Where the walking trail leads us

Bridgedette's Thoughts:

Today Larry and I went for a walk. What I thought would be a easy 30 min walk, turned into a 1 hour and 30 min adventure!

For my birthday I asked for a Nike+ sensor, http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/. Its a 2 piece device that you put into any shoe that is Nike+ supported and the other piece is attached to the base of your ipod. The 2 devices communicate with each other to track how far you preset to walk/run and can give you encouragement for the amount of distance that you set. Its a very neat device...I hade one before, but when my purse was stolen last August 1 of the pieces was in it, and you cant use the device with only 1 peice. Thanks to my family I have a new one!

So Larry and I set out on our walk down the road at Mc Allister Park, when we come to this bend under the highway. For me safety is number one, for Larry Adventure is number one. His curiosity led him to say, "lets check out where this goes," for me I calculate all the risk associated with this adventure. He's so antsy to see whats around the curve that I say, lets go see.

40 min have passed and we have walked concrete, dirt and wood plak pathways to find out that the trail leads to other trails and are too tired to keep going, so we turned back.

1 hour and 30 min later from the time that we started...5.5 miles later to be exact (thanks Nike+), we finally reached our car. What an adventure!

Now to grab some breakfast! Yes, that is right, we walked all morning and had not eaten anything, PLUS Larry cant feel his feet...not good. After grabing something to eat, we finaly came home and are now taking the time to relax, (thank God) Larry is gaining some feeling back in his feet.

The best part of the walk was that even though he and I have not been consistent walkers, and that by far was the longest that we have walked together (Larry says it was the longest he has walked in 3 to 5 years), it was still fun. Larry and I had a great conversation, found a new path and figured out how far we can go without breakfast, lol.

I know that we will walk the other parts of the path together soon and as each adventure that Larry and I have, I dont do my risk analysis as much, I just trust that he will not put us in harms way and see where the path leads us.

City of San AntonioParks & Recreation Department
McAllister ParkHistorical Newspaper Article
McAllister Park is comprised of 986 acres on the north side of San Antonio between Jones Maltsberger and Wetmore Roads. The park’s original 713 acres were purchased and developed using 1964 Bond funds and a Federal Open Space grant. When the park officially opened on April 13, 1968, it contained four miles of trails, 125 picnic units, restrooms and parking areas.
Originally called Northeast Preserve, it was renamed in June 1974 in honor of former San Antonio mayor Walter W. McAllister. Since the park’s opening, acreage has been added, including two large tracts—117 acres in 1974 for a Natural Resource Conservation Service floodwater retention structure in the upper Salado Creek watershed, and 130 acres of airport property made available through a joint-use agreement with the San Antonio Aviation Department in 2000. Construction of the flood retention structure is scheduled for completion in 2003.
The San Antonio Road Runners and Harmony Hills Optimist Club have helped construct park improvements including paved jogging trails, a family area with covered pavilion, picnic sites, and barbecue pits. The Friends of McAllister Park advises the Parks and Recreation Department on an ongoing basis regarding park conditions and needs. Park facilities include five miles of asphalt trails, more than 10 miles of unpaved natural bicycle and cross-country trails, picnic units, Little League baseball fields, and soccer fields. Wetmore Road on the east side of the park provides access to the Texas Transportation Museum and Gunn Sports Park, both privately operated facilities.
Funds from the 1994 bond election financed park improvements including a new entrance road off of Starcrest Drive to provide direct access to playing fields, realignment of the Jones Maltsberger Road entrance, paving of interior roads, additional trailhead parking, and accessible restrooms. The Starcrest Drive entrance was opened in September 2001. Though the surrounding area has experienced extensive development since Northeast Preserve opened in 1968, wildlife can still be seen in the park.
A dog park opened on March 31, 2007. It was part of a $1,637,000 project that benefited a wide array of existing facilities at the park as well as the construction of a new pavilion and two new playscapes. The Optimist Pavilion was renovated and new walkways, barbecue pits and trash cans installed. The dog park features exercise equipment, a covered picnic area, benches and a walking trail. The nearby parking lot has become home to an annual kite festival sponsored by Friends of the Parks

Bridgedette's Thoughts:



Yesterday, Nov. 24th, we attended a mass, hosted by the Knights of Columbus at Little Flower, to remember Popo. The Knights of Columbus presented a beautiful bible, blessed by the priest during the mass, for Larry's Grandma to keep. It was very moving to watch.



As I was watching the presentation of the Bible to Larry's Grandma, a wave of emotion came over me. To think that she survived the loss of the man she loved and is still going on with life, is something amazing to see. You see, I have another friend who lost her husband not too long ago, and is reacting very different to the loss. She has lost her love for life. When I knew her, she was this AMAZING, vibrant and loud woman...now she is just going though the motions and seems to have lost her ove for life. I hope that she finds herself again, it will take time, but I know that she can do it.



Its an intersting way how humans react to what life throws at them. I hope to be as strong as Larry's Grandma is. the strength I see in her is that old school values of "keep working, and keep living."

There is something to be said about the way today's generations view hardships. The values of hard work seem to have left the building, and enter the "I need it now." I hope that my generation can learn from the older generation and gain back that fighting spirit.

An Interesting 10 months

Bridgedette's Thoughts:



WOW! Where has the time gone? 10 months flew by quickly, but I have not forgotten about our blog, life just took over. I hope I can recap all that has happend to us over the past few months.




Popo's passing left us both in a tail spin. For me, it was hard to see Larry hurting so much, yet all I could do was wait and just respond to his needs. After Popo's funeral, Larry and I became very busy at work, and even with working long hours we carved out some time for a mini vacation. We had planned to go to Corpus at the beginning of summer, but I ended up getting the shingles and Larry ended up getting a staph infection. Yes, it is the running joke in my family, that Larry and I do EVERYTHING together...even getting sick! lol. We have now both recoved, Hooray!!



Here are a few pictures with some commentary.



Road Trip to Corpus, End of August:

Corpus is the place Larry and I love to go for a quick get away. The sounds of the water crashing upon the shore with the sand between our toes was the best and most relaxing vacation ever! We like to see the HOOKS play when we are down there too, we even had our photo take with the mascott Sammy the Seagull.






Bridgedette's 29th birthday, September 25, 2010:

As August slipped away we became consumed with the registration of students for the Fall semester and with the implementation of a new registration process we were TOAST! But, we survived with enough energy to celebrate my 29th birthday!! WOW, 29, what can I say about being 29 other than I am SO THANKFUL for the good genes I have! I still look young, just like my Mom and sometimes I look back and cant believe all that Ive accomplished. The best part was celebrating with Larry. My world would not be as bright without him.



Larry wrapped this present himself; it was a Yankees jersey!! The man has good taste (lol).






Class Reunion, September 25, 2010:
Speaking of being "young," I have been out of high school for 10 years! Larry and I celebrated my birthday evening attending my high school reunion. High school was so much fun for me, it was SO EASY! I had finished all my credits by the time I began my Senior year (plus all of my classes were honors), but I was only on campus since I was Student Council President (this kept me busy in the Fall) and because I was waiting for the softball season to start in the Spring. In high school, I was Class Vice President, I did the morning announcements, the football half time announcements, a member of the PALS (peer assisted leaders), part of the Art club, and I was a 3 year letterman in softball....Did I mention that I also worked too. lol. I liked to stay busy and was involed in anything I could squeeze into my schedule. My poor parents were all over the place with me, school banquets, PTA meetings not to mention in the hot sun watching me play all over the state of Texas! THANKS MOM AND DAD!

The Reunion was a big success and looking over over old photos brought back such good memories. It was even better to share them with Larry....and Go figure Larry would work with one of my HS classmates at his job! Small, small world.





Road Trip to Yorktown, October 15, 2010:


My Mom, Dad and I took the day off and drove to Yorktown, Texas. Why Yourktown you ask? Since I've never met my Grandma, the closest I can do to get to know her is finding documents about her. My Grandma was born in Yorktown, Texas. Yorktown is so small that there are only 2 traffic lights in the whole town and we did not get very much cell phone reception!

There were no official "birth certificates" back then, all records were done though the church and all we could find was a baptismal certificate. This is my Mom, waiting for the church record to be looked up.

Here is a link to the history of Yorktown, Texas:

http://www.yorktowntx.com/history.htm

Larry's 35th Birthday, October 19, 2010: HOORAY, 35!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The celebration of Larry's 35th birthday MONTH was fun! There were 4 cakes, 3 dinners and 12 gifts to celebrate Larry's big day! I decorated our apartment with streamers and batman balloons....which are still up till this day, ha ha. I know that the 35th will be his best year yet!

Zip Lining, October 23, 2010:

As part of Larry's birthday celebration I bought us a zip lining adventure. And because I love Larry so much agreeded to do it...too bad im AFARID of heights!!!! At first I was unsure, but after arriving I felt like the facility was safe and I did managed to go zip lining. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!! Im glad I got over my fears and made a great memory with Larry.




Larry's Graduate School_Passing of Knowlege Ceremony, October 30, 2010:

Graduate Leadership Convocation honors students
On Oct. 30, students in the Master of Science in Organizational Leadership and PhD in Leadership Studies programs celebrated their academic progress during a convocation ceremony that included a symbolic candle ceremony representing the "Passing of the Light of Knowledge."Faculty, friends and family members filled Sacred Heart Chapel as the graduate and doctoral students were recognized. Board of Trustees Chairman Roy Terracina served as convocation speaker and Dr. Helen Streubert, vice president for academic affairs welcomed the students and reminded them that they now belong to an elite group who hold advanced degrees.The students were blessed and welcomed into their new academic community, including: doctoral candidates, doctoral luminaries, master's candidates, and the new doctoral and new master's students.

This was a fun and moving event to see. Watching and listening as Larry's name was called made me SO very proud of him and all that he has done to enter Graduate school. Im glad that I can be part of this journey in his persuit of higher education, as well as being able to be invloved with his Graduate school classmates at this event.

Amtrak, November 6, 2010:

The Amtrak was a journey that never crossed my mind to experience. I am so glad Larry is adventerous! Riding the Amtrak was a very fun and relaxing experience. There was so much to see between here and Austin, sometimes you just have to get a new perspective to appreciate what you drive by every day.

After getting off the train in Austin, Larry and I spent the whole day walking and going to museums. It was a ton of fun, I can now say that I have traveled by foot, plane, automobile and train!

The Passing of Buddy the dog, November 5, 2010:
"Buddy Face," thats what I called him. His face was too cute to resist! From the first time I met him I knew he was going to be my friend. When Popo passed it seemed as if Buddy knew that he was no longer with us, he too was sad. But as Larry and I visited each weekend we all sat in the living room and visited with Larry's Grandma, it seemed as if Buddy was going to be just fine. But Buddy had an accident and fell off the bed one night, we all thought that he was going to be fine, it just wasnt in the cards. Thank God Larry was off that day that Buddy passed; Larry had the hard task of telling his Grandma that Buddy was no longer alive, so very hard for the both of them. Thankfully my parents allowed Buddy to have his final resting palace on their property, right next to my Chihuahua (Mr. Big), under a tree. I hope that Buddy has found Popo and is keeping him company.




General thoughts:

As we enter the holiday season, it was good for me to look back on all that has happened in our lives. I am thankful for all that I have. I hope that I never take anything or anyone for granted and that I learn to overcome my fears. Each day I am growing into a better person, I will always be a work in progress.