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

Sam's Club, San Antonio, Texas

Saturday, Nov. 16^th 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.