow we will leave and go our separate ways, us south, Don and Chris north west.

Whatever we thought we might do here we did it, or we leave it for next time. We did make a trip to Corpus Christi, was a good day for a drive as weather was off, a little colder, and windy, so we stayed in the truck most the time, Don drove, was nice to look around and not have to think of traffic. We saw much of the farming lands, and drove along the beach toward Port Aransas looking out toward the gulf of Mexico and all the oil platforms that operate there. The beach was nice, and the water was rough from the wind. As we made it to the end of the beach we rounded the point and we were in the town so fast, and there was our destination, Bernie's! A pub that I had put in my phone as our destination, as lunch was in order by now.

Bernie's was as most places here self serve, get your beers, and order your food at a window, and then wait till your number is called. Keeps the price down, as lunch and beers were cheep. $1.00 for a beer was a nice change from $8.50 at the rodeo. Food was good, and the scenery was funny in the bar, and as per usual people were friendly.

After lunch we drove to a couple drilling platforms that were in port for service, and then a long drive home, with a stop at a vitamin shop for Chris. Was a nice way to spend a cooler, windy day.

We also went one day to Austin, for the RV show, and this was a fun day full of opening doors, and looking through some very nice new trailers and motor homes. Polly found one she really liked, she kept saying "it feels good in this one!", guess this is the one... lol

Polly's choice. I like it too!

OK line up for the picture

We had an interesting lunch at a place Polly found on the internet, Casino El Camino. This seems to be a trend now, look it up on the net. Dark and kinda dingy, but food was good, and it was packed when we came in so tells us gotta be good.

Looks like a good deal, till you do the
 $-USA vs $-Canadian

Traffic was busy on this day, as a Friday, and was all the way to and from Austin was busy. Not my kinda relax, but we are learning what we don't want, so will build that into our trip as we go, stay to the outside of the cites.

One last thing I want to say here is how in Texas you see everywhere the state logo, and if an American flag is flown, a Texas one is there too. As I finish this post we have now moved to Mission Texas, and I saw another reminder how proud they are of there state, a picture of the state with Wisconsin cowboy hat on the top of the state of Texas, which was coloured as a flag, and said "Winter Texan". So much pride in there state. I love it when I see this.

Love this life, Travel and see whats next!

Here we go again, further south and further east.

Travel time again soon as we get closer to the time where we pack up our home and move to our next adventure. This Friday, Feb. 8th we travel toward San Antonio Texas for a couple weeks of rodeo along with some great country entertainment. Our friends Don and Chris have made it to Yuma, and are staying close to us here in Fortuna, we will travel south together and take in the sights. They have been travelling south and all over for more years than us, and suggested the rodeo last year, so this year we will check out Texas just a little more in depth. We have booked ahead at Braunig Lake RV Resort as we have stayed there before, and is a nice place to stay while we check out San Antonio's sights.

The last 3 weeks we have had Lyn, Polly's sister stay with us & fun was had for the full 3 weeks. We showed her around here, introduced here to many friends, brought her to Mexico for a few Margarita's and of course shopping. Went to the dinner and dance, drove to Martinez lake and Yuma Proving grounds for a look around. Swam in the pool, played pool, but missed the boccie and shuffleboard we thought we might play. Got to leave something for next time. All in all was a good time, and plans are made for us to return next year to Fortuna for 2 months next year. All going well Lyn may join us again, maybe here, or maybe in Texas, or who knows maybe in Florida.

Lyn helped with many things while she was here, she's no slouch. She did most all the dishes, walked Bosco on many occasions, made a few dinners, and made a few sandwiches. Oh almost forgot, Lyn did serve a couple cold beers! 🍺 Made for a nice visit, and we both miss her. One question we get asked often is where did Lyn sleep while she was here? LOL we have fun with this, Lyn was on the air mattress, and as Polly describes it in the evening it would sound like we were vacuuming as the air mattress filled up, and the morning as it was emptied.

Lyn planned her flight back to coincide with our trip to Phoenix to go see the Kelly Clarkson concert, so the day we drove there we went for a visit Alex and Deb friends we met in Indio, that would watch Bosco for us overnight. Was nice to have her meet them, and spend a little time getting to know them before we had to take her to her flight. Airports are not a favourite of mine, and driving through this one is complicated, but after missing a few turns when we went to pick Lyn up, I now knew what to expect. All went well till the last hug, and I heard Polly say don't you cry! Of course she did, and so did Polly just a little, always hard to say good bye.

We made our way to an Airbnb we had booked, was a new experience for us, and all worked out well. All we needed was a clean room, and that's what we got, and a friendly welcome. That made for a nice short drive in an uber to and from the concert. The concert was fantastic, another new experience, I am learning to book with the arena box office rather than ticket master, and get someone that helps you get good seats. This time seats were not what was available where I wanted to be so we got floor and stood for 3 hours, but were right in front of the stage, so got a great view of Kelly and all the performances. Was a great show, and all went well. Nice when things work out like you plan.

On that note I want to talk about plans, we all have them, and sometimes they work out and others you modify as you go. We had been planning to do something special this year for our 25th Anniversary, and a few things we have started to plan have been changed, so right now no solid plan. But, always an iron in the fire I say, never know what may come. Leaving options open gives us opportunity to take in something we never thought of if it comes our way. Our plan looking forward is to travel south after the rodeo, check out Corpus Christi & South Padre, maybe even check out the towns above Brownsville. Then who knows, we hope to head north this year when the weather warms, and make our way over the boarder to Manitoba, then travel back to Vancouver Island through Canada.

Our happy hour we planned for goodbye to Lyn was fun

Plans are good, and help us going forward. I remember getting asked "What do you want Brent?" a few times in my life. I think I have it now. Choices we all have, what we choose is up to us. Polly and I have made the choice to peel off the layers that held us to a location, and strapped us in so our choices were less. Today if we get an offer, or we see something we think we would like to checkout, or even if we just want to sit in a chair and watch others rush about we can. What more can I ask.

Bosco on the other hand just goes where we go, but he does expect us to make plans for him, otherwise he gets out of sorts, and we don't want that. We make plans for him, and make sure he is looked after while we travel. He just went back to bed after staying with me for the last hour. Too much separation for him here on this love seat.

The last of our poker games will happen this week, as when we travel we are too busy for that, so will enjoy the last time with friends here, and get ready to leave. Not sad to leave, looking forward to our next adventures as we travel south.

Life is good when you have options! Love this life.