Today found us in downtown San Antone visiting the Alamo and the Riverwalk.  The Alamo was very interesting and enlightening.  For reasons unknown, it didn’t inspire the reverence in Frank that his visit to Gettysburg did.  We learned some new facts about the mission there, but that’s a story for a different time and place.  Sharon had visited it when she was a small child, so didn’t really remember much about it.  Seeing it again as an adult had a different impact, but her impressions were about the same as Frank’s were.

The Riverwalk was very relaxing and enjoyable.  The canals and the shade from the surrounding buildings keep it much cooler and pleasant on the lower level.  We walked the full circuit looking at all the shops and restaurants, and had lunch at The County Line, a BBQ joint.  Not a chain, Tim!  The food was ok; nothing to write home about.  

There are guided walking tours of the Riverwalk where people can learn about the canals, the shops, etc. while listening to informed docents.  There are also boat tours on the canals as well.  Being hard core bikers, we didn’t stoop to any of that; we did our own tour of the entire Riverwalk!

After we left the Riverwalk area, we met up with Jason, Misty and James for dinner at Capellini’s Italian Restaurant, one of the area’s nice places.  The food was good and so was the company.  We visited with the kids for awhile longer, said our goodbyes and headed back to our hotel.  Tomorrow we head out on the road again, toward Louisiana and Lafayette or Baton Rouge, depending on how much we feel like traveling. 

No numbers today; just local travel.

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We gassed up the bike and cleaned the windshield in Ozona before hitting the road around 9:45.  It was a cool and pleasant morning for riding, with sunny skies and light wind.  The bike liked the cool air and oil pressure was good.  Geoff suggests an oil cooler for these climes and I wholeheartedly agree.  The grades were gentle and the scenery green and lush.  What a welcome change. 

We rode into San Antonio around 12:45 and found Jason’s place 15 minutes later with no trouble.  The city is big with a great freeway system.  We drove right by the Alamodome.  It was great to see Jason and meet his girlfriend, Misty (that’s her given name).  Then it was a short hop to the local pub called the Trap for some cold brews and pool.  I can still whoop the kid most games.  Jason and Misty fixed us a nice dinner and we visited for a while.  Tomorrow we plan to visit the Alamo and the Riverwalk, then visit some more when Jason gets home from work.

By the numbers:  230 miles ridden; 44 mpg.[gallery]