June 21, 2016

June 21, 2016

Tucson is having a heat wave so we are delaying our return home.  Aimee has been very patient with me, so I am devoting today to her interests. So we head east past Corpus Christi to the beach at Padre Island National Seashore.  This section of Padre Island is the exact opposite of yesterday. While South Padre is highly developed, the north half is the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island beach in world. After checking out the Visitor Center, we take a barefoot walk down the beach. Our only companions are seagulls and tiny crabs.  So Nice!  And so much better than crazy South Padre. Too bad I didn't call ahead.  Early this morning rangers did a release of new sea turtle hatchlings on the beach.  We would have loved to see that.

At noon we make the three hour drive to San Antonio.  We get a visitor pass at the guard gate of Lackland Air Force base and drive to the parade ground.  It is lined with large historical aircraft. After some searching we find the Military Working Dogs Team National Monument.  It is a memorial statue dedicated to the dogs that help soldiers do their hazardous job. Lackland is also the home of the military's Working Dog Training School. Aimee loves dogs and is disappointed not to see any real ones around.

We then head to San Antonio Missions National Historical Park The Spanish built a string of missions along the San Antonio River to provide a buffer against French incursions from Louisiana. The most famous is now known as the Alamo. Another five are now part of this park.  We visit three of them.  I like San Jose the best because it is the most preserved and shows the missions were combination church and fort.

Our hotel is not far from San Antonio’s famous Riverwalk.  We have dinner at a Texas BBQ restaurant along the water because I owe Aimee. Last time we visited some dozen years ago Aimee was sick and only had tea.