Grand Canyon Vacation - Day 8 (San Antonio, Austin, Buc-ees, Waco)

Day 8 - The kids stopped in for breakfast while Matt & I loaded up the van. Maddie made a waffle and couldn't wait to show us! Gotta love Texas!

The majority of our day would be spent in San Antonio, which was a 4.5 hour drive from Fort Stockton. We got on the road around 7:30 - planning to arrive in San Antonio around noon.

We made a pitstop at the Sonora Safety Rest Area - the picnic areas were unique and fun. The trees outside the restrooms were beautiful!

Our three stops in San Antonio - The River Walk, The Alamo and Whataburger. I had made reservations at The Alamo for 2:00, so we planned our day around that - hoping to do the River Walk Cruise before our 2:00 reservation. 

I had looked online at tickets for the river cruise - the online discounted price for our family was $81. While doing a quick search on our drive to San Antonio, I found a travel website that sold tickets at a deeper discount. I called the river cruise office to confirm that the travel website was legit - they confirmed that it was. By purchasing from the travel website, we saved an additional $25! Good Deal!

Another bonus of purchasing through the travel website - their office was located at Shops at Rivercenter, which had a parking garage attached. It was recommended to park in their garage because the travel group would validate a portion of our parking fee. Worked for us! Third bonus - the Shops at Rivercenter was located directly next to GoRio River Cruises. Once we were outside of the shops, it only took us a few minutes to arrive at the boarding area. It all worked out wonderfully!

All boarded and ready to cruise!

I'm fairly certain that these pictures are NOT in order.

It was neat to see everything from the water. Unfortunately, a lot of our pictures included head shots of those around us. Sadly, we weren't able to get seats at the bow (so close!).

This spot is Arneson River Theater, which is where the swimsuit competition from the movie Miss Congeniality was staged. The picture from the movie was borrowed from Google. We snapped a few more pictures of this area as we walked along the river, later in the afternoon (see further down in this post).

After the river cruise was done, we headed towards The Alamo for our 2:00 tour. It was closer to 1:30 when we arrived so we took some pictures outside of The Alamo, then headed in a few minutes early for the self-guided tour. 

Once inside, we walked around and explored the interior, reading the information boards as we wandered. The history of the mission and the battle that ensued at The Alamo was very interesting.

We also looked for PeeWee's Bike (in the basement). We were so hopeful...but no luck. Sorry PeeWee! (In the Movie "PeeWee's Big Adventure", his beloved bicycle was stolen. When he asked a psychic where the bike was, she told him "at The Alamo, in the basement")

After touring the inside of The Alamo, we went outside and walked the grounds for a while.

Next stop was a late lunch at Whataburger!! Whataburger became a favorite while Matt was living in Houston (before we got married). If we see one whenever we travel, we always stop. 

A while later - with full bellies, empty bladders and completely rehydrated - we discussed the best way to head back to the van. It would've been much shorter to walk along the city streets and arrive at the parking garage quickly...but we really wanted to see more of the River Walk and shops along the way. Yes, it took much longer (esp since we got turned around and had to retrace our steps a few times), but it was a favorite part of the day for many of us!

We loved the shops, the vibrant colors, the beautiful flowers and landscaping done along the river. It was a wonderful thing to experience. Maybe another time we can visit in the evening to see everything lit up!

These pictures are not necessarily in the correct order (I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that they are NOT in the right order!)

Here is another shot of the Arneson River Theater (from Miss Congeniality)

Having spent the better part of the afternoon in San Antonio, we were ready to hit the road for the 3 hour drive to our hotel in Waco - with a few stops along the way. 

We really enjoyed our time in San Antonio. We really loved the River Walk. I remember learning about San Antonio when I was younger (grade school) and seeing pictures of the "river that went right down the center of the city". I had no clue that one day I would visit the area and experience the river walk for myself! It was everything I imagined. I would love to go back some day and stay in a hotel right along the river - being able to experience the river walk at multiple times throughout the day (the quiet of the morning, the high heat of the afternoon, the lights and buzz of the night) - that would be wonderful!

We left San Antonio and headed north towards Austin, with a "quick" stop in New Braunfels - to visit Buc-ees! What is so special about Buc-ees, you ask? Buc-ees is a convenience store that started in Texas (but has expanded to other Southern States). As with most things in Texas, the convenient store is known for its massive size. The largest Buc-ees happens to be the one that we visited - measuring 66,335 square feet! This actually set a World Record! To put this into perspective, the average convenience store is @ 3,200 square feet!! Buc-ees is known for its huge variety of snacks, clean bathrooms (another award winner!) and high number of fuel pumps. The New Braunsfel Buc-ees has 1,000 Parking Spots, 83 Urinals/Toilets and 120 Gas Pumps (another World Record)!   

As we left San Antonio, Matt suggested it would be kind of fun to do a scavenger hunt; so I quickly put together a scavenger hunt for us to do at Buc-ees. I searched online, hoping that there was a hunt already put together. Sadly, I couldn't find one. 

Everyone was told to take their phone and take selfies with the items that they found. We could work with a partner or on our own...I had a few rules, but for the most part, this hunt was just something fun to do while at Buc-ees. 

Wow! Let me say that we were NOT prepared for what we experienced once we stepped inside the store. This store was Walmart on speed! No words! Once we all took a few deep breathes, we headed in different directions, ready to tackle our hunt! What a blessing the kids are all old enough that we could go our separate ways!

1 - Selfie with a Buc-ees sign.

Not quite a selfie - but creative, none the less!

2 - Strangest thing being sold at Buc-ees. This was funny because we all seemed to find the same thing!

3 - Selfie with Buc-ee the Beaver. Added bonus - we didn't realize that there would be a Mascot walking around!!

4 - Something unique in the shape of Texas (we knew that Texas wouldn't let us down!)

5 - Something with Your Name on it. #5 & #6 were actually really hard! I thought that this would be fairly easy (thinking there would be personalized souvenir keychains, maps, etc). There wasn't! I was thrilled to see the creativity of the kids - all of them found their names in one way or another. Here is how Maddie, Will, & Kaitee found theirs, haha!

6 - Something with Illinois (The top one's Maddie's - she forgot the "selfie" aspect)

7 - Buc-ee's Nuggets

There were a few other things listed, but I can't remember them now. We had fun exploring and purchased some nuggets (caramel coated puffed corn snack) Super yummy! We liked them so much, we actually stopped at another Buc-ees on Day 9 to purchase more!

Matt & I had lots of fun with all of the Buc-ees Mascot items.

Matt offered to dress in the onesie jammies - he got vetoed!

I found this bib and stuffed animal Buc-ee the Beaver....

I suggested that we imitate Buc-ee with some buck teeth...Um, I couldn't believe that Matt didn't know how to make buck teeth. 20+ years with a person...you think you know them...haha  My laugh here tells it all!

And then there's Maddie...oh Maddie. Here she is - "selling shovels"! Our family loves the meme about the mom who worked at a home improvement store during a snow storm and everyone is flocking to her with money...to purchase the shovels! Unfortunately, the kids picture is a little ambiguous. 

We used the restrooms (yes, super duper clean!), purchased our snacks and headed out - taking a family selfie under the sign.

Next stop was Austin, TX to see the Capital Building. In our all days of traveling and seeing the state capitals, we have been blessed that many of the stops fall over a weekend. Traveling around a state capital over a weekend - so much easier than a weekday! Makes for better pictures too!

Our stop in Austin happened to be a Saturday, early evening. 

Our hotel for the night was in Waco. None of us watch "Fixer Uppers" (Chip & Joanna Gaines) but we made a quick stop to get some pictures with the Silos - located at Magnolia Marketplace. It was already closed for the day, but still a neat stop to snap some pictures! The golden sun, setting in the background was perfect!

Matt & I surprised the kids with Andy's Frozen Yogurt (dessert before dinner!). We sat outside and enjoyed the evening with the yummy treat.

The hotel was a few miles down the road - unfortunately, the road right outside of the hotel was closed for construction. So, we had to backtrack a few miles and then detour back to the hotel. The whole town was under construction! Not fun! We finally got to our hotel at 9:00 and unloaded. Matt left directly to grab dinner (more construction and a huge fiasco). We settled in for the night - showers, laundry, catching up on emails/work, downloading (and backing up) pictures. It was good to get those things accomplished! It was another late night, another great day!

Favorites from Day 8 - 

Matt - River Walk, Scavenger Hunt

Becki - Fun Pics with Matt at Buc-ee's, Family Picture at Alamo (worker asked if he could take our picture)
Kaitee - Boat Cruise & River Walk 

Alex - River Walk, Scavenger Hunt

Will - Andy's Frozen Custard

Maddie - Boat Cruise & River Walk, Scavenger Hunt