As I promised, today I stayed in. The morning started early with a 6 a.m. call from one of my cousins telling me my aunt (the one who had the stroke a couple of weeks ago) had a heart attack and probably wasn’t going to make it. She didn’t. Her rosary is Thursday evening and her funeral Friday afternoon in Gonzales. I’m sorry she lost her fight, but I’m glad I’m here in the area and am able to attend the service. I’m going to have to reschedule the camping trip I planned with Roberto for Friday, but the funeral takes precedence, naturally.I spent the morning in the laundromat doing a LOT of wash. I did linens and clothes today, for a total of seven washers and dryers full of clothes. The laundromat here is a nice one. The woman who cleans the laundry room was in while I was there, and she was very chatty, telling me about her children, grandchildren, and ex-husbands. Another woman came in and told me about her trip to SA from Phoenix and how she’s moving here. I love listening to chatty strangers. That’s something I really miss living in Baltimore. Strangers there don’t just strike up conversations and share things about themselves and their lives. There’s a certain element of trust involved in doing something like that, and most folks aren’t long on trust on the East Coast.
Came back to the camper, put away the wash, made a lunch out of leftovers, and even put out the gay pride flag that I bought back in Williamsburg. It looks so spiffy by the pink flamingo! Yes, stereotypes, but cute, kitschy ones.
Camping with Pride!
I spent the rest of the afternoon getting and making phone calls from and to family about my aunt’s passing and her funeral arrangements. I also sent out mails to friends trying to arrange visits while I’m here. I’m just not having much luck. Everyone seems really busy these days. It’s a little disheartening.
We planned this trip for a whole year and drove over 2,000 miles to be here and see folks, and now I’m having a hard time connecting with them. I don’t expect everyone to drop everything, roll out the red carpet, slaughter the fatted calf, or anything like that. I just made a point of letting everyone know when we would be coming in well in advance in hopes that folks wouldn’t have to inconvenience themselves in order to visit with us.
We have another two and a half weeks in the area. Hopefully by then I will have the chance to see everyone I hoped to see. As a matter of fact, I did arrange for a potluck get-together this Sunday, and two of our friends are letting us have it at their house, so that’s a step in the right direction.
I’m thinking of doing something different next summer, perhaps Route 50 from Ocean City, Maryland, to Sacramento, California. It’s a hell of a haul, but it will take us through the middle of the country and out West, places neither of us has ever been. If I can figure out how to make it there and back again in 60 days without absolutely killing Alexis and breaking the bank, we’ll do it. If not, I’ll come up with a Plan B.
This evening, Lex took me out to dinner at Sea Island Shrimp House. They have this really yummy chargrilled shimp kabob that Lex loves, and I like their oysters on the half shell and shrimp cocktail. We both like the key lime pie. Yum! Good supper.
Afterwards, we went up the street to the H.E.B. Plus supermarket. As I’ve explained before, H.E.B. is the main supermarket chain in South Texas, and in recent years, they’ve been expanding. The store at Zarzamora and Military on the Southside was totally remodeled and turned into an absolute monstrosity (I guess that’s where the “plus” comes in). It now has everything you need and a whole lot you don’t. There was an electronics section, a jewelry store, a bank, a toy store in addition to the usual produce, dairy, meat, and processed foods. I just ended up getting Mexican candies for my friends back in Baltimore.
Hot stuff! And the peppers look good, too.
I’m going to make the trip back across town tomorrow to Crestview RV so I can pick up my combi-cams. I’m looking forward to getting those installed. It will be nice not to have to carry my keys with me every time I want to get something in or out of the basement storage.
Tags: family, food, friends, San Antonio, shopping, Texas, Travel
Looking good. Sounds like fun but you have to work at it.Uh?
Well, technically, we’re still “at home,” so all those things folks do at home — cooking, washing dishes, doing laundry, vacuuming the floors, walking the dogs, cleaning the toilet — we still get to do. We just do them in different locations than we normally would.