Slowing down from "slowing down"?

May 4, 2010
San Antonio, TX

This summer, we made a resolution to not have a lot of long driving days, trying instead to slow down and take it easier. Well, we took our time going from Arizona to San Antonio, cutting our drive time each day roughly in half of what we did on the same route in December/January. We rolled into San Antonio around noon on Sunday and, after we got set up we both commented that it felt like it took forever to get here. I guess there's no right answer!

Anyway, we got things set up on Sunday afternoon, acclimated the pups to the park (or "watered" a lot of new spots, depending on your point of view), did some shopping for staples, and did some research into what we wanted to see here. By the time we finished dinner (half a chicken, nicely grilled with mashed potatoes and Geri's sautéed zucchini), we knew that we needed more than Monday-Tuesday here, so we decided to stay longer. It's how we do things these days...

So, yesterday morning I checked the calendar, walked over to the office to add three more days to our stay, adjusted our next reservation (New Orleans) and we relaxed. In the afternoon, we made another short shopping trip, first looking for some shoes that Geri's been chasing after (no luck) and then to the Central Market grocery. We first came across Central Market when we "lived" in Plano, TX, for a while before retirement, and we've found them elsewhere in the country as well. The closest other stores like them are Wegman's, and maybe Stew Leonard's in the northeast. It's not quite as uppity as Whole Foods, but better than chains and Wally World.

We were glad we left the air conditioning on for the pups while we were out, since temperatures have quickly risen into the 90s and will stay there all week. I'll be doing a lot of the cooking outside to help manage the heat. Last night, we decided to eat on the light side, with shrimp cocktail and a nice salad.

Today was simply a day to relax. We took a nice walk around the park, noting an interesting old RV or two (like this old Winnebago with a US map tattooed on it). We also spent some time noodling through our general travel plan post-Alabama and have some inquiries out to family members about their availability as we're passing through. We'll nail the route down over the next few days, even if the schedule remains a little fluid. Geri finished up the laundry queue. I shucked the corn for tonight's grilling experience (steaks and pan-roasted reds). I caught up on bills and budgeting. You know: "life" stuff.

Tomorrow, we'll hit the town, heading for Riverwalk and the Alamo. Thursday, we may take a ride out to Fredricksburg, or continue the downtown experience. Friday, we'll probably relax before we head toward Houston on Saturday.