Light At The End Of The Tunnel - Well Maybe Not

Called Jayco to see if there was some way to get my microwave fixed. Jayco told me that Frigidaire(the maker of the microwave) will be the one to get the microwave fixed and not only that but they have mobile repair people. Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel. I called Frigidaire and got the name of two service centers in the area. I called the first one and the very first appointment they could possibly fit me in is in two weeks. They would not budge on that date and since I'm leaving town in a couple of days, it would not work out. I called the second service center and they just told me flat out that I was outside of their service area. So that little light at the end of the tunnel was quickly snuffed out. I think that I am going to have to bite the bullet and try to figure out where I am going to be in a couple of weeks and try to make an appointment in that area. I hate the idea of having to plan.

Walked the dog, met all of our new doggie friends from the RV park and then Lou and Davey picked me up. We were heading to San Antonio Shoe Makers, a shoe shop on the south side of town. San Antonio ShoeMakers (SAS) is more than a shoe shop. Outside they had quite a few perfectly restored vintage automobiles. My favorites were the cars from the late thirties and also the early fifties. Perfectly restored might not be the correct word as these cars had some beautiful paint jobs on them – I don't think the original paint jobs were even close to the rich hues these cars were painted.

SAS, besides shoes had five cent popcorn, soaps/lotions/marinades from the Texas area. They also had some clothes and little tchotchkes. I picked up one of those road trip games, License Plate Bingo which I thought would be an appropriate toy to play with on the trip.

We then headed up to the northwest part of town to see the San Antonio Botanical Garden (SABOT). In honor of MLK holiday weekend, they had opened the park up to dogs. Somebody had even made some pumpkin doggie treats. I felt bad that Miko wasn't with me, so I quickly stuffed a pumpkin treat in my pocket when nobody was looking.

The first part of the park was really peaceful and it was refreshing to see so much green. SABOT has a small little Japanese garden but the part that I really liked was the Sensory Garden. They had built this garden for blind people. There were all sorts of fragrant plants for the nose and they also had wind chimes for the ears. There were also some trees whose leaves would really rustle when the wind blew. What a wonderful idea.

SABOT also had a conservatory which housed different Eco-systems. One area was tropical ferns, another was an Orangerie and another was different types of cactus. We were there for a couple of hours and it was getting warm and we were getting thirsty. We decided to bail out before we hit the East Texas section or the Hill Country section, since we had been living in the hill country for a week and we were going to be spending a lot more time in the Texas countryside.

Lou and Davey went out to dinner with their relatives and I stayed home and did laundry, walked the dog and just sort of hung out. I did watch a new show for me – Jane the Virgin. I think I am going to have to find the first season. It seems quirky and a little sarcastic. Traits I find very amusing and appealing.

McNay Art Museum and the Japanese Tea Gardens

Stopped by Lou's house this morning and picked her up to go walk Miko around the park. According to my Fitbit, which counts the number of steps I've taken, it was about 3800 steps. I'm thinking that is about a mile walk. Beautiful day – lots of blue sky and sun.

Lou and Davey had plans to meet some friends. I had plans to head into San Antonio. I decided to take Miko with me because my second stop was dog friendly.

First up was the McNay Art Museum. When I was in San Antonio 10-15 years ago I had visited the McNay and loved it. Mrs. McNay started collecting art in the early 1900s and when she died in the fifties, she donated her house and her art collection. I think the museum started out with 700 art pieces. They now own 16,000 pieces. The house is a wonderful house – a two story mansion that is built around a central courtyard that houses a koi pond surrounded by greenery of all sorts. Since I was at the museum last they have added on several different wings.

The special exhibit was World War II photographs. Some of the photographs were ones we all know – the raising of the American flag over Iwo Jima and that picture of the sailor kissing the nurse on VJ day. I found the exhibit to be so very touching – all of these people were so young and to have to go through all that they did – it seems like every time period has it's tragic moving moments, but to have so many people go through this same experience at the same time adds a certain amount of resoluteness and bitter sweetness.

Here is a picture for Heidi who loves(as we all do) Georgia O'Keefe

And then there was a picture for Tony who is a Modigliani fan

I could not stay very long in the museum because Miko was in the car and I was worried that it would get too warm for her so I headed outside. Let me tell you about my car – it is a Ford Focus which according to my service guys has a manual transmission encased in an automatic transmission. Ok, whatever. I'm not too sure exactly what that means. When you open the driver's side door, there is all this clicking as the transmission adjusts itself. It is fairly subtle – click, click. Ford did a recall on this transmissionand I brought my car in to get this transmission fixed. Well, after the museum, I opened my driver's side door and all of a sudden there is this boom, boom, boom – the car is shaking – I seriously thought it was going to blow up or something. I grabbed Miko's leash and got her out of the car and ran over to the other side of the parking lot. It was probably 30-60 seconds before the shaking stopped. I wasn't too sure what to do. I have a remote start on the car, so I thought that I would start the car from across the parking lot ad see if it blew up. Started the car and it started just the way it was supposed to, no fireworks. Everything seemed to be working just fine so I put Miko back in the car and we started driving. When I get back up north, my first stop will be the Ford dealer who supposedly fixed the transmission.

On to the Japanese Tea Gardens which is located right next to the San Antonio zoo. Keep in mind, this is a Saturday and it is a beautiful day. I think most of San Antonio thought it would be a great day to go to the zoo. Crowds and crowd – hardly any parking. After we got situated, Miko and I started walking through the gardens. They were setting a private event in the pagoda – I think it might have been a wedding. The koi ponds had either been emptied or they were very shallow, probably because of the cold weather that Texas has been having the last few weeks. It was still a delightful way to spend a warm sunny afternoon.

Pagoda:

Bamboo:

More Garden:

As I was leaving, a young girl named Esther wanted to have her picture taken with  Miko.  She was downright insistent.   She was really pleased that she got her picture taken.

Esther and her mom:

We walked around for a bit and then headed home where I put the mat out and spent the rest of the afternoon putzing around and brushing Miko.

Lou called and said they were on the way home from their friends house. They picked up a pizza and stopped by to offer me some. I graciously declined (for about five minutes) and then we ate and drank for the rest of the night.

A lovely day.