Day 4 Slow Day by the Pool


We woke up a little later than this morning.  That’s probably because we didn’t go to bed until so late.  At least it was late for us last night.  Everyone was getting a slow start.  Only Stephanie was up and truly moving.  She was down in the kitchen washing dishes.  I joined in to help.

Lily, Rose’s daughter, was up and moving too.  Does watching cartoons count as moving?  She was out of bed.  Rose joined us soon after that and we settled in with cups of coffee.  Rich started making calls to find a place to fix the Honda.  The Honda dealer close by stated that they could get us in on Wed, maybe Tuesday.  No good, we leave on Monday.  A call to a Firestone store got us in to see what the problem would be.  Rich and I headed out to drop off the car with them.  We grabbed breakfast out in the area.

Coming back in, Rich showed me where the button was to open the gate.  Would never have looked up there.  Back at the house, things were still moving slowly.  I walked around the yard to capture of the essence of the surroundings.  It’s quite beautiful and very peaceful.

So here I sit on the pool deck writing my blog.  I finished the one for yesterday and started today’s.  The birds are singing.  I feel like I’m in a bird sanctuary there are so many varying sounds.  The breeze is blowing and the temperature is a toasty 91.  I love this weather.  Yeah, it’s sweaty, but the warmth feels so good.

Stephanie is floating around the pool.  She is hanging on the edge reading while I’m writing.  It’s almost like the old days with my friends.  Wonder if they remember spending summers like this.  Rich gave up on the heat and is inside reading.  It’s a good vacation when you can get caught up on your reading time.

Much, much later

Darn, I was having a really hard time getting this blog written.  There was so much going on.  Let me see if I can pick this back up.

Friday was a slower day because we were waiting for the Honda to get repaired.  Turned out that we blew up the compressor on the A/C.  Now that was easy, but it also meant that we had to replace all of the components that make up the system.  That was easy also.  However, it was expensive.  Rich said that we HAD to have the A/C.  I could take it, but I guess he was right.  Good think was they could fix it and be done by the end of the day.  That meant that we had to hang around until it was done.  I hung the pool most of the day.  Rose and Rich drifted in and out.  What a wonderful vacation day.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the A/C upstairs in the house had gone out.  It was a little warm the night before.  Rose called the service company, who sent someone out.  The coil in one of the units had burnt up and there was a slow leak somewhere in the system.  The tech made some of the repairs to get the system back up and running.  That will give Rose a chance to get another opinion on the problem.  For now, it was cool upstairs again.

Rich and I headed out to pick up the Honda at 6:00.  We got back to the house with a fully functional car again.  We all piled into JP’s truck to head into San Antonio for a late dinner.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be First Friday down there.  There were crowds and crowds of people everywhere.  We finally found an open parking lot and headed to the Riverwalk.

If you never been to San Antonio, you must come down here.  The Riverwalk is one of the beautiful areas I’ve ever seen.  There are restaurants, shopping, theater, and so much more.  Besides, it is a winding and shady path on both sides of the river that runs through part of downtown.  Back in 1990, I had the fortune of being sent here for work and getting stuck for a very long weekend.  I spent all of my time down on the Riverwalk and explore downtown.  It is a typical Hispanic mission style town.

Rose tried to get us into her favorite Mexican restaurant, which is over 100 years old now.  By the look of the crowd, everyone else was waiting to get in.  They were not even taking names at that time because they were so backed up.  We settled for going down the walk a little ways to Rios Rios.  We got in right away.  After some trouble getting a server, we got our drinks and ordered food.  Between talk and the baseball game on the big screen, it was a good time.

Rich ordered the prickly pear margarita.  It’s actually very good, but a little on the sweet side.  I ordered a straight up margarita, which was excellent.  I got talked into the large, which was probably more tequila than I needed.  It is vacation after all.  The food was good and we had a great time.

We came back to the house and talked some more.  Then it was undeniably bedtime.  I was tired for one.  Good night, y’all.

 

My view just ahead of me at the pool.
My view just ahead of me at the pool.
My view to my right at the pool.
My view to my right at the pool.
The view behind me, if I would just turn around.
The view behind me, if I would just turn around.
The view just off to the left behind me.
The view just off to the left behind me.
My view to the left while sitting at the pool.
My view to the left while sitting at the pool.
Looking down on the Riverwalk.
Looking down on the Riverwalk.
Rich, Stephanie and the gang heading down the Riverwalk.
Rich, Stephanie and the gang heading down the Riverwalk.
Stephanie, Rose, and Lily waiting for our table at Rios Rios.
Stephanie, Rose, and Lily waiting for our table at Rios Rios.
Rich with his prickly pear margarita.
Rich with his prickly pear margarita.
JP at dinner.
JP at dinner.

What's left of the fajita.