Tuckered in Texas!

Attempting to decipher the road network of San Antonio made me feel like I'd been bitchslapped.   After about 5000 miles and surviving one of the most ill-conceived, unsafe exits I have seen in my 9 years of travelling, I felt a little "ready" for San Antonio.  However, I had been there before and was well aware of the IH (locals call them "Inner Hoops" but I call it "Intentional Horror") plan of terrorizing tourists!  But, of course, Frank had been driving and I was covering my eyes, trembling and visualizing a bottle of Merlot....

A few words about the exit ramp in Ozona, it was a one-of-a-kind interstate horror.  When one exits, one usually expects a connector road all to oneself!   NOT IN OZONA TX!  As I confidently exited down a small hill anticipating my next turn, suddenly a car was looking right at me!  I stopped at the bottom of the ramp and, to my amazement, the exit dumped me on a two lane highway with traffic going both ways!  Add to that-the road was not constructed on a 90 degree angle but on maybe a 60 degree angle so there was NO WAY my passenger mirror could see traffic in back of me.  So, I slithered out into the intersection at 2 mph and figured I was bigger and  cars could just stop for me.

My exit was to take me to a place that could change truck lube, check tire pressure etc.  The business name was Two Fat Guys--I figured if they were fat, they might be lazy too and would not want to initiate any extra work on my rig.    They took me right away and the place looked well run and legit, but the worker was not fat.  Then I got the report--my brakes in front are almost shot, my transmission fluid and coolant was the consistency of molasses.

What's a girl to do?   I said DO IT and watched the fluid that was drained and it was indeed, disgusting.  Then I got the bill and watched my bank account also get drained...












At that point, I was only about an hour from my friend's, Hal & Cheryl, house in San Antonio.  As I approached from the northwest, I  was stunned because there appeared to be no awareness of the populace that there was an economic recession going on!    People were zooming around the IH's in cars that were Big and Gleaming (no one goes slower than 70mph),  the Malls were MEGA Retail Citys with NO sign of vacancies and lots of parked cars.  It was a like I was transported back in time to Yuppieville when AOL was splitting its stock every two weeks! 

I arrived without incident at my friends' gated New community--I found their brand new home which was a fabulous 2-story brick on a corner lot.

Here's a pic of my pals, Hal & Cheryl -aren't they cute?

It had only a single teensy flaw which only someone in a motorhome whose freshly-filled containers overfloweth with expensive automotive fluids--it was on an incline of around 30 degrees!  That meant that I couldn't habitate it and I got to stay in a lovely guest room with TV, a remote control, big bed with lotsa pillows and my own bathroom!    Hal & Cheryl spread kitty litter under my RV to sop up the transmission fluid that runneth over onto their nice clean driveway.

Their home was so lovely; they had convinced the builder to save some mature oak trees in the back and had a wonderful fenced-in area with several trees that Cassie was thrilled with.  She also loved the authentic wood floors and had a crazy dog fit running around and sliding into furniture.  Good thing that Hal & Cheryl like dogs; they have two kitties, one of which perches on a cat tower in front of one of the upstairs windows all day and watches the neighborhood  goings-on.  We put the fireplace grating at the bottom of the stairs to keep cats and dogs from coming into contact.

OMG you wouldn't believe the floor tile that was in "my" bathroom!  At first I thought it had golden grout between the tiles because it was all shiny.  But, Hal and Cheryl said that the tile itself had gold bevelled edges and the grout line was actually very tiny dark brown, so that the effect was that of Golden Grout!


We had such a wonderful whirlwind of activities-these two are Very Busy!  Cheryl is retired and Hal will be retiring this June.  We all went to a Jazzercise Class and of course, I overachieved but had a great time until all my muscles reminded me that I had not moved them in the last two years.  We then met the post-class McDonald's group and showed them that old farts can have caffeinated fun with Senior discount coffee (53 cents a cup).  We headed to the Zoo and walked about 10 or 11 miles.  We then went home, let Cassie run and went back out for some delicious Marguaritas and Mexican food at Ennos.

Next day, I ignored my screaming muscles and we took Cassie, her crate and her stroller to downtown San Antonio to the Herb Festival where  Cassie had a wonderful time greeting kids and shoppers.

Then, we headed for the new Riverwalk extension and walked at least 5 or 6 miles or maybe as many as 20 (if you consulted my muscles).








Cassie met children who wanted to push the stroller and one kid screamed his head off crying when we took Cassie away to continue our outing.

There is a neat feature on the Riverwalk which is new called the Grotto.  Very cool and refreshing but also scary as there is a gargoyle face at the top of the waterfall.














Sue finally said "Uncle" and gave in to the discomfort of her sore muscles and tuckered out feet and we went and had a great seafood supper downtown. 

We went home and Cassie just crashed on the floor and Hal brought Sue two cans of Lone Star beer--one for each hand so I would'nt have to move for awhile.  We watched a neat movie called "Ira and Abby" in which Cheryl's daughter appeared in several scenes.

Hal also packed two cans of Lone Star beer in the RV as I readied for departure this morning and extracted my promise that I would not drink them until I was "down" for the night!

Thanks, Hal and Cheryl!