Lost in the highways and by-ways of San Antonio, Texas

Wednesday we made another trip to San Antonio, Texas.  As you know I am not very fond of coffee but when I am driving long distances I have no choice but to drink it or fall asleep on the road.  Recently discovered something much better...Smoothie Cappuccino served iced cold and sold at the new Stripes.

I am glad we got an early start and that it was a fairly cloudy day.  Had forgotten what it was like to drive in heavy traffic and to encounter delays due to accidents.  I guess living in Del Rio has made me soft.

The place we were going was only a block away from where we went last week.  However, being in the Medical Center area there are a lot of buildings and offices but managed to get to the right place. Lucked out as they decided to take mom in before her scheduled appointment.

Tried to take a picture of a gas station not located on the freeway where gasoline is priced higher but only managed this poor excuse of a photo when we were at the stop light.  Price was three cents lower than in Del Rio.

Since mother had to be fasting for her PET Scan, she was famished!  She got to once again eat at Luby's her favorite cafeteria but this time at a different location from the one last week.  I told the lady server that she wanted a Lou Ann special ( a small portion at a special price) but I guess she must of thought my mother really needed to eat....jajajajaja!  No, she did not eat it all...we brought more than half of it home.

By contrast look at what I ate :-(

Quite by coincidence we ended up across from a Super Target in Balcones Heights.  One of the things I miss most about Houston is shopping at Target, Academy, Harbor Freight, Staples and the .99 Cents Only Store. Bought a trunk full of paper goods and decided to head back home.

This location is rather tricky with all kinds of overhead bridges and I ended up heading west on I-10 though I came in on the 410 loop.  No problem I thought, I can easily catch the cut-off to Del Rio.  Got to Boerne, Texas but did not panic as I know there are some back roads that can get me to Hondo but darn it all...I never saw them.  When I got to Welfare, Texas (never even knew such a town existed) pulled over to where a sheriff's car was parked, he suggested I turn around and head back to San Antonio and forget the back roads.

I lost a lot of time being lost and it was rush hour to boot.  I was never so happy to see this sign pointing to highway 90-West.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

A week of doctor's appointments

Finally made it to the big city...no, not Houston...San Antonio, Texas.  The specialist will only see new patients at his Medical Center office before he will see you in Uvalde, Texas.  It had been a couple of years since I had made it to this corner of the world and glad to report I did not get lost. We left at the crack of dawn (8:00 a.m.) just in case.

Had I known how long we were going to have to wait (4 hours and 45 minutes) I would have stopped at Target, Academy, Harbor Freight and Staples.  Unfortunately, was not able to stop on the way back to Del Rio either as I have poor night vision and needed to head home.

Mother was very happy because she got to eat at her favorite cafeteria Luby's.  Our Luby's closed down back in August 2011.

Wednesday March 26th I was supposed to go see my doctor in Ciudad Acuna but it was too windy and cold and besides I was beat from the round trip to San Antonio.  Went on Thursday March 27th only to be told he took the afternoon off. No problem needed to run a couple of errands and purchase groceries so it worked out.

Made sure I was in his office by 10:00 a.m. on Friday, only to find that there were 8 patients ahead of me when I arrived...talk about bad luck!  He seems to be a popular doctor and the majority of his patients are from the United States as evidenced by all the Texas license plates lining the block.

Met a nice couple from San Angelo, Texas who have been seeing him for years.  They take Friday off from work and make a weekend trip out of their appointment.  There was another very quiet man in his cowboy attire from Sonora, Texas.  While he did not speak to me directly, I overheard him tell the San Angelo couple that his doctor wanted to operate him and he came for a second opinion.

Got some more medication after telling him I was still experiencing pain in my legs. Was assured I would "almost be" as good as new in 30 days...sure hope so!

Even though I spent almost three hours at the doctor's office, it was still early enough to drop by the beauty salon to get a haircut before the masses descended on her shop.

Want to give a warm welcome to a new blog follower Vadam Wetzel.  I thank you for your readership.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Farewell to Luby's

The phone ran at 8:00 am this morning.  Being that I went to bed at 3:30 am I was still very much asleep.  Why do people insist on calling us early, we are not morning people and all of our friends and acquaintances know that.  In this occasion it worked out for the best as I needed to go to the courthouse (that is where the license plate renewal office is located) to get new tags for “Terlita” my beloved van.  In and out in 5 minutes as there was no one in line.

Drove dad’s old car into town and it had a strong smell to gasoline.  Swung by the library to check out a couple of newspapers and found out they closed our local Luby’s.  No notice to employees, no nothing and calls to the headquarters from the local media had not been returned.  This is where the mechanic’s wife works.  I am sorry for her and all the people that lost their jobs.  In a small town like Del Rio employment is hard to find.

I don’t normally go to Walmart on Wednesday but glad I did, as there were very few people at that hour.  Have you all noticed how much paper products have gone up?  I find I get better prices in Houston but looking at the local ads online for stores there, I might as well buy them here.  I need to order checks and was surprised to see that the price has not doubled but tripled.

Looked in the camping section for some mark downs but found none.  Maybe after Labor Day they will start slashing prices so I can find a couple of things for my upcoming trip to Terlingua.

I cannot believe I actually took a three-hour nap late this afternoon.  I guess the heat (dad’s car does not have a/c) the lack of sleep and all the running around took its toll.

Good night.  Terlingua Dreams.