Road Hazard: Mission's & Piano's

This morning we had to get out and wash the face of Road Hazard. There are these bugs called "Love Bugs" here in Texas. They are black like Beatles that are flying around everywhere. Right now it is their mating season. When you are going 60 mph down the highway it sounds like someone is shooting paintball's at the windshield. You can just hear the "splat, pat, tat, tat on the glass. Windshield wipers just smear the goo across the glass and make it look like you are looking through a yellowish green bottle. So, after some scrubbing and lots of soap we were able to clean it all up.

Since we were all dirty and sweaty from working we decided to jump on our bikes and check out a trail behind the campground. It started by following this river and next thing you know we run into Mission Concepcion.

One of the smaller Missions out of 4 in the area. We decided to explore this mission and peddle another 3 miles up the road to the biggest Mission. Mission San Jose.

Here is a little background on the role these Missions played.

The Mission's were built for the Franciscan friars to convert indigenous hunters and gathers (American Indians) into Catholic, tax paying citizens of Spain. The Indians struggle for survival against European disease and raiding Apaches led them to the missions. They had to forfeit their culture, change their names, diet, clothing and religion in order to live within the walls and safety of the Mission's.

At Mission San Jose there is a window that everyone talks about in this area. It is called Rosa's Window and is the premier example of Spanish Colonial ornamentation in the USA.

They believe that the window was created by the husband of Rosa who was to arrive in the new world from Spain but was tragically lost at sea. Thus, the window was created and named in her honor. Rosa's Window.

Much of what we saw today is the original stone and construction. In 1933 funding was made available to rebuild the Missions back to their original state. Much of the original walls were taken when people started building their own homes around San Antonio.

After riding around and exploring these mission's we headed back to the campground and jumped into the pool to cool off. You know the feeling of being hot and jumping into a cool pool. It's like you come alive with new energy. After a good late lunch we settled in for an afternoon nap and hide from the 102 degree weather outside.

Around 6 we got ready and headed to the Riverwalk and this place called "Howl At the Moon". It's a piano bar filled with people singing, laughing and drinking along with the two piano's on stage.