I Chickened Out

January 28, 2019

Last night I was studying Google Maps with the thought of skirting the seventh largest city in the United States, San Antonio (1.5 million souls). I thought I had it all figured out until something jumped out at me- another farm to market road was on the route. Oh my! Not another narrow, no shoulder, twisty little road! So I was resigned to going through the metropolis. Gads…….

The city was founded as a Spanish mission in 1718 and became the first chartered civil settlement in 1731 making it the state’s oldest municipality. We visited San Antonio on our first visit to the South in 2011 to visit the infamous Alamo. An interesting fact is the Alamo is located smack dab in the middle of town surrounded by modern skyscrapers.

A short walk away is another draw, the River Walk.

Not far from downtown is the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

Back to maneuvering through San Antonio. I was totally relying on Jil’s “smarty pants” phone to take us safely through this large city. Unfortunately, miss “smarty pants” wanted to turn navigation into an adventure. Instead of skirting town on I-410 she takes us the shortest route- straight through the middle of town. Sheesh! To add insult to injury she wouldn’t announce the route to take until we were nearly on top of it. You try to change lanes with a 55′ combination of beast RV and toad at the last second in heavy traffic. Somehow we spit out of the metropolis unscathed and on the correct road. Phew!

Technically we are still in hill country, but the hills are flattening out considerably. The wind is a different story- she decides to start blowing all the flags stiff. A hundred miles to our destination and it has to be done under high wind conditions. Again, we survive but I am starting to develop some awesome “driving muscles”, not only in my arms but on my patootie from tenaciously gripping the drivers seat.

Our home for the night is the Wilderness Lakes RV Resort, Mathis, TX. It is located about 5 miles off of I-10 and 40 miles north of Corpus Christi near Lake Corpus Christi. As we drive to the park we notice a very large dam nearby, the one that has formed Lake Corpus Christi.

Wilderness Lakes has its own small lakes. It also has acres of treed areas both of which contain little signs that inform visitors of the local fauna…… alligators, snakes, wild boars, that sort of thing.

The roads are a little rough and could use a good dose of gravel. That’s the down side. The upsides are the staff and residents are extremely nice, the sites are spacious with grass in between, and the Bingo game starts tonight at 7pm, the buy in for 14 games is the cost of 14 dimes and a nickel! Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the park is a Passport America park and it’s honoring our membership. It’s the first time that I’ve stayed at an RV resort for so little money. How’s $18.50 a night fur ya?