San Antonio- Anders, Amanda and sore feet.

 It was a wonderful experience to see Anders graduate boot camp. We are so proud of this young man! He has been thoroughly "formatted, and reprogrammed" in 8 weeks!  I hope I can get a photo of his ID before and after! Incredible changes!

We saw the 865 graduating men and women in formal parade. Then Anders' dad went down to tag him to leave the ceremony. That was a nice emotional reunion. The family posed for a few photos before we headed over to Ander's lodging where he has been living for the past 8 weeks.

Jon, Ethan, Anders and Aaron after the parade.

 

 We WALKED to Ander's dorm area. We are talking LONG walk, here, up and over foot bridges on the base to his housing unit, where the BULLDOGS lived.

 We saw his neat and tidy closet and living area, as he prepared to spend the day with us. Believe me, this closet and drawer shows an incredible "change" in this man!

 We stopped to eat lunch after the housing trek, and Anders and the other "men" sat at one table, while Joy and I ate across the aisle. We went to a mall afterward, so Anders could mingle in the civilian world for a bit. Then headed back to our hotel room to just rest and fellowship with each other.
    Joy and I snuck in a short nap, knowing we still had more walking ahead for the evening in downtown San Antonio, where we were meeting our long time friend, Amanda Coale Ruiz and her sister, Stephanie Coale. I had not seen Amanda since we were in China, and we weren't sure if it was 2003 or so... a very long time! Hope to see her in our area some day!

We saw the "Tower of the Americas" downtown, and headed up to meet the ladies.

At the top, a passing lady took our picture as the sun set on San Antonio.

After MORE walking we found a restaurant "Mi Tierra" that was recommended to us earlier in the day. We sort of blended into the background, don't you think? Maybe that is why it took so long to be served? Maybe they lost us for a bit!

Heading back, it was too late to actually VISIT the river walk, but we SAW it as we passed by. I was disappointed, but its just a place, right? We managed to find the Alamo, at least, after several wrong turns. There it was! Happy me, but not so happy FEET. We needed to get our poor feet to bed.

Tomorrow is another day, but first, we are sleeping in! (what is that?)