Stop 8 – San Antonio – we made it, barely

We got off a little later than we had planned, 9:30, but figured, it’s a shorter drive, we’ll be fine.  Out of Freeport, we backtracked to Houston, around Houston, then back on route 10 to San Antonio.  The drive through Houston was, once again, a little “hair-raising” but we got through it.  Continuing on route 10 was fine, without any incidents, but was under construction same as east of Houston.  We now know why other RV’er avoid passing through large cites and we decided we must look into alternate routes.   Houston is America’s 4th largest city (Pop. ~2.3M – 2020 census).  Mag is reviewing routes we’ll have to use to pass through San Antonio, America’s 7th largest city, (Pop. ~1.4M – 2020 census) to the western edge where the KOA (Kampground of America) is located.

I had forgotten to mention but during the past three trips, we have passed the time by listening to a Grisham book.  The book title is The Guardians and when we approach a busy interchange, a construction area, we pause it so we can devote our attention to the drive; it’s been entertaining.  As we approach San Antonio, we have the route ironed out but with the combination of confusing signage, confusing GPS directions, and, not appreciated, are very aggressive drivers, it’s a bit stressful.  The speed limit in Texas along stretches of interstate is 75 mph.  Within the city limits, it’s normally 65 mph and I like driving a little slower than most everyone else but not too much slower.  If most vehicles are doing 70 mph, I’ll settle in at 63 to 65 mph.  If you noticed on the Welcome to Texas sign, it states, Drive Friendly – The Texas Way.  I’m not sure what exactly that means and an internet search didn’t provide any additional clarity but, I have to say, maybe the slogan has run it’s course.  For example, we notice that some drivers zip along with reckless abandon, not a lot, but some, others drive the “normal.”  As I said, the speed limit is 75 mph, for most folks, including myself, drive 9 mph over the speed limit, just to be safe ;).  During our travels through Houston and San Antonio, we had to make lane changes to execute either a left or right hand turn onto an exit ramp.  Maybe we’d be a mile or so away from the exit, I would turn on the right or left blinker and start looking to change lanes to get in the correct position.  Frequently we would experience drivers that had no compunction to yield to our request and actually accelerated and completely ignore us.  It was quite frustrating and maddening.  I’m not attempting to implicate Texas drivers because this happens all over the country.  I like to believe that I always drive courteously, yielding to vehicles on the highway; it just seems to make sense.  Maybe the Governor should arrange a committee to discuss changing the slogan.  As an aside, we did stop at a rest area between Houston and San Antonio which made for a nice respite.  A short trail meanders through some brush and trees behind the facilities building and it allows a chance to get the blood flowing and a break from the drive. 

After a couple of wrong turns and u-turns to get back on track, we arrive at the campsite and get set up and settled.  We needed a few items at the grocery store and the closest one is HEBs Plus, less than a mile away; think Walmart Superstore but more focus on grocery.  It seems like a nice store but, gosh was it busy!  Back at the trailer, I work on getting the cable TV to work.  I figured out a way to make it work and my sense is that something has gone bad with the internal wiring; I’ll figure it out, eventually.

We’ll be here in San Antonio for 31 days and we’re looking forward to temps ranging from the 50s to 70s.  There will be lots to do in the area; San Antonio’s famous River Walk, The Alamo, Fredricksburg, and lots more; maybe I’ll even play a some golf.  After dinner, we went for a walk around the campground, as is customary, and we were surprised by the environment and layout, we have a lot to learn, still.   More to come on lessons, campgrounds, their marketing skills and our expectation verses realities.