Onward to Texas - the Lone Star state.

Saturday, headed out of Santa Fe, stopped in Hatch for a famous green chili burger at Sparky's.  Pretty darn good and not too hot.

Looks like the Colonel is missing something

The wonderful Hatch chili

Got to Las Cruces and visited historic old Mesilla, the original Plaza area.  Looked in some shops and then went to Lee and Emily's house and got to see Daisy cat.  She is the most beautiful cat.  Gave her some treats and she curled up in our bed and took a little nap.  We were going to go see the BSU game at a sports bar, but decided we were too tired, so we listened to it on the computer.

Old Mesilla - the Plaza

Where Las Cruces began

Basilica of San Albino

On National Historical Building

Registry

Daisy, our house mate

Sunday down to El Paso to visit Bliss Army Base.  This is where John was in Basic Training after being drafted in 1966.  We both have military ID's due to John's disability so we were able to go on the base and look around.  Had lunch, went to commissary and Exchange and got gas.  That was about it.  Drove on to Fort Stockton for good night's sleep.

Monday was just a day to drive to San Antonio.  Long day and glad to have arrived.  Stopped for early dinner at Rudy's BBQ - lots say the best BBQ in Texas.  Sure was good.  I had baby back ribs and John had turkey.  Got to house and unpacked.  Read awhile and to sleep early.  I was woken up by airplanes - seemed like 100s of them, right over the house which caused the window to rattle....... and could not get back to sleep.  The next two nights the plane traffic was not as heavy.

Oh these ribs are good

Tuesday up and ready for the day.  Stopped at famous Old Guenter House for a delicious breakfast.  Rich old flour mill family home with mill right next door on river.  This is the old German historic area and many of the homes have been refurbished.  These places are mansions and so truly beautiful.  It was just such a treat to look at these homes as we walked and then drove by.  The grand old days.  Stopped by to see the Vietnam Memorial, a wonderful detailed bronze.

We had breakfast on the patio

Beautiful old German neighborhood mansions

On the way home we drove across town to  Reuben's Tamales what is rated by Yelp as #1 tamales in San Antonio.  Got two dozen pork (said they were small) and shared them with our hosts.  I'm not much of a tamale person, but even I ate three.   Sat and visited with David while eating.  He was a drummer back in the day and has toured the world as a musician with various bands.  He's an interesting guy.

Up late and took the car in for an oil change.  Then downtown to visit two beautiful missions.  We saw Mission Concepcion and Mission San Jose.

Mission Concepcion

People were shorter

Mission San Jose, 1720

Up the road a few miles to see the World's Largest Cowboy Boots, corny but fun.

40 feet tall 

We then went to a San Antonio Couch Surfer meeting held at the Bombay Bicycle Club - a weekly gathering - where the group works on language and just in general visits.  We had two girls from France there and I'd say the turnout was about 15 people.  We had a nice time visiting with various people.  An attorney/actor, a marketing person who just returned from an extended trip to South America.  Back home and had nice visiting, wine and nuts, with David and Charlene.  We heard some great stories about New York, as they had lived in Manhattan - Italian restaurants, John Gotti and the mob encounters.  Fun people we enjoyed getting to meet.

Up early on Thursday for drive to Spring, Texas. Stopped and got my flu shot so that's taken care of. Arrived our Lorraine and Darryl's house around 2:30 p.m. Lorraine was home so we sat and visited a long time. Darryl got home from work and we went to dinner at a fun place, The Potatoe [sic] Patch, where they throw you dinner rolls across the room. They give you fried okra and fried green tomatoes free as appetizers. Huge meals. They even gave us a free cup of milk to take home for my coffee. Fun place and great service.

Our friends had to work and we slept in which felt so good.  John found Mercer Botanical Garden close by so we went there since we love flowers.  It was a lovely garden and we had such a good time.  Our friends took us out for Mexican food and we had a good dinner.

Little lizard

Lady bug, lady bug

Up early and Daryl went and picked up kolaches - something we'd never even heard of -- a sort of baked yeast roll with either a ham roll, or a smoked sausage inside.  He also brought donuts, so we had quite a breakfast.

Kolaches

Darryl, John and Lorriane

Headed down the road at noon toward Vidor to our friend Melinda's house.  Arrived, visited, ate and then we went to a bar called John Wayne.  It was quiet at 10:00 p.m. and the 3 of us played pool.  Little by little the place got busier and lots of people came in costumes.  Melinda introduced me to a new drink that I love, the Water Mocassin.  So we drank, danced, and just had ourselves a good old time and closed the bar.

Melinda

Superman, BSU fan, Lois Lane

Up at noon, Melinda made good breakfast burritos.  Just visiting and she showed us some of her cross stitch projects.  She does beautiful, complicated work.  Sat around, visited and then had some tasty ribs for dinner. Early to bed since we've got to get up and head for New Orleans, our next stop.  Hate to leave this good cooking, but must say adios to Texas...................

Onward to Texas - the Lone Star state.

Saturday, headed out of Santa Fe, stopped in Hatch for a famous green chili burger at Sparky's.  Pretty darn good and not too hot.

Looks like the Colonel is missing something

The wonderful Hatch chili

Got to Las Cruces and visited historic old Mesilla, the original Plaza area.  Looked in some shops and then went to Lee and Emily's house and got to see Daisy cat.  She is the most beautiful cat.  Gave her some treats and she curled up in our bed and took a little nap.  We were going to go see the BSU game at a sports bar, but decided we were too tired, so we listened to it on the computer.

Old Mesilla - the Plaza

Where Las Cruces began

Basilica of San Albino

On National Historical Building

Registry

Daisy, our house mate

Sunday down to El Paso to visit Bliss Army Base.  This is where John was in Basic Training after being drafted in 1966.  We both have military ID's due to John's disability so we were able to go on the base and look around.  Had lunch, went to commissary and Exchange and got gas.  That was about it.  Drove on to Fort Stockton for good night's sleep.

Monday was just a day to drive to San Antonio.  Long day and glad to have arrived.  Stopped for early dinner at Rudy's BBQ - lots say the best BBQ in Texas.  Sure was good.  I had baby back ribs and John had turkey.  Got to house and unpacked.  Read awhile and to sleep early.  I was woken up by airplanes - seemed like 100s of them, right over the house which caused the window to rattle....... and could not get back to sleep.  The next two nights the plane traffic was not as heavy.

Oh these ribs are good

Tuesday up and ready for the day.  Stopped at famous Old Guenter House for a delicious breakfast.  Rich old flour mill family home with mill right next door on river.  This is the old German historic area and many of the homes have been refurbished.  These places are mansions and so truly beautiful.  It was just such a treat to look at these homes as we walked and then drove by.  The grand old days.  Stopped by to see the Vietnam Memorial, a wonderful detailed bronze.

We had breakfast on the patio

Beautiful old German neighborhood mansions

On the way home we drove across town to  Reuben's Tamales what is rated by Yelp as #1 tamales in San Antonio.  Got two dozen pork (said they were small) and shared them with our hosts.  I'm not much of a tamale person, but even I ate three.   Sat and visited with David while eating.  He was a drummer back in the day and has toured the world as a musician with various bands.  He's an interesting guy.

Up late and took the car in for an oil change.  Then downtown to visit two beautiful missions.  We saw Mission Concepcion and Mission San Jose.

Mission Concepcion

People were shorter

Mission San Jose, 1720

Up the road a few miles to see the World's Largest Cowboy Boots, corny but fun.

40 feet tall 

We then went to a San Antonio Couch Surfer meeting held at the Bombay Bicycle Club - a weekly gathering - where the group works on language and just in general visits.  We had two girls from France there and I'd say the turnout was about 15 people.  We had a nice time visiting with various people.  An attorney/actor, a marketing person who just returned from an extended trip to South America.  Back home and had nice visiting, wine and nuts, with David and Charlene.  We heard some great stories about New York, as they had lived in Manhattan - Italian restaurants, John Gotti and the mob encounters.  Fun people we enjoyed getting to meet.

Up early on Thursday for drive to Spring, Texas. Stopped and got my flu shot so that's taken care of. Arrived our Lorraine and Darryl's house around 2:30 p.m. Lorraine was home so we sat and visited a long time. Darryl got home from work and we went to dinner at a fun place, The Potatoe [sic] Patch, where they throw you dinner rolls across the room. They give you fried okra and fried green tomatoes free as appetizers. Huge meals. They even gave us a free cup of milk to take home for my coffee. Fun place and great service.

Our friends had to work and we slept in which felt so good.  John found Mercer Botanical Garden close by so we went there since we love flowers.  It was a lovely garden and we had such a good time.  Our friends took us out for Mexican food and we had a good dinner.

Little lizard

Lady bug, lady bug

Up early and Daryl went and picked up kolaches - something we'd never even heard of -- a sort of baked yeast roll with either a ham roll, or a smoked sausage inside.  He also brought donuts, so we had quite a breakfast.

Kolaches

Darryl, John and Lorriane

Headed down the road at noon toward Vidor to our friend Melinda's house.  Arrived, visited, ate and then we went to a bar called John Wayne.  It was quiet at 10:00 p.m. and the 3 of us played pool.  Little by little the place got busier and lots of people came in costumes.  Melinda introduced me to a new drink that I love, the Water Mocassin.  So we drank, danced, and just had ourselves a good old time and closed the bar.

Melinda

Superman, BSU fan, Lois Lane

Up at noon, Melinda made good breakfast burritos.  Just visiting and she showed us some of her cross stitch projects.  She does beautiful, complicated work.  Sat around, visited and then had some tasty ribs for dinner. Early to bed since we've got to get up and head for New Orleans, our next stop.  Hate to leave this good cooking, but must say adios to Texas...................