visiting wonderful friends

We have arrived in San Antonio Monday afternoon for the visit with Tom and LuAnn Jones.  They were waiting for us to finish shopping at San Marcos outlet malls.  We bought some items, returned to have lunch at the wonderful German restaurants, Schoebel’s, and asked the management at the Rodeway Inn whether our plants had been returned.  They hadn’t.  Tom and LuAnn welcomed us with wine and some snacks even though we were still stuffed from lunch.  They took us to their “mess hall” in their living area.  The building is a high rise and resembles an elegant hotel.  The dining area is lovely and the food is generous and delicious.  I was so full that I could eat very little of it.  We returned to their home to watch some TV. 

The area is called Air Force Village II and is composed with many living stages.  Their house is a duplex like ours in NC.  It has 1 roof but not a common wall; garages separate the homes.  The neighborhoods are designed similar to a cul-de-sac so things are not laid out in all straight lines.  They live close to the high rise, and we have been eating our meals there.  The initial cost to live here is high and there is a monthly fee, but all the outdoor maintenance and meals are included in the fee.  There is great security here, so they can leave things pretty well unsecured.  The walls in the “big house” are decorated with many pictures of aircraft and other military pictures.  There is a nice indoor pool and workout rooms as well as planned activities throughout the week.  Tom plays pickle ball at a nearby location. 

Tuesday we enjoyed breakfast at the big house and then came back here to await LuAnn’s return from a charity auction.  It rained twice while we waited.  When she came home, she made popcorn and we went off to a movie, The Big Year, that was very good.  We came home to get some jackets because we were going to a soccer game featuring a grandson.  On the way, we stopped at the Texas Pride barbecue which was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on the Food Channel.  The barbecue was not nearly as good as at Rudy’s.  The soccer game was good but lopsided.  The impressive thing was that the losing team was celebrated too.  We got home very late.

Wednesday morning we went to the original Air Force Village for breakfast and the took a car tour of Lackland Air Force Base before going to tour the Toyota truck factory.  We spent an hour looking at demonstrations in a museum before riding around the factory in a tram.  It was a nice tour, but we passed many things too quickly to really get a grasp of the process.  One impressive thing was how precise the operation was.  The catch phrase was “just in time” to capture the fact that the parts were not stored in warehouse but were manufactured and delivered to the line as they were needed.

We went to a monthly birthday/anniversary dinner tonight.  There was a cocktail party followed by a delicious beef stroganoff dinner and a big band dance.  We enjoyed the dancing and the dinner as well as the people we met.  Remember: these residents are all retired military, mostly air force.  Many were generals and even one was a former Surgeon General. We met a couple whose male member was born in Wabash, IN and had attended Purdue.  They were very hospitable as have been all of the residents.  In short, we have been blessed with being friends with Tom and LuAnne.  We will be here only one more day.  We are both eager to get to Weslaco and begin our winter work.