Day off!

The gate was pretty quiet Saturday night and I got some "quality nap time". There was a flurry of activity just after dawn when all the workers involved in moving the rig arrived and then it slowed down again.

We had our bag packed and were anxious to leave so once it slowed down we battened down the hatches, laid the stop sign down, put the "closed" sign on the door of the 5th wheel and headed for San Antonio.

The drive took us about 1 1/2 hours and the temperature did nothing but drop the entire way. We started out at 67 and it quickly dropped into the upper 40's. We ran through several showers and it was very gray and overcast but nothing was going to spoil our fun!

Rudee had taken care of the hotel and found a great deal on line at Hotel Contessa right on the river walk. For those that are not familiar, the River Walk is a unique park like setting. The river winds through the downtown section of San Antonio and there are sidewalks lining both sides. They have created a very unique shopping and dining area.

We checked into the motel and our room, well really it was a suite (COOL!), was ready and waiting. The hotel was gorgeous and with Rudee's shopping skills it cost less than the Holiday Inn Express :-)

Here is the view from our 12th floor room.

We decided to walk to the Alamo which was only a few blocks away. Taking the river walk, which is actually below street level, we were able to get fairly close without having to even think about traffic or crosswalks.

We toured the Alamo where several Texans made a stand against overwhelming odds against General Santa Ana and the Mexican Army. They were over ran and most were killed including, probably the most famous, Davey Crocket and Jim Bowey.

There is a large shopping mall near the Alamo and we spent some time browsing through the stores just trying to get warm :-).

Once we were warmed back up, thank you Starbuck's :-), we headed back down the stairs to the River Walk and did some more exploring. I could not get over how we were walking through a downtown urban area but, since you are below street level, you really don't hear any traffic or typical "city" noises. The walk is just beautiful and since it was a cold Sunday there were not too many people out. There are archways where you can cross from one side of the river to the other and stairways to access the streets above.

We explored for a couple of hours and finally made it back to our Hotel for a short rest before we headed for dinner.

We decided on Landry's Seafood but it was not an easy decision. You can find everything from sports bars to fine dining on the River Walk and deciding where to go can be a dilemma. None of the restaurants were crowded since the weather was not the greatest, we wished it was just a little warmer because most of the restaurants have outdoor seating with a view of the river and the people strolling by. I do love to "people watch" :-)

Our meal was very good, we shared fried shrimp, fries, salad and Crab bisque soup. We sat inside but did have a table with a view of the river :-).

I had noticed that most of the trees lining the river were wrapped with lights and by the time we finished eating the sun had set and the lights were on. Beautiful!

We took our time walking home and just enjoyed each others company and our surroundings.

We called it a night and turned in fairly early. No bells tonight, ahhhhhh! I actually got to sleep through the night uninterrupted. I slept for 10 hours straight!

This morning we had breakfast at the Hotel and checked out. I took a different route home so we could stop by the Super Wal Mart in Pleasonton on way home. I got the oil changed in the Dakota while we stocked up on supplies. Rudee likes to keep our pantry (AKA the sleeper in the Freightliner) fairly well stocked with staples and we were getting low.

Back at the 5th wheel the front pad was deserted and everything had been moved to the back. Wow, these guys had been busy yesterday! They tell us the fracking crew may arrive as early as Wednesday so we may getting really busy for awhile. I'll keep you posted.