On Friday, April 17th, we headed down to Cedar
Blue for a couple of days. I had
resigned from the Board of Directors because of some problems with one of the
Board members. While there on Friday two
of the Board members met with us to discuss the problems as they were
experiencing many of the same. By the
end of the meeting it was agreed that they wanted me back on the Board and
planned to take all this up at the meeting the following day, which they
did. They were able to get a lot of the
problems out on the table and filled an empty position with a person I respect
who has no problem dealing with our problem child. After the meetings the Board requested a
meeting with me and asked if I would take back my resignation, which I did, so
we will see what happens from this point forward. My guess is the man that was a problem will
either resign or not show up for meetings.
He showed absolutely no remorse, offered no apology, but just seemed to
sit there seething. Oh well.
After our meeting on Friday I felt like I was getting
sick. John had just finished up with an
upper respiratory infection and I had just had bronchitis in January and yet
here it was coming on again. I spent
much of Saturday in bed sleeping so I would be able to help with the driving to
Texas.
On Sunday we headed to Leander, TX just northwest of Austin
and spent the night in the KOA there. It
was a very nice campground with an absolutely huge fenced, grassy dog run. Our dogs love to run but all they ever want
to do in these runs is smell. They just
don’t run at all. I felt well enough to
drive but could tell I wasn’t getting any better. Just loaded up on cold medicine. On Monday we headed out to Rockport, TX. Our Mapquest directions were kind of funky
getting us out of Austin and didn’t agree with our trucker’s GPS so we decided
to follow the GPS. I told it to avoid toll
roads, which it did and we actually sailed through Austin just fine. I always worry about driving a rig our size
and towing a vehicle through big cities and try to route around them but I had
absolutely no feelings of anxiety. Just
followed the GPS and did just fine. I
guess I’m getting pretty used to handling our rig. As the day went on though I really started
felling worse and worse and it was getting harder to breath. We stopped for lunch and then John took
over. Finding places to stop an eat as
well a gas can always be a bit of a challenge because we have to be able to get
in and out of these places. Thank goodness
for the satellite view on the Maps program.
We found a chicken place that seemed to have a large gravel lot at the
back we could drive into and around the back of the place to get out.
We arrived at the Sandollar RV and Motel Resort in Fulton,
TX which is right on the water. It’s a
nice, quiet park with these huge trees.
It seems like there are several RVs in here that are setup permanently
or long-term. Once we got setup I
decided I had no choice but to search out an urgent care facility. We found one nearby and the folks there were
wonderful. I’m having some insurance
problems and the lady there worked through them very patiently with the
insurance company and then they saw me quickly.
I have an upper respiratory infection so they gave me a steroid shot,
z-pack and strong cough medicine. The
steroid shot smarted for a while but definitely helped with the breathing so
I’m feeling much better. We caught
dinner after that and then went home and I just rested. Tomorrow we hope to start checking out other
RV resorts to compare them so we can decide which ones are possibilities for
wintering in. We are looking at ease of
access, cost, pet friendly, access to propane, things to do and so on. Some of these places can cost several hundred
dollars plus electric and we aren’t interested in paying through the nose. We just need clean, pet friendly and
affordable. There seems to be lots to do
along the coast here and we also want to check out where we can maybe do some
volunteer work as well.
On Tuesday we went out and checked out some other RV resorts
but so far didn’t find much that we liked better than the park we are currently
in. I’m sure we will check out a few
more before we leave. I’m amazed at how
many of these parks are filled up with full-time year-round residents. I’m guessing we will have to put in our
request for a spot several months in advance.
We also ventured down to Aransas Pass and then took the FREE car ferry
over to Port Aransas. While we were
waiting to drive onto a ferry we were wondering if they could handle motorhomes
and then we saw a full sized semi so I guess that answered that question. As we were departing we also saw a motorhome
towing a vehicle headed in the direction of the ferry. I have to find out how they run these ferries
and not charge for them.
We headed out to the beach road along the Gulf. You can drive up and down the beach for free
but you have to be in a licensed vehicle and they treat the sand road just like
a city street. We parked for a bit and
got out and walked along the water with the girls. April got a taste of the salt water and
didn’t seem too thrilled with it. A nice
lady passing by stopped to chat and then pointed out some man o wars that had
washed ashore by us. They weren’t large
but apparently they inflict a painful sting.
So we pulled back from the water as we weren’t interested in getting
stung nor having the girls get stung.
There were places where we could park the RV for the day if we wanted to
drive it down to the shore which sounded like something we might want to do at
some point if we winter down here. Being
able to sit right by the shore for a day and evening with the amenities of home
with us and a place for the girls to be safe was appealing.
Wednesday was a rainy day and we spent most of it at the
RV. Played some cards, read, walked the
dogs and found a small seafood restaurant to have dinner in. The weather has been iffy and we’ve needed to
pay attention to it. There has been a
lot of rain but there were high winds and hail to watch for as well. Thank goodness it all missed us on Wednesday
but we may not be so lucky the rest of the week.
On Thursday we headed down to Corpus Christi and out to the
National Reserve on Padre Island with the girls. We drove about 3 miles down the narrow strip
of sand enjoying the surf and letting the girls run around in it. I could easily setup a comfy chair out there
to read and just enjoy a peaceful day. I
imagine winters may be a bit cooler out there but still fun. We drove down there through Corpus which is
about 35 miles down the road from Rockport.
Then followed the causeway out to the island. To return we stayed on the island and took
the highway up to Port Aransas and then caught the ferry back to Aransas Pass
which is just 10 miles down the road. At
some point I will need to bathe the girls as they were completely soaked in
salt water but they and John crashed for the rest of the afternoon after
returning to the RV.
We spent Friday just snooping around Rockport and taking it
easy. On Saturday, we headed up to
Spring, TX. In order to miss Houston as
much as possible we followed highway 77 north to Giddings, TX and then down 290
toward Tomball where we crossed over north Houston on FM2920. It was about 30 miles but an easy drive on
4-lane road. At I-45 we just headed up
the service road a couple of miles to Rayford Road, then east a mile to our
turn to Rayford Crossing RV Park. Piece
of cake and didn’t have to mess with any of those awful interstates through
Houston.
Rayford Crossing RV Park is a nice medium sized park with
lots of nice amenities. The sites are
all cement and it sits back in a huge treed area. You would never know you were anywhere near
I-45 and all the craziness. Very quiet
and secluded. It was a great place to
get to things easily and very close to our family and friends for
visiting. We spent the week visiting
with Maggie’s sister and brother-in-law, playing cards, checking out some
restaurants and just taking it easy. The
girls were welcome in Maggie’s sister’s home which was great and they were well
behaved. We took one day to drive over
to Livingston, TX to check out the Escapees RV headquarters, park and care
center. They have a very unique care
center unlike any place in the country. They have 32 sites for RVs where singles or
couples can stay while needed to recuperate from a medical situation or surgery
or if they need some extended assistance.
You stay in your RV and they provide you with 3 meals, snacks and
beverages daily, weekly laundry, biweekly housecleaning, help with dumping your
tanks, transportation to shopping and medical care and so on for a very
reasonable fee – about $900 for a single and $1300 for a couple. You pay your own electric. They have a nurse on staff and most of the
help are other Escapee volunteers. There
are 7 RV sites for volunteers who only pay their electric and work about 24
hours a week with 2 days a week off.
Most of their work is in the main building helping with meals and the
residents.
We also checked out Livingston and they have a huge lake
there that is lovely with a beautiful state park and lots of camping
spots. On our last day in Spring we
checked out the Old Town Spring which was fun as well. It’s the original old town where you will find
stores and restaurants in the old homes.
They had some really unique shops.
John loved the clock and watch store.
We had lunch at Ellen’s Café which was very good. We also had a chance to have dinner with some
friends who moved from Moore, OK to Tomball, TX. It was nice to see them and their beautiful
home. He seemed so much happier with his
new job and the family seemed happy as well.
We also were able to spend time with another friend that we meet while
RVing who is staying somewhat permanently in the RV park we were in. Unfortunately his wife was back at home
taking care of unplanned family business so we were truly sorry to miss
her.
On Friday we headed home and spent one night in a KOA in
Weatherford, TX. Nice little spot. Good stopping off point and near lots of
restaurants. We arrived on safely on
Saturday, early afternoon. It was good
to get home.
This vacation has been a somewhat quiet one in that we
didn’t spend time racing from one tourist site to another. Our mission was to find a spot to winter in
and see family and friends, which we did.
We experienced a lot of rain and dealt with respiratory infections,
which wasn’t much fun, but we were still able to enjoy ourselves and see some
things. So very relaxing. Back to our routines on Monday.
