Eastern Texas Trip - Day 9

April 15, 2025. - Mission Impossible

We rode the San Antonio River Walk today. This hike/bike trail connects the 5 historic San Antonio missions. We visited the three we had not already seen. We rode from Mission Espada, the southern most mission to Mission Concepción and back. The Alamo is the northern mission, but we visited it last evening. We stopped at the Espada Aqueduct on the way north and Mission San Juan on the way back.

The trail was great. It follows the river, and it lined with some trees but mostly grasses and wildflowers. It is paved most of the way. The only rough gravel section was north of Mission San Juan. It was the only section of trail that was a little confusing and we thought we’d taken a wrong turn. We were about to turn backtrack when we came out at the Mission San Juan parking area.

The weather was perfect. It was cloudy in the morning, and there was even a fine mist in the air, but that cleared. Enough clouds hung around to keep it from getting too hot.

Our only near miss of the ride was when a large woman on a rented e-bike almost ran me over. I had gotten off my bike to get a picture of the river. She was turning onto the bridge where I was standing. I was completely off the trail, but she lost control and veered toward me. She was not going fast, so she would have tipped over onto me if I had not been able to duck out of the way. She was more than twice my size, so it would not have been pretty. I understand that e-bikes are great because they give people a chance to enjoy trails, they otherwise would not be able to access, but she should not have been on that bike.

A note on the whole mission history. It left us a little conflicted. Were the missionaries really doing “good” forcing Christianity on society that clearly already had their own belief systems and traditions?

After our ride we had a late lunch in the camper and turned the truck north toward home. Tonight, we are at the Midway Campground on Waco Lake (again, on the same site number 11). It was so nice on the way down we decided to stop again on the way north.

Espada Aqueduct

Top view of the aqueduct

Spot where I was almost smushed. The trail is visible at the right

Found along the gravel, maybe we’re lost, section of trail.