February 16, 2013 San Antonio, Texas

We went sight seeing today in San Antonio. Beautiful day, high 60’s and a blue bird sky.

Our first stop was the Alamo. It was originally a mission, that became a fort and was the a fight to the death of the 200 US defenders against a huge Mexican army. People remember the Alamo as a heroic struggle against overwhelming odds—a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. It was very crowded.

The river walk is a long meandering  waterways  lined with hotels, restaurants, , shops and galleries. Picturesque stone bridges arch across the water, lush landscaping. After downtown we visited a couple of the 5 Spanish missions built  by the Franciscan Friars. This one is mission of Nuestra Senora e la Purisimo Concepcion. It originally was covered with colorful geometric designs.

The inside of the church.  The frescos in the sanctuary and nave  are  exposed original frescoes. The second mission is  San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo. It was the biggest of the missions.

The Convento to the right was never finished.  To the left of the photo is one of the wells. Has some great rockwork for photos. John coming through a doorway.

John through a window. An owl by another window.

This is the last remaining part of the fresco designs on the outside.

Here is a photo of what the paint job looked like. The inside of the sanctuary. 

An unfinished window in the Convento, and the legendary Rosa’s window.  Legend has it that the stoneworker’s finance Rosa died on the voyage over from Spain and he carved this window in her memory.

The Front of the church. After this was no longer a mission the army used the front of the church for target practice. All of the missions were in ruins when the park service took over and have been restored.

Much of this is original woodwork.

A detail on a door. This is the inside of the grist mill.

San Antonio's skyline.  Colorado st. On this highway they added extra lanes above the old ones.

Meanwhile back at camp the light was lovely near dusk.

More lovely light at camp.

We were walking on the nature walk and John was more interested in the manly pipes.