Back-Tracking to San Antonio

This post is a total back-track post.  The first week we were here was our vacation week.  We got here early and David didn't start work till Friday, so we did some fun things.  Probably the best of these days is the one I haven't written anything about, and David keeps reminding me to blog about it so here it goes.

On Monday there was a San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City NBA championship game in San Antonio.  Tickets weren't too expensive, and we were only an hour and a half away!  Deal!  Except for one thing:  the thought of being stuck in a small seat surrounded by screaming people, while trying to entertain a 16-month-old past her bedtime.  We couldn't find a babysitter, so we went for a walk in the park here in Austin instead.

The other big reason I wanted to go to San Antonio (SA from here on out), was that one of my trainers from my mission, and dear friend Breanne Rochester lives there.  We finally got a hold of each other Monday evening, and made plans for the next day.  So Tuesday comes around, we get all ready to go, I go to text Breanne, and lo and behold, my phone has disappeared.  After walking around for a while at the park retracing our steps, David and I each said a silent prayer.  Then David called the phone for the billionth time that morning.  This time a Hispanic lady with limited English answered. Turns out she had just found it while walking, and was still in the park!  We met up with her, thanked her earnestly, thanked Heavenly Father all the more earnestly, and were on our way.

I'm ashamed to let on how little I know about the history of Texas, and the U.S.A. in general. Our little day trip opened my eyes to my ignorance.  For example, along the way from Austin to SA, there are a bunch of towns with German names, like New Braufels, Fredericksburg, Boerne, and Schulenburg.  I had no idea the Germans had such a big influence here!  Turns out there was a huge German immigration in the mid-to-late 19th century, and they had a huge influence on the culture.  For a long time there was even a "German-Texan dialect".

We got to the River Walk in SA around 1pm, and met up with Breanne.  It was great to see her and catch up a bit.  I only regret that I totally forgot to take any pictures of us together!  We'll have to get together again.  We ate at The Republic of Texas restaurant, right on the river walk.  Good food, weird waiter.  There were ducks everywhere, and Paisley had a blast with that. 

The River Walk

At our table at the restaurant.  Nice view!

Paisley enjoying the wildlife

The river walk was absolutely gorgeous.  David loved the feel of SA because it had a real Texan feel to it.  Like the the real cowboys with accents and Texan flags everywhere type atmosphere.  OK, so it wasn't quite that wild west, but it was more his ideal than the very liberal, hippie-style, live music capital of the world that is Austin.  He fell in love.  

 We took a boat tour down the river, and learned more about the history of SA as we looked at the awesome sights along the river walk.  It was HOT.  Paisley hadn't napped, and she was dying, or at least acting like it.  I've never gotten so many pity looks from kind strangers.  We tried to go to the Alamo, but Paisley wouldn't have it, so we walked back to the car and called it a day. (Don't know what to do about the white highlighting - oh well.) 

Outside the Alamo.  You can see how happy Paisley is to be there.

The San Antonio Temple

We couldn't leave San Antonio without taking a detour and stopping by the LDS Temple though.  It was beautiful, and a nice reminder of who created all these beautiful things we are enjoying and why we are here on this earth. 

So that was San Antonio.  I'm sure we'll be back before the summer is over, to see Breanne again if nothing else!  But we loved what we saw (which was pretty much only the river walk), and would love to go back and see more!