Neighborhood Observations...

John looking at neighborhood maps

I have been helping John with his neighborhood observations the last couple of days.  This has included me driving him around several different neighborhoods in the San Antonio area.  Some of the neighborhoods remind me of Nicaragua.  For those of you who do no know the short version of John's research is that he is looking at the impact of habitat for humanity houses on neighborhoods (there is a lot more that goes into this than that obviously...).  The past two days we have been driving around neighborhood blocks with habitat homes and those that are adjacent that lack habitat homes.  John's hope is that habitat homes are a bright spot for that community.  It has been cool to get to help him fill out data sheets, take notes, and be his chauffeur the last couple of days.  I have not done field work in a while and this is different "field work" then I have ever done...I usually work with animals but there is always data sheets!

mural from neighborhood

habitat house

The dogs have been good.  We moved the campsite to a shadier area at the KOA (our third move---the KOA staff have been very gracious!).  It has been in the 90's here (even hit 104 yesterday!--required a Dairy Queen stop) so any bit of shade helps our little AC in the Casita!  No escapes to document just plenty of nose smears on the windows.  They have been pretty worn out from the weather and all of the dog walks so they are pretty quiet and take a lot of naps!

John and I have played tourist two evenings this past week.  We have wandered down to the Riverwalk and enjoyed the scenery.  We have eaten at two mediocre restaurants a forgettable Mexican restaurant and a restaurant called the Republic of Texas that was recommended on the San Antonio visitor bureau page (I should have checked Urbanspoon!).  We were starving so I ate it all and enjoyed the atmosphere but we are going to check out the restaurant next door tonight (it is supposed to be the best one of the Riverwalk!).

San Antionio statue

Riverwalk

We also met a nice homeless man named Gary on our adventures down to the Riverwalk.  I could not really share his story as he was hard to understand.  He was in a wheelchair and had a crutch and really just wanted some people to talk to.  He rambled on about how he wanted to look on the bright side but sometimes it was hard, he needed money to stay in a shelter, he needed a shower, he had not eaten, he told us about his girlfriend who was in rehab, a knife fight he had been in and so forth.  He seemed pretty lonely but in good spirits!  John and I talked to him for awhile and at the end I asked if we could pray for him (specifically his leg) and he let us, which was nice.  He obviously needed some prayer!  Not sure what happened with old Gary but we hope he is making it alright!  We asked Gary if we could get a picture with him. He said "Darn tootin!" So Gary and I posed for a pic!

Peace sign..with Gary

We are headed to the Habitat for Humanity office today for a tour.  After the tour John will interview the Vice President of Development and Communications of the San Antonio office.  Then we are headed to the Riverwalk again for dinner tonight and playing tourist tomorrow at the Alamo, missions and SeaWorld!

See you all soon!

C&J + 4 tired pups 

Dog escapes

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Lessons Learned

-Shade is really good on hot days!  

Wildlife Seen/Heard

-heard 2 Barred owls

-heard Southern Cricket Frogs and Rio Grande Leopard Frog (new frog call for me!)

-Red-shoulderd hawk

-numerous Fox squirrels

-numerous Red-eared slider turtles 

Cooking fun in the Casita!