Armadillo – Schertz, TX

Karma was quietly sitting in her kennel, when all of a sudden she goes into her “danger” “danger” “a small animal is out without a leash” mode. Ruthi went to remove Karma from her perch and investigate. Lo and behold an armadillo was out running across one of the RV sites. Sort of hopping like a bunny but no puffy tail and a bit of a hard shell. We checked at the office and they validated that the park is full of them and they do heavy damage to the vegetation around the front gazebo.

Karma and more wild life – Schertz, TX

As we have learned in many RV Parks, dogs must be leashed but not cats, or other varmints (rabbits, squirrels, etc.). When Karma was out for her walk she identified an errant black cat. Ruthi likes to think that Karma is superstitious and didn’t want the cat to cross our path. Boots thinks Karma just doesn’t like cats off leash. If Karma has to be tethered to a human, than the cats do too.

Anyway, Karma went berserk trying to get to the cat and inform it of the rules. Good thing she was attached to Ruthi. Getting between Karma and the cat is a challenge but turning back the way they came is always a good idea.

Onion Peels - Schertz, TX

Karma will huff/puff and face something she wants us to attend to. When she had diarrhea while we were in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, in the middle of the night, she would stand facing the outside door and huff/puff until Boots hear her (Ruthi does not hear much when she is asleep-morning, noon, or night). Boots woke Ruthi and out the three of them would go. Sure enough it was just in time for poor Karma. Other times, she will stand in front of the bedroom door and huff/puff again getting our attention because we left it open and if we don’t come quick she will get on the bed and dig holes into the linens (we now only buy cheap cheap cheap sheets).

So be patient, this is leading to something. The other day Boots was chopping up veggies to make one of her really great soups. An onion peeling (dry pinky orange stuff) must have fallen to the floor; all of a sudden Karma is chewing something. At the “Drop It” command, she provides us with a small very wet piece of onion skin. She gets a treat and the peel gets discarded. A few minutes later Karma is again chewing on something – repeat command-treat sequence. Then after another few minutes, Karma is standing in front of her crate huffing/puffing.

Ruthi goes to investigate and there in the back of Karma’s crate is the rest of the onion peel that she must have scored off the floor under the cutting board where Boots was busy chopping. Karma figured after 2 tries it wasn’t going down to her tummy anyway so just show them where it was and get a treat without getting onion breath! Now, if she’d only learn not to go into “crazy” mode whenever she sees a cat, rabbit or squirrel.

River Walk - San Antonio, TX

We finally got to downtown. First it was the weather (rain and thunder storms), then the traffic (I35 is a mjor feeder to the city form the NorthWest), and then Boots had a siege of headaches. Downtown San Antonio has a vibrant and active downtown area. I guess being the 6th largest city in the USA helps (3rd largest in Texas) helps. We remembered how desolate the downtown of Corpus Christi looked when we went there. Corpus Christi isn’t as large as San Antonio and it seems to have a financial center focus with a lot of banks headquartered in their downtown.

There were a lot of tourists in San Antonio as it is Spring break somewhere almost all of March and April we have figured out as southerners these last 4 years. The Riverwalk is the main attraction with history, shopping and of course good Mexican food. There are boats with a guide pointing out the history and architecture around the river walk and San Antonio. It was really interesting and an easy way to see a lot without the walking. We ate a local restaurant right on the river edge and had very good Mexican dishes for a modest price.

When Texas was a Republic before it became a state as a result it was able to keep the status of the Lone Star Flag as equal to the national Stars and Stripes. That was a condition of attaining statehood. We had always wondered why the Texas flag didn’t fly below the USA flag in the RV parks, etc. So, you do learn something everyday!

RV PArk Rules - Schertz, TX

Just to recap the enforcement of rules here in this particular park. Ruthi was walking Karma around our section of the park. Karma prefers grass to pavement or gravel so she usually stops on the side of the road on the grassy edge to pee or poop. We always have bags (newspaper sleeves or Martha Stewart's bio-degradable blues). Ruthi was standing with bag at the ready waiting for Karma to complete her figure eight pattern and finally pick the exactly right spot to poop; when one of the RV Park trucks stopped and seh was chastised for being on someone else's space (outside their fence near the roadway, no less).

So, it seems that the pages and pages of rules seem to only apply to the short-term RV residents. The long term RVs, mobile homes, and park models don’t to seem to need to be compliant. Dogs are tied out with no supervision at a number of sites. One site even has 4+ dogs penned outside all day and night. Needless to say there is a lot of unrestraint barking both day and night. and, associated poop from other dogs all over the park.

OK, sorry but it is really frustrating to obey rules that are so irregularly enforced.

Smart Phones - Schertz, TX

OK, so after using a ‘free’ no frills phone for the past 2 years, we decided to go with “Smart” phones. We each got a Droid Razr Maxx from Verizon with a great "Leap Year" on-line deal. The biggest advantage for us with our movable rig and laptops that need internet connectivity (how else can we shop and buy games??), was the “HotSpot” feature that allows the phone to be our computer’s modem to the internet. So, when we are in parks without WiFi or those that charge for the WiFi service we can use our phones. We used to have what are called “Air Cards” which served the same function but required additional phone lines. So, we were able to eliminate 2 of our phone lines off our bill.

These phones are indeed “Smart”. Verizon provides classes (introduction and advanced), on-line videos, phone videos, and great technical support to get us up to speed. After a few days, we no longer hated the fact that the phone indeed was smarted than us. When we finished the introduction class, we felt that we were as smart as the phone. So by the end of the month we can probably say – “We are smarter than a “Smart” phone!”.

FYI, the only negative is that the phone is wider/longer than our old phones but thinner. This makes for a tight fit in some of our pockets. But we are not going back to carrying purses or back packs. So, we will endure!

TRAFFIC - San Antonio, TX

The park we are in is situated just off Interstate 35, the main highway out of San Antonio to Austin (Texas’ capital) and beyond. Again, Texas has the frontage roads going South on one side and North on the other just like the highway. The traffic is amazing. No matter what time of our day 10am to 6pm, the roads are full moving along but at times very slowly. San Antonio is the 2nd largest city in Texas, behind Houston, and 7th largest in the whole USA. Prior to our visit here we did not know that.

After the 2 months in Aransas Pass, a small town on the windy and cold Gulf, it’s nice to be back nearer a city but we weren’t ready for the traffic. While Boots does spend a lot of time finding our parks along the way, we usually leave the area nuances and discoveries to when we arrive. We think how bad could it be? But alas, we have been profoundly disappointed at times but then remembered none of this is permanent. We have a moveable house/rig and will be going to a new place soon. That’s the pleasure and reality of RVing across America.

“Texas RV Camping at its Best” - Schertz, TX

Or, at least that’s what the brochure says. We had to provide pictures of our rig before making reservations because it is more than 10 years old (1998). We weren’t surprised by the request as we were already aware of parks wanting to keep a nice look in their park. When we arrived, there are number of forms to complete and initial, along with pages and pages of rules.

This is a very large park (300+ sites) with park models, mobile homes, RVs of all types and ages - so much for the rigs looking good. As for all the rules, again like in too many parks we visit there seems to be no enforcement - young children (under 12) with dogs on leashes being pulled up/down the roadways and older children playing on the equipment in the dog runs, etc, etc, etc. So, far we have made 3 requests for a picnic table with promises of tomorrow to no avail.

The one bright spot is the large dog run which contains a number of pieces of agility equipment (dog walk, A-frame, weave poles, tunnel and teeter-totter). Karma is having fun remembering some of her training on the equipment and chasing the ball around the space provided. It has been a little rainy (remember Texas is trying really hard to make up for the drought of the last few years) so the park is sometimes a bit too muddy but we have an outside shower mechanism to wash off our feet when we return.