100th Anniversary of the National Park Service

From last August to this August, the National Park Service has been celebrating 100 years of protecting, preserving, and presenting our national treasures.  During that entire year, Mark and I had not gone to even one park, until yesterday.

Since it was Shabbat, we had to do something that didn't cost money, so yesterday we visited the San Antonio Missions National Park.  It is four missions along the San Antonio river built in the early 1700s by Spanish Franciscans to convert the Indians and to protect themselves and the Indians from the more warlike tribes of the Apache and Comanche who were making war on the local, peaceful hunter-gatherer Coahuiltecan Indians in south Texas.  The Alamo was also one of those missions, but it is not under the National Park Service.  This string of five missions, each three miles from the other, is unique in the country.

We started at Mission San Jose, the middle of the string of five, because it is the most fully restored and the one with the Visitor Center.  Since all four of the missions of the National Park are active parish churches today, we were only able to go in to two out of four.  One was closed for no apparent reason (San Juan Capistrano) and the other had a wedding in it (Mission Espada).  At San Jose there was a huge mass on the lawn inside the walls of the mission.  When we got there, the service was over and many were leaving, but it was still a party atmosphere with a live band singing on a stage, Christian music, of course.  There were gift shops and snack bar kiosks set up.  It was quite a lively to do!  Mission Concepcion was quiet, and we were able to tour inside quite nicely.

Today we are heading back down to the Alamo Plaza.  We are taking the one hour narrated trolley tour, the 40 minute narrated boat ride up the San Antonio River, and visiting the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum, which includes the Texas Rangers and Trail Drivers Museum.  That will do it for San Antonio.  Tomorrow morning we are heading through Austin briefly to see the capitol building and then beginning the tour north through the Panhandle in San Angelo.

I had a great day yesterday in calories, only 1437.  We walked almost 3 miles in the missions, and I did 30 minutes of water aerobics in the pool when we returned.  It was National Cheesecake day, so we brought back a small piece of plain cheesecake from Denny's, and I ate half for my bedtime snack.  That was included in the 1437.  Finally I have dropped some weight.  I am down 2.3 pounds this morning to 266.5.  I was very happy to see that.  I have several little milestones to meet along the way.  265 is the first.  That's what I weighed when we returned from our tour of South Dakota in July of 2014.  I'm getting close to that one! Tomorrow morning will be my official weigh-in, and I expect it to be the same or a little bit less than today.  There is no reason why today will not also be a good day.

Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Seven stamps from one place!

We have now visited all five missions.

Lots of people at Mission San Jose today.

Beautiful altar

Quiet at this one today.

Frescoes on the ceilings and walls have been cleaned up and exposed.

The white church was closed to visitors today with no explanation.  It was originally a food storehouse in the mission.  They used a wooden church because the stone one was never finished.

Wall of what was supposed to become the church.

Only one with this sort of brick arch, small bricks.

Except for the big church, which had a wedding in it today, this place is mostly ruins.

Crossing the San Antonio river near Mission Espada.

Then some pool time at the Best Western.

Mark got a new belt buckle.