And the forecast for Magnolia Beach looked terrible for the next week, and not much better all across Texas. But the better weather is definitely closer to the Mexico border, so we started heading that way.
Said goodbye to Lorne and Sue and then over to to Ed and Lessie who full time in a Bluebird Wanderlodge. They had invited us over to see their rig.
The Bluebird Wanderlodge was the first "high end" motorhome. They were produced between 1963 and 2009. I think there were only about 2,000 units made in total. Theirs is a 1990 model.
I took the picture of the outside a few days before when it was sunny!
1990 Bluebird Wanderlodge.
It's an all steel body, and it weighs 42,000 lbs! The fuel tank is 300 gallons! (For perspective, Sherman weighs 12,300 lbs and holds 60 gallons).
And you need your pilots licence to drive it!
Lots of cupboard space. And everything very solid.
These things were made to last.
Kitchen.
What's this?
If you guessed a dishwasher (like we did), you would be wrong!
It's a trash compacter!
Interesting stuff. Even a 1990 is still worth somewhere around $50k, but it's the repair and maintenance that will bankrupt you.
Anyhow, time to hit the road...
Still some Hurricane Harvey damage to be cleaned up in Refugio.
Not much to see when you're driving in this part of Texas. I guess that's why they put the 75 mph speed limit!
Yesterday's drive, 109 miles (174 kms).
Yes, we're heading to the Mexico border, but there are still one or two things we want to see along the way. Making use of our Texas State Parks annual pass, we pulled in to Lake Corpus Christi State Park. I had read on their website that they have "water only" campsites for $10 a night. We figured we would make use of one of the four camping discount coupons that came with our annual pass where we get 50% off one night of a two night stay.
Entering the park.
Pulled up to the office, and saw the sign that said "Full hookup sites sold out". Well that's okay, we don't need hookups of any kind. Still, I didn't expect it to be this busy.
Went into the office and asked for a water only site. The friendly lady behind the desk explained that their water only sites are very short, and they've put a maximum 24' limit on them. Sherman is 28'.
Hmph. Well, if that's the way it is, we'll take an electric site. We're here anyway. Too bad it's going to cost us twice as much. She assigned us site #6, and off we went.
We got parked up in site #6.
Not ideal, but not bad.
It was almost happy hour, but we decided we needed to go for a walk first.
Nice park, on a pretty lake!
Rental stand up boards and kayaks that are self serve.
You do the whole thing online, and there is free internet by the bathroom to do so. Very cool!
Popular with the fishermen.
Lots of bird life.
A pair of caracaras.
We walked 5 kms (3 miles). It's actually a fairly big park and we only did about half of it. We'll do the rest today.
We walked through one of the "water only" campgrounds, and it was totally empty. Beautiful views of the lake from almost any site. Much better than where we were. Sure, the sites are very short but Sherman has an 8 ft overhang behind the rear wheels so he could easily back into almost any site and fit with no problem.
We decided to walk back to the office and plead our case.
The lady behind the desk was firm... it was a rule that no rig greater than 24' can occupy those sites. And we understand why it's a rule. If it wasn't, you would have rigs and vehicles blocking parts of the narrow road as people tried to squeeze into sites that are too small for them. But, as park managers ourselves, we sometimes came across situations where our own rules needed to be bent. After all, rules are made to be enforced with some common sense.
We asked if we could talk to the boss, and a fellow from another office came into the room as he had heard part of the story.
Sure enough, common sense prevailed, and he said we could go ahead and bend the rule. The friendly lady refunded our $15, and we went and moved Sherman.
Nice folks running things here at Lake Corpus Christi State Park.
Much better! Nobody around but us!
Woke up to an overcast and cool morning, but the wind has calmed down, and it's not raining. We'll take it. Ruth is making a big pot of chili, and then we'll bundle up and go get some exercise.
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Rubbermaid leakproof storage containers... 10 piece set...great deal!
And in Canada...
Sherman looks much happier in spot #2! Enjoy!!
ReplyDeleteHe sure does, doesn't he?!
DeleteLooks like a nice spot to be. Common sense will be prevailing here soon too I think. Did Sue mention to you the aircraft carrier museum in Corpus Christi? I don't know if that interests you. Safe travels.
ReplyDeleteNo she hadn't mentioned the aircraft carrier but we have learned that they are generally pretty pricey to visit. We almost did the one in San Diego but we had a beautiful day and didn't want to waste it spending our time mostly inside of a ship. After saying that, I am thinking that it would be something to do on a miserable day! We will see.
DeleteThat is a wonderful spot much nicer. We used to camp in Algonquin park and would park our 36 ft motorhome on a site that said maximum 18 feet, no hook ups and we still had plenty of room. Now they no longer allow it. Oh well much too expensive there now anyway at $42.00 a night !
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely much nicer over here. We have really enjoyed our time here other than the weather not cooperating for us!
DeleteWow, Algonquin Park has sure gotten expensive, doubt we will ever be camping there.
Yes, a much better scenic spot by the water for Sherman!
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that could have been better would have been the weather! Oh well can't change that, just our attitude towards it. :-)
DeleteIf you backed up a little farther, you could fish out your back window.
ReplyDeleteYep, we just about could have! ;-)
DeleteLove that nice and secluded spot! Glad you pleaded your case and that common sense did prevail. Happens every now and then, right? :-)
ReplyDeleteIt is only secluded because nobody is camping over on this side of the park. I bet in the summer time it would be very busy over here and not so secluded.
DeleteCommon sense. That´s why I like where we live. Rules can be bent when common sense is applied.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
DeleteGlad common sense prevailed. Seems every one is much happier including Sherman. Truly a much nicer spot.
ReplyDeleteWe are certainly happier over here. It is so nice and quiet, just the way we like it.
DeleteI've noticed you don't park Sherman with the front windows facing the view. Since you don't use hookups, I am wondering why you don't take advantage of the view? When we owned a motorhome, we bought extra hoses just so we could pull in facing the lake, mountains, whatever there was to look at out the front window, even if it meant more challenging hookups.
ReplyDeleteIn this particular situation, it was a one way road and there was no way to make the turn in to the site driving in. Also, as I said above, we had to back in so that our overhang would pass over the end of the site. Otherwise, it would have been a tight fit based on their 24 ft site maximum.
DeleteIt never hurts to ask, in fact it almost always pays to ask !
ReplyDeleteWe say that all the time! The worst that can happen is that the answer is no.
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