Where RV going to stay (once we get there)?

The time has come to think about departing San Antonio. We have enjoyed exploring this lovely city and its many historic, cultural and recreational offerings. May 1 is fast approaching, and we still have a lot of ground to cover before reaching Aztec Ruins National Monument. So, next Monday, the journey resumes.

Leonard, Sprocket and I will travel more than 1,700 miles of highway between March and May, passing through Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas before heading for northwest New Mexico. Trip planning for us has been fairly easy, mostly because Leonard and I have similar travel styles. Neither of us likes to be rushed - “Hurry up so we can get there and have fun, dammit!” is not something you'll hear from either of us – and we both enjoy travel for travel's sake, as opposed to seeing it as a necessary evil. That said, we also share a tendency towards inertia, whereby trip planning starts with one of us asking, “Where do you want to go?” and the other responding, “I don't know, where do you want to go?” Eventually, restlessness prevails, and we pull out the maps.

Deciding on what towns to stay in is one thing, choosing RV parking spots quite another. From the beginning, Leonard and I were keen to stick with facilities known to be well-managed, clean and safe with rates that fit our budget. As chief planner, responsibility for locating parking spots falls to me, and I rely on a combination of resources to get the job done. Here's a list of my “go to” sources:

 

* Good Sam RV Travel Guide & Campground Directory

In 2012, the Good Sam RV Club merged two widely-used directories, Woodall's North American Campground Directory and Trailer Life Directory, into a single guide. Most listings are for private parks, but some public campgrounds are also included.

While some prefer the print version, a recent RV industry survey showed that an increasing number of RVers (like me) are moving towards web-based publications. The search feature of this site makes it easy to sort out parks by city and amenities (big rig parking, swimming, etc.) and frequently includes a link to the park's own web site for a more detailed look. Plus, not having to worry about where you're going to store a giant book is a nice bonus.

 

The caveat here is that Good Sam RV Club is a business that relies to some extent on sponsorships for revenue. This may or may not influence the club's objectivity when it comes to rating parks.

 

* RV Park Reviews

This web site is a kind of Angie's List for RVers, relying on user-submitted comments to create reviews of private and public parks. If a park's manager treats guests like suspects in a robbery investigation or if the on-site workout room advertised as “full of equipment” turns out to be a small closet with a 1980's era treadmill squeezed in, you will hear about it here. You'll also learn about hidden gems where things like scenery and friendly management make up for amenities that a larger, newer park might have, such as a large, paved site or planned activities.

 

The caution here is that there's no vetting of comments. Anyone with an ax to grind can sharpen away. I find that comparing RV Park Reviews to other sources produces a check against attempts to bias these ratings, one way or the other.

 

* Google maps

Typing the name of a specific park into Google map's search will yield a map pinpointing the park's position and ratings, submitted by Google+ members.

Further probing via Google Earth lets me get a closer look at the prospective park and surrounding area. Knowing where the nearest railroad tracks are or just how low the branches on all those lovely trees surrounding a potential parking site hang comes in really handy (as do pruning sheers).

 

Using all the above, I identified our next parking spot. Goose Island State Park in Rockport, Texas gets good marks all round, including perhaps the most important rating system of all, the Timm Annual Budget Affordability Scale. That's one guide I follow very, very closely.

Google Earth view of Goose Island State Park campsites. No overhead obstructions or ground-level barriers to beware of. Just the Gulf of Mexico, straight ahead. Sweet!

Canines and molars

This past week, Sprocket, Leonard and I experienced woes related to (of all things) teeth. Hubby's and dog's arose from an encounter with a couple of aggressive dogs, mine from a failed root canal. I'm happy to say we all seem to be coming out of our respective ordeals “none the worse for wear.”

San Antonio's extensive system of walking/biking trails, like the Salado Creek Greenway,

is helping to build the city's reputation as a place to live an active lifestyle.

The week started with news that San Antonio would experience a stretch of warmer weather. This development inspired us to further explore the city's outdoor delights, including its miles of bicycle paths and famous River Walk.

All was proceeding blissfully until Sunday evening when Leonard, having completed a sunset stroll with Sprocket, returned with news of a different kind. While passing a nearby RV site, two Italian mastiffs, a breed of dog prone to attacking smaller dogs, decided to get a taste of our boy. Both managed to escape their tethers, and a brief battle ensued. What's more, in the confusion Sprocket had repaid his doggy daddy's devotion by nipping his hand! So much for bliss.

Evidence of Sprocket's canine attack. The dogs' owners managed to

restrain them quickly. Otherwise, this incident could have turned tragic.

A quick examination of our canine revealed two puncture marks on his neck, one of which was bleeding slightly (just enough to clean out the wound). After dabbing a bit of antibiotic ointment on the holes, I turned my attention to Leonard who shared that in the commotion of rescuing Sprocket the latter literally had bitten the hand that feeds him. Fortunately, that appears to have been nothing more than a painful reminder of the incident.

By the way, most, if not all, RV parks allow pets. Where dogs are concerned, the majority restrict the more aggressive breeds, like Italian mastiffs. The park we're staying in has no such limitation. Nonetheless, we reported the incident to management so they would at least know of a potential problem.

Meanwhile, I had my own worries. One of my molars – site of an old root canal – was staging an uprising. By Wednesday, what began as a minor annoyance would end with me and my abscessed tooth parting company.

The three of us are recovering nicely. I'm hoping that by week's end Leonard and I can resume our San Antonio explorations.

For now, I am trying to follow my periodontist's post-op instructions, which include drinking milk shakes and avoiding strenuous activity. Gee, doc, I'll try.

This bride was one of a dozen or so on Valentine's Day outside the Bexar County

Courthouse awaiting their turn before the judge.



Visitors to San Antonio's San Fernando Cathedral pass by this crypt containing remains of the legendary William Barrett Travis, David “Davy” Crockett and Daniel Boone.

The Luxury pub, located in a trendy San Antonio neighborhood along the River Walk, is built in recycled shipping 

containers. Dining is al fresco. Ride your bike or walk, and feel free to bring your dog!

 

Frost, friends and fine art in south central Texas

This past Sunday we departed Big Bend NP and began what will be a three-month meandering to Aztec Ruins National Monument, site of our next volunteer assignment.

Leonard & Kat admire this metal sculpture. A museum

docent showed us how to make it move.

First on our list of stopovers: the bustling town of San Angelo, Texas. Why San Angelo? It so happened that Kat, a good friend and fellow expatriate from our years in Costa Rica, was there visiting Margie, her mother. Not wanting to miss out on either the prospect of seeing our pals or getting a tip on where to find good eats – and isn't that what life's all about? - we set the GPS for the San Angelo KOA.
 

For the uninitiated, San Angelo (population about 112,000) offers the kind of amenities found in similar third-tier cities...and a few found only in larger ones. (I'll get to one of those in a minute.) Visitors will find a mix of shopping and dining options capable of satisfying most any heart's desire. The list of “what's going on in San Angelo” also featured a blast of Arctic air bringing yet another round of sub-freezing temps to the area.

 

Our first morning in San Angelo found Leonard scrambling to retrieve our water pressure regulator, the one he connects outside the rig to mitigate potential problems arising from excessive water pressure (a problem in some RV parks). Seeing as how we'd already lost one regulator to ice, we weren't exactly excited about forking out another $60 bucks to replace the replacement. The potential for freezing pipes and hoses is the stuff of which RV nightmares are made.
 

As for our visit with Kat and Margie, Kat steered us towards a fabulous Japanese-Korean restaurant where we dined our first night in town. The next day, Margie wisely chose to remain in the warm confines of her lovely home while Kat suggested a trip to the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. Off to the museum we went!

To be frank, my expectations going in were fairly low, the result of growing up in a place where people paid good money for paintings done by orangutans at the local zoo. (One need only look at the walls of any primate cage to know what those looked like.) I wouldn't have been at all surprised to find the museum's walls filled with images of poker-playing dogs or deceased celebrities immortalized on black velvet. Little did I know that we were about to discover a hidden gem in this small, historic town.

A sampling of SAMFA's glass and ceramics collection.

The museum building is a lovely, modern structure in San Angelo's river district . It houses a wonderful permanent collection of ceramics, paintings, sculpture and photographs representing a variety of artistic styles. SAMFA features special exhibits, too, like their current offerings showcasing works of regional artists, including painter H.W. Caylor and sculptor Gib Singleton.

We spent a good hour marveling at all the museum had to offer then followed that with a stop at a nearby Starbucks to consume large cups of steaming hot brown liquid before returning Kat to her mom's to bid farewell in advance of our departure for San Antonio the next morning.

Soon, hopefully, that famous southern Texas winter weather will return. In the meantime, Leonard and I will console ourselves with one simple thought: at least it's not snowing!

Steer horns form the base for this chair. (And, no, we're

not getting one for the RV!)

Harvey Wallace Caylor lived the frontier life and ranks among the American West's great artists.

Gib Singleton trained at the Chicago Art Institute. His sculptures

are displayed at some of the world's most notable museums. 

SAMFA lets regional artists show their talents. Note the creative recycling of used paint tubes. (I'm sure this painter isn't the first to want to throw a hatchet at his work.)



Art of the future? This bracelet was produced by a 3-D printer. Watching that printer in action was like seeing something out of Star Trek.