Spent the day in downtown San Antonio -- strolling the riverwalk, margaritas and tacos along the river and riding the river boats.

Rode the streetcars all around downtown.

REMEMBER THE ALAMO!

Went to Steak Night on Wednesday at the 11th Street Cowboy Bar with two couples from the timeshare. It's bring your own meat and they supply grills, potatoes and salad, plates. Enjoyed a great dinner with a few Lone Star Beers (hey, we're in Texas).

Spent Wednesday driving around Boerne and several surrounding shops and poking around in the little shops. Found the Sister Creek Vineyards in Sisterdale -- yup, who knew Texas made wine. This is located in an old 1885 cotton mill. Sisterdale is a very small town with a population of 25!!!

After 2 1/2 days of rain, the sun finally poke through sporatically today. We still managed to tour Kerrville, which is north of here, Boerne (pronounced Ber-nee), which is east, and San Antonio, which is south. We spent several hours shopping at El Mercardo. Had lunch at Buckhorn's with its many many stuffed animals and met "real" cowboys at the Texas Ranger Museum.

Our timeshare in Bandera and the promised pictures of Denise and Bill (on a very windy day).

Left Flint, TX on Friday, heading south. Stopped at the D.L.Jardine plant and store (gourmet hot sauces, etc.), then continued on to spend a night in New Braunfels. Headed on to our timeshare in Bandera, TX, on Saturday, which is located about 30 miles north of San Antonio in the Hill Country (another 400+ miles traveled in our journey west). The country is beautiful here, but many of the creeks have dried up from lack of rain. I'll get pictures (with BOTH Bill and Denise) of the mountains and creeks. Bandera is the Cowboy Capital of the Country (that's what the brochures tell us).

Also strolled through Tyler Rose Garden's collection of over 35,000 rose bushes, as well as many other flowering shrubs and plants. Both of these tours were free, so we're keeping within budget. We're eating at lots of BBQ and Mexican restaurants.

On 4/22, we toured Brookshire's Wildlife Museum and Country Store, which is a replica of the original grocery store chain from 1923, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Brookshire's collection of thousands of stuffed animals, birds and fish from North America and Africa.

On 4/21, we had a great tour of the East Texas Oil Museum at Kilgore College in Kilgore, TX. In the 1930's, oil was discovered in Kilgore, and at that time, it was considered to have the richest acre in America. Unfortunately, it is not producing as much oil today, although they are still pumping.

On 4/18, left Hot Springs, heading for Flint, Texas (east Texas, just outside Tyler), again through pouring rain and storms. On arriving in Flint, we have traveled over 1,300 miles (plus another 400+ driving around Hot Springs) through six states. Spent Sunday driving around Flint and Tyler, both small towns. Saw several horse and cattle ranches, as well an alpaca. Landscape is very hilly with lots of trees (pine and hardwood). We went to the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler on Monday (just about everything else closes on Sundays and Mondays around here).

Had to experience a "bath" while in Hot Springs.

The zoo.

Toured Garvan Woodlands Garden in Hot Springs. We missed the daffodils and some of the tulips in bloom, but the dogwoods and azaleas are gorgeous. We also took a boat tour of Lake Balboa, the largest lake in Hot Springs Village. Spent a day at Little Rock Zoo, which was lots of fun -- giraffes, cats of every kind, monkeys, elephants, antelope and, of course, flamingos.

After traveling through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee -- through hailstorms and surrounded by tornadoes to the north and south, we arrived in Arkansas. Our unit at Los Lagos in Hot Springs Village is located in a “compound” of 12 man-made lakes, 9 golf courses, houses, condos, town homes, timeshare, RV park, restaurants, marinas. The unit is beautiful, surrounded by trees and mountains. Weather is 50° ’s at night and 60° -70° ’s during the day.
We visited the Gangster Museum, and Bill learned how to use a Tommy machine gun from Al Capone. Toured the famous Bath House Row, with lots of fountains and waterfalls of hot, hot, hot water.
Drove all through Hot Springs National Park (small park), cruised on the Belle River Boat Cruise on Lake Hamilton, toured Mountain Valley Spring Water facility and ate at the Pancake Shop (famous for their smoked hams and bacon).