Saturday, November 16, 2019

Another Sunny Drive Day, Destination: San Antonio (picture crazy today)


Sam's Club, San Antonio, Texas
Saturday, Nov. 16th I woke early, around 4:00 so rolled over and thankfully dropped off again. Next, it was my dream that woke me around 5:30. A stupid dream. Bill got up for the bathroom and returned to the warm bed. I told him about the ‘camping’ dream I had and was glad to wake up from. Good grief! I know we are camping but my goodness, this was from out of a 'Lucy and Desi nightmare'! Ha ha.

Another clear day on order
Good morning!
We got up just after 6 to another clear sky day. Perfect! These are great travel days when you have solar panels on the roof. Our batteries did well last night after yesterday’s solar boost and after watching 4 hours of television. I made our drinks and the Keurig still left us in good standing for power. Nice to know they would be topped up again today on our 6-hour drive.

Merge lane to I-10W

Houston, here we come!
Today, we would travel approximately 4 ½ hours to the San Antonio area. It was 39F when we pulled out of the Walmart lot and before entering the street, Bill pulled into a Conoco station to top up our tank. The price was right at $2.53/gal and the timing was perfect, allowing us to drive right up to the tanks. We were on the road at 8:00.

We aren't traveling alone - our shadow is with us
When you think you've seen everything.......
This was an Alligator Farm
Before we knew it, we had traveled 75 miles or so and catching the bypass around Houston. Exit 775A onto I-610N. This was busy enough and convinces Bill that we made the right choice to take it. However, it doesn’t mean that he never ‘toys’ with the idea of “I wonder how bad it would be staying on I-10 on a Saturday morning?” LOL. I just look at him and say “make up your mind, I’m just a passenger”. Ha ha! He ends up taking the bypass each time.


Lots of water has been seen on this winter journey

More barges than I've ever witnessed as well
The roads are great today and once we cleared the Houston congestion, overpasses every which way, it was smooth sailing with minimal traffic. At 11, we stopped at a Rest Area for a leg stretch, facility break and a snack bar before carrying on. There were no hiccups today in the drive, we seemed to be making good time getting from Point A to B.

More refineries too


Oh! An interesting thing today. While driving the 610, there were at least 5 lanes of well-behaved traffic. A lady in a small car with Texas plates was driving in the right lane beside our rig.  She obviously slowed, looked at me until I glanced her way and pointed to the Suite. With a smile, she gave me a thumbs up and a wave before she moved on. How very nice that was! We took it as a ‘welcome’ and returned the gestures.
Welcome to Houston's overpasses





It was within 30 miles of our destination that we started looking for places to top up with fuel. I found one, a Texaco with a different name, and we took the exit. The station was close to the interstate which is always a bonus and had truck pumps at the west side. Another nice thing is the price. $2.49/gal, the lowest price yet. 

We love cheap diesel
We used the facilities and pulled around back to have our sandwich and fruit since it was almost 1 pm.

And at one confusing point where there was no indication of what we were on,
 if it wasn't for these signs painted
on the pavement, we'd have been confused for longer
Driving around San Antonio on I-410 was a long stretch. Not in miles so much as in the time it took. On the west side as we came back onto I-10, we took Exit 558 on to De Zavala Rd. I had tried twice on our route to call the Manager at Sam’s Club to see about overnight parking but he never answered the pages. We arrived around 2:15 in a full Saturday afternoon lot but managed to find ourselves a good spot where we fit, against the curb.

And a lovely water tower
George, thank you for all the water towers you posted for me
over the last 3 years
This one is for you!

Bill commented on the flat lands - soon to disappear
I'm ready!!
At the Rest Area, we can stand up with the big boys
The Manager approved our stay so we put slides out and made ourselves at ‘home’ within the parking lot boondocking rules. If he’d denied our stay, Walmart was just next door to try. While reading through their sales booklet, back at the Suite, I discovered that it was Wonderland Playdate here today. Great timing! Anyway, a special day for the ‘kiddos’ to check out the new toys etc. and enjoy some snacks and treats.

We started to see Prickly Pear cactus along our route
and these at the rest area
Gradually, we watched the lot empty. Sam’s Club is only open until 8:30 so that should give us a relatively quiet evening. Then it was time to make a cup of tea so I did that and Bill had a snooze while I drank it. I read a few chapters of my book and maybe my eyes closed for a bit too. Then, we walked into the store to check it out. Bill was looking for another small ‘tackle/hobby’ case and I just checked prices on a few food and clothing items.

we noticed these signs along a section of the Interstate
Do you know what they are?
If you said Approval to drive on the shoulder of the highway
during a Hurricane, you would be correct
Otherwise, it is against the law to drive on the shoulder in Texas
A Waco sign for Bob - are you thinking cult?
No hobby case could be found but we perused a few aisles. We found a reclining chair that we liked and the price was great – no decision yet though. Bill did find a rotary tool and accessory kit, we got our oatmeal packets, which are nice for quick breakfasts and I bought a container of pork rinds! I LOVE pork rinds and they are a good snack item with no carbs, no sugar and other than salt (which I don’t believe the hype that it is bad for us) just enough fat to make me happy.

Sam's Club - the lot has emptied a lot since we arrived

But we have prime property for the night
These cart guys haven't stopped since we arrived
30 carts to a load
Back at the Suite, for supper, we had a bowl of my homemade chili and custard for dessert again. Our batteries were charged up pretty good so I’d heated the chili on the stove rather than Bill turning the generator on. 

Bill is happy with his new Rotary Tool
Good deal too!

I'm happy with my Pork Rinds
Guilt free snack
The evening was quiet with our books and blog posting. This is the kind of travel day I like, with no stress about traffic, weather or parking issues and available shopping at the end of it. I’ll be ready, we’ll be ready for another break once we hit New Mexico on Monday.
The best I could do for a sunset
The clouds have moved in
good night from San Antonio, TX
Thanks for dropping by! It is always wonderful to hear from you, if you have the inclination to leave me a comment.


16 comments:

  1. How long are you traveling alone? Are you headed in to San Antonio tomorrow? We loved it.

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    Replies
    1. We will be in our own until mid week.
      Just a one night stopover here. Fort Stockton tomorrow night and Elephant Butte Monday.

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  2. To bad you are not staying in San Antonio longer, the river walk is really nice. We have traveled I-10 on a Sunday and it was clear sailing.

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    1. I guess we didn't plan on touristy stuff, just heading across to New Mexico.
      Tomorrow should be an easy drive.

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  3. Always nice to have stressfree travel days. Only been that route one time. Hope the same happens with tomorrow's travels.

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    1. Thankyou Doug. We found we tie easy in the road and 6 hours is plenty. One more night on the road and then a slow down.

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  4. You guys are really road warriors.
    Good to hear about the pork rinds. I have a bit of a guilty pang when I have them. Now I can eat guilt free cause Patsy says they're ok!! WooHoo!
    Safe travels.

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    Replies
    1. We like to get where we're going, I guess, and don't slow down enough to sight see on the route. Especially for overnight stops.
      Laugh about the pork rinds. High in salt though Dave - so know that! haha

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  5. I've often wondered just what is a pork rind made from???
    Don in Okla.

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    Replies
    1. Good question! Exactly what it says though. Pig skin, fried with added salt.

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    2. Thank you for the info. I like them with a little hot sauce!! Yummy!
      Don in Okla.

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  6. A nice drive day. Love the water tower in Katy, TX looks so cute. We like Sam's Club but our nearest one is 90 miles away so don't get there too often. Haven't had pork rinds in years, but they are tasty. My mom used to make them from scratch when we were kids :)

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    Replies
    1. These pork rinds should last us (me) all winter. :) Mom used to do that do in the oven - much different and much tastier too!

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  7. Yup ... that's a LOT of pork rinds. For some reason I just can't eat them, knowing what they are. Guess I was on a ranch too long. I liked San Antonio, but was happy to hit New Mexico. You're getting closer!!!

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  8. I'd be nervous on a 5 lane highway - all that traffic! Glad you're making good time.

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  9. Did you ever consider the woman in the car was telling you that she reads or knows about your blog?
    I'm like Bill, I always want to just keep going and find the bypasses are usually just time consumers, however that is not always the case. It's nice to have a good navigator to rely on!!!
    We will be following along a similar route in the days ahead. Thanks for blazing the way!! Stay safe, enjoy EBSP.

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