We experienced two more torrential downpours overnight, drumming frantically on the trailer roof and flooding the parking lot with warm water. As the sun rose, the heat and humidity rose by the minute under the intense glare of the morning sun.

Our morning tea and coffee failed to reenergize us. We felt absolutely drained. Chloe was also showing signs of fatigue, her long coat sticking to her little body. We looked forward to another driving day with truck air conditioning.

I tried connecting with family in Houston…my first cousin once removed. Unfortunately, travelling without a cell plan, we had to first establish a connection on Facebook, then use its messenger tool to try set a meetup date and time. We tried a few times without success.

We continued our travels and stopped in at the NASA Space Center Houston. It is a leading science and space exploration learning centre. Their goal is to fuel the STEM education pathway and be a gateway for space exploration, science and engineering, learning and innovation.

Before leaving Houston, we checked Facebook Messenger again and didn’t have a response from family. We do hope to connect one day. We returned to Highway 10 and headed west.

We arrived in San Antonio and booked into Travellers World for a few days. What an amazing RV park – clean, and well laid out with lots of space between sites, the office and amenities were great.

On our first day, Susan booked flights for our four sons to visit us in Mexico, while I blogged. I filled the generator with oil and fuel for its initial break in run. I am impressed at how quiet it runs – similar to the Honda EU3000i but less than half the price.

After a light lunch, we took a short bicycle ride to explore Mission San Jose. Founded in 1720, the mission is still an active parish, and visitors are welcome to attend mass on Sundays.

At its height, the community contained about 350 Indian neophytes, sustained by extensive fields and herds of livestock. What a surreal experience to stand in the square…imagining its Franciscan opulence in contrast to the Indian quarters. Life must have been very basic all those years ago.

On our second day, we rode our bicycles along the amazing river trail to explore Mission Conception. Dedicated in 1755, Mission Concepción appears very much as it did over two centuries ago. It stands proudly as the oldest unrestored stone church in America. In its heyday, colourful geometric designs covered its surface, but the patterns have long since faded or been worn away. However, original frescos are still visible in several of the rooms.

We were halfway between our campground and downtown San Antonio. It was such a nice day, we continued riding the river trail to explore down town. The trail is well used by cyclists, runners, people walking dogs, and fishermen.

During our exploration of the river trail, we stopped and chatted to two fly fishermen walking back to their vehicles. After hearing about our adventure and travel direction, they gave us a heads up about the boring drive ahead of us to Fort Stockton in Texas.

We continued our ride to the spectacular downtown river walk. Huge cypress trees, lush gardens, shady walkways, and tourists mingling with office workers on their lunch breaks, all walking the trails or sitting in the downtown oasis. We stopped for a light Texan lunch of pulled BBQ Brisket Nachos and a cold cocktail.

After an enjoyable lunch, we made our way up to street level, rode to the historic Alamo, then continued to La Villita Historic Arts Village hidden in the shadow of The Tower of the Americas, a 750-foot observation tower-restaurant overlooking downtown.

We returned to the river trail and rode back to the campsite during the hottest time of the day. The cold Guinness our reward following the 20 kilometres roundtrip.

What an awesome bicycle trail and downtown river walk. San Antonio is our favourite experience up to this point in our journey.

"Beaumont to San Antonio, Texas" - By Russel Robertson - - Comments Off on Beaumont to San Antonio, Texas Comments