Tag: San Antonio

Oddities and Noteworthy Sights Along the Way

Now that I’ve returned safely home to Doright Manor after my trip to San Marcos, Texas, I’ve had a bit of time to look back at some of the cool stuff I found along the way.

For instance this drive through daiquiri store in Louisiana, just across Texas border. Isn’t it illegal to drink and drive?

And how about the Wooly Mamoth (sic) head mounted on the wall of a barbecue place in Katy, Texas? I’m fairly sure the disclaimer “REPLICA” wasn’t necessary, but it made my daughter and me giggle. The misspelling of mammoth was a bonus.

Notice the sign on I-10 just west of Mobile, AL. I almost cried because I thought it read “ROAD WORK NEXT 568 MILES.” Thank goodness the decimal point between the 5 and the 6 was just difficult to see.

Technically, the Alamo isn’t an oddity, but it’s worth a mention.

On my way to San Antonio, I spent the night in a Holiday Inn in Gulfport, Mississippi. I’d stayed there before and had fond memories of the place. The staff is friendly and the rooms comfy. This time I snapped a photo of the nifty artwork in my room. I love retro pieces and thought this was a nice change from the artwork one usually finds in hotels.

A red door on a shop in Wimberley, Texas. I like red doors. Once I heard that if you want your house to sell quickly, paint your door red. Works for me.

San Antonio has some nifty stuff to see besides the Alamo.

I feel so fortunate to be able to travel and share my adventures with you all. Hopefully I still have a couple of decades ahead to enjoy adventures like this one. It’ll break my heart when I can no longer take my car on long trips.

Peace, people.

Final Final Four Post

And then there were two: Michigan and Villanova. At the end of the day, only one team would prevail as the NCAA men’s basketball champions.

Ashley and I had tickets to the final game. If the Jayhawks had still been in the tourney, we’d have gladly driven back into crazy San Antonio traffic, paid a fortune for parking, and a fair amount to Uber to and from the event. Alas, the Jayhawks were eliminated on Saturday, so we elected to watch the game from our hotel room in San Marcos. Call us wusses. We can handle it.

We weighed a great many factors in making our decision besides those listed above. I still struggle to speak and even though I feel okay, it’s wearing me out. Ashley has a flight to catch and a long drive to her home in Illinois once she lands in Des Moines, Iowa. I have a thirteen hour drive ahead of me. Still, we both agonized about not seeing the biggest game of the year in men’s college basketball.

So we spent the evening watching the game in our pajamas while we tried to cram all of our purchases into our suitcases along with the stuff we brought with us. I really don’t care who wins. Right now Villanova has a hefty lead with 11 minutes to go.

Coolest things this weekend:

Just being there! We’ve watched the pageantry of this tournament for years on our respective televisions, but there is nothing like seeing it all in person.

Ashley ran into a Chicago baseball icon, Ronnie Woo Woo in the Alamodome and posed for a photo with him.

We were live on a CBS television broadcast when we stumbled into view behind the broadcasters’ table. We looked like happy dorks. I suppose that’s what we are.

We enjoyed exploring San Antonio, strolling along the River Walk, and mingling with fans from all over the country.

On Sunday night we enjoyed live music and the enthusiasm of young Michigan fans in a San Antonio pub. Oh, and it warmed my heart that these young people knew the lyrics to all of my generation’s favorite songs!

On Monday, Ashley and I explored the little town of Wimberley. We did a bit of shopping and had a great lunch at Ino’Z on the banks of Cypress Creek.

I’ve most likely mixed up my verb tenses in this post once again, but we’ve had, and are still having, a wonderful time.

Tuesday is all about travel. I’ll deliver Ashley to the airport in Houston, about three hours from San Marcos, before heading east on I-10. My goal is to get as far down the road as possible before stopping for the night.

Send us some good travel vibes if you are so inclined. And as always, peace, people.

A Moment in the Spotlight

Ashley and I made our national television debut yesterday. For one brief moment we were caught on camera during a live CBS sports broadcast in downtown San Antonio. Ashley’s middle child took a screenshot of our appearance and texted it to her mom. I’d love to say we were models of beauty and grace,

but we were closer to being doubles for dumb and dumber. What can I say? Every time I see the photo I collapse in a fit of giggles. My hair. Ashley’s expression. Priceless.

I still don’t have my voice, so I text Ashley anything important I need to say. As I write this we are sitting outside listening to live music on Saturday evening at a venue filled with Michigan fans.

What fun we are having! Thanks to the Stewarts for putting their tickets up for sale, and thanks to my Studly Doright for buying them even though he couldn’t attend. Thanks to Ashley for saying “yes” to joining me, and thanks to Ashley’s husband for agreeing to be the sole Easter Bunny at their home this year so Ashley could join me, as well.

We’re still bummed that the Jayhawks lost so badly to Villanova, but there’s always next year. Might need to start making plans for Minneapolis.

Peace, people!

Too Tired and Sad to Write (much)

Our Kansas Jayhawks lost to Villanova in the semifinal game of the NCAA Final Four men’s basketball championship. Villanova set a new record in three-point shooting and dominated the Jayhawks by a score of 95-79. Even though we scored two quick points early, the first half was brutal. I’m so sad.

The Jayhawks had a great year, though, winning their 14th straight Big 12 conference championship. And I had the opportunity to be in the Alamodome with my wonderful daughter in the amazing city of San Antonio, Texas, to watch two games of one of the premier American sporting events. It was still an amazing day.

May I take a moment to praise my daughter, Ashley? She is a logistics dynamo and kept me from worrying about transportation and directions and all manner of things. I’d have been a nervous ninny without her along. Plus, she’s just a lot of fun to hang out with.

Oh, and thanks to an ongoing sinus issue I lost my voice sometime on Saturday morning. I could kind of croak sometimes and whisper other times, so Ashley had to interpret for me, as well. It’s probably best that I couldn’t yell during the KU game. There were small children around.

Now Ashley and I find ourselves with two full days in San Antonio before her flight out of Houston on Monday. What will we do? Anything we’d like, thank you very much.

Happy Easter everyone. And as always, peace, people.

The Road to the Final Four

If you’re expecting a recap of the college basketball season, forget about it. I’m just checking in to say I successfully navigated through torrential rains and horrendous road construction on my journey to San Antonio to attend the men’s NCAA college basketball tournament that begins on Saturday. I feel like the driving conditions should be charged with a flagrant foul or two. Maybe a technical. It was a brutal day of driving.

Before the bad stuff happened, Studly and I met friends from Illinois for a late lunch in Destin, FL, where they’ve been enjoying spring break, then I began my drive westward, and Studly returned home to Doright Manor.

I’m writing from my hotel room somewhere in Mississippi. Dinner was a grilled cheese sandwich from the kids’ menu in the hotel’s restaurant and a Guinness. Is that classy or what?

My daughter is flying in to Houston from Illinois, and then she and I will meet up at my brother’s home. He and his sweet wife have invited us to spend the night with them in Houston before we push on to San Antonio on Saturday morning.

Now I’m just trying to unwind and to keep my verb tenses straight. I wrote this on Thursday night, but won’t publish until Friday, so I kept getting confused. Another flagrant foul. (I always want to call it a fragrant foul. Doesn’t that sound more pleasant? Or maybe contradictory.)

I would apologize for the randomness of this post, but I’m too tired. ‘Night all.

Peace, people.

Are the Planets Aligning or Am I Just Tired?

Yesterday I wrote about getting tickets to the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in San Antonio, TX. It was an impulsive buy, and I suffered some angst once I realized that I now had to plan a quick trip to San Antonio and find someone to attend the tournament with me.

My husband, Studly Doright, bought the tickets for me even though he knew his sciatic nerve wouldn’t allow him to drive 26 hours round trip, sleep four nights in hotel beds, and navigate the crowds at the Alamo Dome where the tournament will take place. He’s a helluva guy.

Our son lives in Dallas, not terribly far from San Antonio, and he’s a University of Kansas grad, so we called him immediately upon getting the tickets. He had already made some important plans for the upcoming weekend, so he was out. I was bummed. I didn’t sleep much on Sunday night wondering if I should even keep the tickets.

Then a couple of things happened. On Monday morning my brother in Houston encouraged me to come and stay with him and his wife on my way to San Antonio. I couldn’t say no to that.

And then my daughter in Illinois, who also studied at KU and is a die hard Jayhawks fan, texted me that she thought she could get relatively inexpensive plane tickets to Houston for the long weekend. She’d fly in there, Uber to my brother’s home, and drive to San Antonio with me for the tournament! I’ll drop her off at the airport on my way through Houston on Tuesday morning. And voila! I never dreamed she’d be able to enjoy this event with me, and I couldn’t be more excited.

All of a sudden my angst disappeared. The planets seem to be aligning because I slept like a rock last night. Either that, or I’m just exhausted from lack of sleep. Rock chalk, Jayhawks, baby! It’s on!

Impulsivity Bites

I tend to be impulsive. Scratch that. I tend to say impulsive things:

“Ooh! I NEED that (insert item here)!”

“Hey! Let’s buy that (insert item here)!”

“Honey! Quick! Tell them we want those (insert items here)!”

And I’m either lucky or unlucky enough to have a husband who caters to my impulsivity.

Last night as we watched the Kansas Jayhawks advance to the Final Four in NCAA basketball with an overtime win over Duke, Studly Doright received a text from a friend in Indiana, a Purdue fan who jokingly said something to the effect of, “Hey, do you want our tickets to the final four? We won’t be using them.”

Studly read the text to me and impulsively I said, “Yes!” I never dreamed he’d follow through. Well, maybe I did, but part of me still thought we were kidding around.

Now I find myself with two tickets to the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas. David’s back isn’t going to let him go, and our son, a university of Kansas grad who lives in Texas most likely won’t be able to join me due to previously scheduled engagements.

I tossed and turned all night, cursing my impulsive nature. My cats gave up trying to sleep with me, (I’m in the guest room these nights in an attempt to give Studly an opportunity to rest, poor guy) and they abandoned me for calmer locations.

But part of me is so excited. Attending any Final Four tourney is one of my bucket list items, and with the Jayhawks still in the tourney it’s too sweet to even contemplate. I just wish my Studly was going with me.

Peace, people.