~~~Outdoor Wednesday - San Jose' Mission - San Antonio, Texas ~~~

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer is the host of "Outdoor Wednesday". If you are interested in this event....link on the logo picture....and learn about what it is all about. Join the fun.....and visit Susan and all the participants who are sharing "Outdoor Wednesday". You will not be sorry... Thank you Susan!

We visited San Antonio in 2004 on The Great Western Adventure with a couple of our friends... While there we explored many beautiful parts of this historic city... The most memorable was when we visited the 5 missions of San Antonio. Here are some pictures and a brief history of just one of them.

San Jose' Mission

While the Alamo is the most widely known and visited, travelers shouldn't make it their sole stop inside San Antonio Missions National Park. There are 5 missions in all on this magnificent tour... The San José, established in 1720, was a model for other missions--and the most prosperous. Located just south of the Alamo, this “Queen of the Missions” represented a social and cultural center. Its 300 residents sustained themselves by raising livestock and tending to vast fields. The mission had its own gristmill and granary, which have been restored. At the church, you can enjoy seeing carvings, quatrefoil patterns, and the famed “Rose Window,” a superb example of Spanish Colonial ornamentation. Explore the stairway that leads to the belfry and choir loft; all 25 risers were hand-hewn form a single log and assembled without the use of nails or pegs. You can also spend time reflecting in the beautiful gardens...

Here are Chris, Jeannie & me

sitting in a big tree (NO... we didn't bend the branch) & where the Indians lived

Rose Window & Stairway to belfry

Ralph, Norm & Jeannie outside of mission

A view of the inside

Did You Know?

That Spanish missions were not churches? They were Indian towns, with the church as the focus, where, in the 1700s, the native people were learning to become Spanish citizens. In order to become a citizen, they had to be Catholic; that is why the King of Spain sent missionaries to acculturate them.

~~~The Importance of Drinking Water~~~

ABOUT DRINKING WATER? The following will probably amaze and startle you.. It explains a lot about me.....

One glass of water shuts down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University study.


Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.


Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.


A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen.


Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.


Are you drinking the amount of water you should every day?(No kidding, all of the above are true...) Of course, too much water may have strange side effects.

Now that I have your attention, go get another glass of water!

BUT BE VERY CAREFUL.

Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

And if you have friends who makes you laugh, spend lots of time with them.

Until Later

~~~ I am still here ~~~

I know I have been a bad bloggin' buddy lately but so much has been going on.... First it was the problem with my back which led to a problem in my left knee ... I am getting a series of shots in the knee every week for 5 weeks to help relieve the pain ... Then my hubby had surgery last Friday.... Getting old isn't for sissies is it? We are both feeling a ton better and I hope to get back on regularly very soon...

We are also busy planning our next BIG adventure which will last for a year and a half. Eight months of that time will be with our good friends Chris & Norm whom a lot of you know from her blog Chris's Corner ... Then our oldest daughter Denise is getting married on June 19th, so we can't leave for our trip until July 1st this year... Usually we are on the road by May 1st every year... Our youngest daughter Jennifer will be coming down for the wedding... bringing my 2 beautiful granddaughters and of course her handsome hubby. I know I'll have a ton of pictures to share with you of the family and the awesome tropical wedding which will be held on the beach at beautiful Clearwater Beach. Then we will watch the TWINS for about 10 days while they are away on their honeymoon to the Western Caribbean...

Back to the BIG adventure... First let me say it will be the longest amount of time we have stayed away from our home base in Florida... We start out making our way to Arkansas which will take us about 2 months... We are keeping our youngest granddaughter Alyssah with us after the wedding for the trip... We will be going to North Florida, then across the Florida panhandle, through Mississippi and finally into Arkansas.... this will take about 2 months...
We will be staying in Arkansas until just after New Years where we will head out for the great unknown of Texas, Arizona ans New Mexico.... March we will be heading up the center through Colorado on our way to meet our friends (Chris & Norm) in April to visit South Dakota & Montana... After spending 2 months in these states we are heading for a 3 month adventure through Canada into Alaska. After Alaska we will be heading down the west coast through Washington, Oregon & California.... Turning right and going back through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and finally back home to Florida. That is 14,000 miles just in Tassie alone... Not counting the miles in our cars sightseeing... This will be the trip of a lifetime for All of us.

Miss you all

~~~ Outdoor Wednesday - Arches National Park in Moab, Utah ~~~

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer is the host of "Outdoor Wednesday". If you are interested in this event....link on the logo picture....and learn about what it is all about. Join the fun.....and visit Susan and all the participants who are sharing "Outdoor Wednesday". You will not be sorry... Thank you Susan!

In 2004 we were fortunate enough to visit Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. We traveled there with our good friends and had a wonderful time visiting inside the area for several days... I have so many pictures of this magnificent park that it was very hard for me to choose which ones to share with you... As you can see I still got carried away... I hope you enjoy them and remember this is just a bit of the beauty this country of ours has to offer. Hope you get to visit here sometime soon.

Welcome to

Arches National Park

Arches National Park preserves over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, like the world-famous Delicate Arch, as well as many other unusual rock formations. In some areas, the forces of nature have exposed millions of years of geologic history. The extraordinary features of the park create a landscape of contrasting colors, landforms and textures that is unlike any other in the world. The arches are beautiful and it is amazing what erosion & time can produce.... ENJOY!

Happy Outdoor Wednesday

Until Later

♥♥♥Hi Friends♥♥♥

I am alive and on the mend.... I had a great time away until I came down with a lousy cold and then a simple task of feeding the dog put me down for weeks... I bent over to pick up the dog's dish and threw my back out... It pinched a nerve and caused problems with my left knee & leg... After a visit to a small town emergency room that we were near and follow ups with my own doctors when we got home I am finally on the road to recovery... I couldn't even sit up long enough to be on the computer but today I am feeling much better (thanks to great drugs) so I thought I would update you all.... Thanks so much for all the concerns that you sent... I will be doing a post very soon.... Love you all

Until Later