Today I rode through Sutherland Springs.  The picture I’ve posted is from the main road through town.  Driving to the church there is a fence with the banner Sutherland Strong on it, along with flowers people have left there.  I stopped into the church to pay my respects to the 26 people who lost their lives in last years shootings.  Out of respect for those who lost their lives and the members of the community have asked that pictures not be taken.  As some of you may have seen by what has been shown on TV, the inside is all white, with white fold up chairs for each person lost that day.  I walked to the front of the church and turned around and looked at the chairs.  Each chair had a single red rose in it and one of the victims names printed in gold on the back part of the seat.    The chairs looked to be set up where each person was sitting the day this all happened.  It’s a very beautiful memorial!  The moment I stepped into the church I could feel the love, it was very peaceful.

While I was there, about 10 to 15 more people came into also see the memorial.  I got talking to one of the community members and she told me that the gun man shot at the door multiple times, then went around on the outside of the church and shot in the windows before coming in at the front of the church.  The door has been replaced along with the windows.  You can tell which windows were replaced as they are darker panes.  After hearing more of the details and looking around at the inside of the church, you just knew how horrific that time was.  My heart goes out to everyone touched by this tragic event.

Love and Light to you all!

Today I walked over to the Alamo and did the tour.  Again, the history in this city is unbelievable!  This is in the center of town, with all the new high rises built up around it. The Alamo draws 2.5 million visitors each year – wow who knew….

 

 

 

They have horse drawn carriages outside of the Alamo that you can take around the city. Below is the timeline of the Alamo.  I cheated, I did screenshots…

 

Another great day exploring and taking pictures!  Wish I brought my Fitbit, would love to know what my steps have been.

Love and Light to you all!

If I was told by multiple friends to do the River Walk in San Antonio, Texas.  They told me after I had already been to San Antonio, so I wasn’t planning on going back.  After getting stranded in Waco for so long, and looking at the weather around Texas I went back.  I have spend the last two days walking this beautiful walk.  It’s about 16 miles long with restaurants, shops, wildlife and it’s in the middle of the city.  It’s actually down below the city.  I walked a good portion of the walk, I went up and down stairs and all around.  I took my camera and really had some fun with taking pictues along the way.  The place was busy, but got even busier in the evening.  They still had Christmas lights and decorations up in areas along the walk.  After I walked around most of the day, I decided to take the river cruise to see what I may have missed along the way.  There is so much history around the walk and in the city.  Here is some of what I took for pictures, hope you enjoy!

If you ever get to San Antonio, I recommend doing this, be prepared to walk a lot!  Even if you can’t do all the walking, do the river cruise you will really get a good sense of the history and see everything that you can’t walk to.

Love and Light to you all!

After spending seven days in Waco, I was starting to get a little antsy.  That was the longest I’ve stayed in one place during this trip.  I went out almost everyday to sight see and after my bike not starting to make sure that the battery stayed charged.  I looked into a battery charger, but like I figured I would need to be able to keep it plugged in overnight.  Hotel living doesn’t work for that.

Look, you can see a shadow of my bike – woo hoo!  The sun is out and it’s supposed to get 60 today!  It felt so good to be back out riding in good weather.  I went 8 days without seeing the sun, it was cold, damp and cloudy during those 8 days.

It’s been cold, but I still can’t complain as Maine has had days of below 0 temps, and snow storms.  My heart goes out to everyone dealing with all that.  Spring is on it’s way!

Love and Light to you all!

The weather has been cold here like most of the United States.  Today when out riding I came across this.  After taking the picture I checked the temperature through my bike and it read 29 degrees, yup it’s cold!  I had to get the Harley dealership come and jump start my bike this morning – he (Iron Horse) doesn’t like this cold either!  I rode around town to charge the battery back up, it was cold!  It’s supposed to get into the 50’s by the end of the week, a heat wave!  Looking at the rest of the country California and Arizona are the only areas with 70 plus weather.  Hopefully the weather pattern will change and it will start to warm up. I’m not asking for much, 60’s would be wonderful.

 

I made my way down to see the Silos, Magnolia Market.  I was so surprised to see the number of people there.  Check out the line going into the bakery.  The line is around the corner and down the road quite a ways.  Because I knew I wasn’t going to stay very long, I parked four blocks away, and walked back.  I could have paid $10.00 if I wanted to be closer.  Another thing that surprised me, the Silos, are in the middle of town.  When they showed it on TV, I thought it was on the outskirts of town.

In the back where the play area and picnic tables are they have food trucks come in each day for people to order from while there.  They have everything covered, mom can shop while dad and the kids stay outside and play.  Then before they leave they can relax and eat!

When I got into town I stopped by the local Harley-Davidson dealership.  Something I usually do if that town has a dealership.  I talk to the sales people to try and get a feel for the area, and ask about good hotels in the area.  Bryce the Ambassador of Fun for the Waco Harley-Davidson told me about a Meet and Greet/Appreciation event they were having the next day.  I thought it would be a fun way to meet some of the local riders in the area.  I met members of the HOG group of Waco, they took my picture that they posted on their site.  After talking for a while they invited me to join them for New Year’s Eve.

I had had a wonderful night enjoying the company of new friends bring in the New Year. Thank you Aaron, Rebecca, Chris, Eva, Steve and Paulette for making my New Year’s special.  Here’s to a healthy, happy 2018.

While we were out it snowed, and the roads became very icy.  They don’t sand the roads here, they spray them with a chemical to keep them from freezing.  On the way home when we went to stop at a stop light we slid, the roads were very slippery.  Watching the news they reported hundreds of accidents, rollovers and pile ups.

New Years morning the temperatures with wind chill was 8 degrees!  I keep hitting cold weather.  Is it following me?

Another year of success and happiness has passed.  With every new year, comes greater challenges and obstacles in life.  I wish you courage, hope and faith to overcome all the hurdles you face.  May you have a great year and a wonderful time ahead.  God bless you.

Happy New Year

2018

It was raining all morning, so I decided to stay an extra day.  On my way to the office to extend my day I found that they had laundry facilities.  So instead of wasted the day, I got my laundry done for the week!

The temps this morning when I left the hotel was 44 degrees, then you add going 65-70 mile an hour that brings the wind chill to between 24-31 degrees.  The weather stations are talking about lows in the 20’s and daytime highs mid 50’s.  Where’s the warm weather, I left Maine at the end of October in 54 degrees.  I put on 150 miles from Victoria to Austin, Texas.  If I was home and the temps were this cold I wouldn’t be riding……hmmmmm. I hope this weather starts to warm up soon!

It’s hard to believe how much damage you can still see from the hurricanes and flooding that happened earlier this year.  I left Corpus Christi and headed up the coast towards Houston.  People still had piles on the road side in front of their houses.  There were blue tarps on roofs, and you still see metal roofing along the sides of the roads and in fields.  One area I drove by was where they were piling everything they had picked up, it looked like out local dump with wood, mattresses and everything else piled up.  I went by a sub-station that was flattened.  I saw a group of palm trees that were flattened every which way.  The news here said that FEMA is done with the clean up, now it’s up to the towns and cities to do the rest.  I booked my room and when I drove around the hotel I could see that it looked like a lot of people were doing extended stay.  Come to find out, these people lost their homes and this is where they are living.

It really makes you look at your life and appreciate everything I do have.  It was very disturbing and heart wrenching to see all the devastation.  Prayers go out to everyone that is still living and dealing with the aftermath.

I took a tour of the USS Lexington.  It was a self tour, where you just wander around the ship and check everything out.  I knew it was a big ship, but until you get on it and see all the planes it puts it into prospective.  Here is a picture from the front of the ship where they land and take off.  It’s massive, but I couldn’t imagine trying to land a plane in that space.

This ship was the oldest working carrier in the United States Navy when it was decommissioned in 1991.  The Lexington was at Pearl Harbor.  The Japanese reported sinking the Lexington at least 4 times.  Each time it returned to fight again.  This is where the nickname “The Blue Ghost” came from.  Corpus Christi, Texas was selected as the permanent home for the USS Lexington and is now a museum for the public to view.  The flight deck is 90,000 square feet, and the flight deck length is only 910 feet.  It holds 1,550 crew members of men and women.  During WWII there was 3,000.

 

I spent my holiday weekend in Corpus Christi, Texas.  I wanted to be off the roads during the holidays, letting the ones that needed to travel have the roads.  Here are some pictures of my hotel and the views from my balcony.

 

Christmas Day was chilly here, only hitting 54 degree, windy and overcast.  I was working on downloading and filing all my pictures I’ve taken.  I got up to look outside and saw two dolphins swimming around out front – so cool.  That was my Christmas present!

Christmas eve day was beautiful here, the temps were in the low 70’s.  I knew the temps were going to drop so I took advantage of the day and spent it walking the beach.  I walked the whole length and took a bunch of pictures.

I woke up to a beautiful sunrise to start my day!

May the magic of Christmas not only fill your heart and soul but also spread to family and friends.

Wishing you a Christmas filled with fun and joy!

Merry Christmas,

Love

Jill

Today I slowly worked my way to Texas, the weather is a little warmer!  I drove about 150 miles on back roads through Texas without seeing a gas station.  Glad I’ve made it a habit of filling up in the mornings along with gassing up if I see a gas station when I’m at half a tank.  When I got to a town and filled up, it was still early and I didn’t want to stop riding.  I jumped onto Route 10 so that I would make it to the next town with a hotel during daylight.  There wasn’t much traffic, so wasn’t bad.  While I was on the back roads, I think I only saw 4 cars in two hours.  Great ride!

The scenery was miles and miles of flat lands, you can’t see where it ends.  Then you will have areas you see mountains it the background.  I still can’t believe how lucky I am to be on this amazing journey!

Working my may Around Texas, seeing what this great state has to offer!

It’s been an eye opener on the weather out here.  I guess I never really paid much attention to the temperatures in years past.  I just knew they got little to no snow.

I woke up and looked out the window (just checking on my bike, like I do every morning).  I was surprised to see such a heavy frost all over my bike and the vehicles.  It was all melted about an hour later.  At 10:15 when I left, it was only 54 degrees.  The sun was out which helps.  The high for the day is high 50’s.  Being on the bike all the time, I would like mid 60’s.  Looking at the weather across Arizona, New Mexico and Texas the highs for the next week is mid 50’s.  December and January are their coldest months.  Next year this won’t be a problem, because I’m hoping to be stationed in one area.  If I’m out riding I can go later in the afternoon when it’s warmer, or just short rides to do errands.