Only one week left in Texas

Time seems to be ticking quickly... a week from today we fly to Ottawa.

Yesterday, we made our way from San Antonio to Palmetto State Park.

When I was planning our route, there was no easy way to get out of San Antonio without using the Interstate. We see no joy in driving on the Interstate highways, especially around or through a big city.

18 Miles (30 kms) worth of exercise

We set out on the bicycles early yesterday morning. They were calling for a hot day here in San Antonio, and various reports said the temperature got up to 95F (35C)... so yes, it was a hot one!

Anyhow, we knew to get out there early if we wanted to enjoy the bike ride. We set out at about 8:45am.

The San Antonio Missions

Yesterday morning around 11:00am, we headed out of Choke Canyon State Park, and north towards the city of San Antonio.

With an 86 mile (136 km) drive ahead of us, I figured that we would arrive around 1:00pm, just in time for lunch.

A nice stay here at Choke Canyon State Park, but two days is enough.

Yesterday morning, I took the bikes off and we went for a nice 15 km (9 mile) ride around the park.

We stopped in at the front office to ask about the alligators. There are signs warning of them, but we haven't seen any. The lady said "there's lots of them!", but she also said there needs to be a couple of really warm days in a row for them to come out of the water and sun themselves.

But, we did see lots of different birds...

What a storm that was!

Yesterday morning it rained from around 5:00am to 10:00am. We had been parked up behind the Fairgrounds buildings near the town of George West and we were on high ground so didn't have any problems.

But when we left, and headed to Choke Canyon State Park, we saw that some areas, including the park, did have some problems.

Perfect spot for a night

We packed up yesterday morning and headed out from Lake Corpus Christi State Park. A good visit, but four nights was long enough.

We headed north towards San Antonio. With most people on the I-35, we stayed to the secondary roads.

Private, Keep Out, No Trespassing, Beware of Dog

We went for a bike ride yesterday morning. It seemed like longer, but it was only for an hour. Still, we got 15 kms (9.3 miles) done. It sure is enjoyable to ride decent quality bikes.

From Lake Corpus Christi State Park, we rode outside the park boundaries to the small lake-shore community of Lake City.

Missing the sunshine

During the four months we were in Mexico, almost every single day was blue sky and sunshine. Now that we have crossed the border, it seems the weather changed immediately. It hasn't even been a week since we crossed, but we are missing the sunshine already!

However, our batteries and solar panels are still keeping us powered up.

Work Camper Position at Cabri Regional Park

This is the park that we managed for four summers in a row. So we're just helping them out by advertising that they are looking for some help. You never know who might be reading!

They're looking for a work camper, single or couple.

Here's the deal...

Some bird watching at Lake Corpus Christi State Park

It was supposed to be cloudy with sunny breaks yesterday, but the sunny breaks never came. We never saw the sun all day. And, they were calling for rain showers after lunch.

So, with overcast skies we set out on a morning walk to do some bird watching.

Relaxing at Lake Corpus Christi State Park

That's what we're doing for the next four days!

Yesterday morning, we left Freer, Texas and headed towards the thriving town of Alice, Texas. Found a place near downtown to park Sherman, and went for a walk to see what there was to see.

Back on our own...

Well, we are on our own again. Everybody said goodbye to each other yesterday morning and we each went our separate ways. After spending four months traveling with a group of other RV's, it's a little different to be heading off on your own.

And so with no schedule to keep, (other than being at Austin, Texas airport on the morning of the 19th) we set off a little later than normal, headed in the direction of Lake Corpus Christie State Park.

March Expenses and 4 month Mexico Expense Review

Well, we just ended four full months in Mexico. So, a good time to go over our expenses with you for that period.

But first, let's start with the month of March itself. We had a good month financially. We spent a total of $1,461 CAD ($1,100 USD) for the month. But, I need to caution that does NOT include campground fees which were covered by the RV Caravan group that we ran.

Just a relax day with some rain.

Yesterday was a lazy day. We woke up to rain, for the first time in four months. And cold. And windy. I think we all wished we had stayed in Mexico.

The rain was actually kind of refreshing. Didn't mind that, and we had electric heat inside the motorhome, so we were toasty warm. The rain let up around 10:30am and we figured we had better go out and get some fresh air.

Crossed the border yesterday...

And we are now back in the United States.

We had a good night's sleep in the parking lot at Garcia Caverns and we headed out at 8:00am. We had to make our way around Monterrey, and we took the very expensive cuota (toll road) to do it. Cost was 196 pesos ($10 USD, $13.50 CAD) to do the 20 km (13 mile) stretch. But, the road was in great shape and not much traffic. Worth it to avoid the Monterrey traffic.