December 24-25, 2018: Christmas in Dallas
	November 21-26, 2018: Thanksgiving in San Antonio
	Return to the Index for 2018

I know it seems as if a large number of my album pages describe trips to San Antonio, and I have to plead guilty. We come down here a lot, for one event or another. So if the pages get boring, and if you ever think you've seen enough of the Botanical Garden, the RiverWalk, or any other San Antonio attraction (like Prudence and Ron), feel free to skim. On this trip, coming just a couple of weeks after our last, we are celebrating the birthdays of Ron Ruckman and Karl Gleim, Prudence and Nancy's husbands, respectively, whose birthdays are just days apart.

Getting to the Ruckman's House in San Antonio

You have probably seen an album page where we visit San Antonio, but in case you haven't, I want to show you the route to San Antonio from Dallas and where Prudence and Ron and Guy are located.

On the left-hand map below, you can see the normal route from Dallas down to San Antonio. Not much explanation is necessary; sometimes we take the bypass around Austin, but most times we don't, and the trip to the San Pedro exit in San Antonio is usually four hours plus.

We head north on San Pedro Avenue a couple of miles and then either hang a left on Ashby and a right on Breeden or just a left on French to get to the Ruckmans' house on the northeast corner of Breeden and French.

In case you have not seen them, I have put below first an aerial view of the Ruckmans' house (it is the house on the corner and the garage/apartment building north of it where Guy lives) and a front view of the house (taken in 2010).

There won't be many pictures on this particular trip. We'll be helping Prudence get her tree set up (and dropping off our gifts for them), and we'll be helping Ron and Karl celebrate their birthdays.

Tree Trimming

We arrived Thursday afternoon, and that evening all of us helped Prudence get the tree that Guy had already set up in the front window trimmed. Guy and Prudence had already put on some decorations, and the rest of us hung ornaments. Fred took a number of pictures that evening, and I just want to include a couple of them here:

Prudence had a chain decoration to put on the tree, but it had gotten tangled up. I'm trying to untangle it.

I couldn't seem to get it straightened, so Karl thought he would take a turn.

We did get all the decorations put on the tree, and it looked really good in the front window.

Ron and Karl's Birthday Dinner

Rather than go out to eat, Prudence and Nancy had thought that fixing a meal at home would be a nicer way to do the guys' birthdays, so on the 9th we all contributed to fixing a meal. Guy, Prudence, and Ron have taken to fixing meals at the house quite often; they take turns cooking. Tonight, I believe, it was a casserole that Prudence put together, a salad that Nancy made, and some other contributions from the rest of us.

Here's some candid pictures from supper:

After dinner, and after Ron had had a chance to smoke a cigar in his mancave, it was time for the frankly delicious cake that Guy baked. Again, here are a couple of candid pictures from this part of the evening:

This trip down was short and relatively uneventful, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. And, as on the previous album page, we once again thank Prudence and Ron for their hospitality, and all five of our "family" in San Antonio for their friendship.

You can use the links below to continue to another album page.

	December 24-25, 2018: Christmas in Dallas
	November 21-26, 2018: Thanksgiving in San Antonio
	Return to the Index for 2018