On the road

Fall 2020 Staying Close to Home ( Pandemic Version 3.0 )

The school year started with us supervising online learning with our grandchildren - Kris found herself teaching second grade again while Brian handled first grade and we tried to do a little Pre-K on the side. Exhausting days, but fulfilling to witness the learning unfold and the kids develop as readers, writers, and mathematicians. We found ourselves in the familiar school year routine on weekdays and planned a series of weekend adventures as the cooler weather arrived.

First Day of School

In late September, we made a weekend trip to San Antonio for some geocaching and outdoor sight-seeing. The grounds of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park were open and it was easy to keep our distance from other people. We even saw two National Park Rangers out and about, but we missed the Visitor Center experience.

Arbol de la Vida: Memorias y Voces de la Tierra

This sculpture on the grounds of Mission Espada is 40 feet tall and 80 feet in diameter.

interior of Mission San Juan

obligatory stop at the Alamo

The Riverwalk was pretty well deserted.

Art along the Riverwalk

world's largest mosaic of the Virgin Mary - 40 feet tall

We enjoyed a weekend in East Texas. We used to camp here during our college days.

It was great to camp in the piney woods of east Texas again.

Our next adventure involved two of our sons and the grandkids in Sam Houston National Forest closer to home on Lake Conroe.

Learning how to set up a tent

Hanging out with Uncle Joel

What can we find on the lakeshore? A nice log to sit on . . .

We were disappointed to find a burn ban in effect, so charcoal grill marshmallows will have to do.

Big camping breakfasts are the best!

We hiked about a mile of the trail before we had to head for home.

Kris sporting her Mother's Day gift

The kids had great fun playing in the old jail in the town of Montgomery.

Here they are making a break for it!

Another weekend just to ourselves at Canyon Lake . . .

. . . with visits to some of the Painted Churches on the way back to Houston. Lots of geocaching to keep us busy.

The latest adventure with just the two oldest grandkids involved a surprise visit to Dinosaur Valley State Park and camping at Cleburne State Park. The boys knew we were going camping, but we did not reveal this destination until they saw the sign themselves.