New Braunfels and San Antonio then on to Beaumont

The RV Park was next to the I-35 freeway but along a river, 100 feet below the freeway. This helped reduce the traffic noise in the park. When we checked in they said they were in a flash flood watch until the morning and they would stay up and monitor the river all night. They had a disaster plan and a place to move us if the water rose into the park. Thankfully, there was no flash flood and the river only rose a few feet over night. It was a new and interesting experience to think about.

Saturday we made a trip into San Antonio to visit the Alamo and have lunch on the Riverwalk. We enjoyed reading a lot of information at the Alamo and touring the buildings. We have been to the Riverwalk several times over the years and always enjoy the area and the food. Well, the Margaritas are also tasty.

Sunday we went to Tom and Rosa’s for an afternoon visit. We have not seen nephew Tom in over 10 years. We enjoyed meeting the 3 kids, Keven, Jackie and Joshua and spending some time getting to know them. One of the advantages of this traveling lifestyle is getting to see and reconnect with family and friends.

Monday Jerry and Kathy went on to Beaumont while we went to Iron Horse RV to have our slide worked on again. We had the new gear from Monaco and needed it installed. We also wanted the problem to be resolved not just fix the broken parts. After a discussion on how the gear had failed in the past, they determined the motor was not shutting off and was continuing to run with full power until we let go of the switch in the coach. They had to order a new motor which would not arrive until Tuesday. They did have several spots in a lower lot that had electrical hookups where we could stay for the night.

We left for the afternoon and did some errands including getting the oil in the Escape changed at the local Ford dealer as well as the transmission fluid checked. Good service at Ford and we went back to the coach. Since we had a couple hours left in the day we decided to go to Market Square in San Antonio. It was only about 20 minutes drive from Iron Horse to downtown where Market Square is located. In past visits, we have enjoyed looking at the vendor wares which are mostly Mexican Imports. We purchase a Talavera serving plate to add to our other serving dishes we purchased 2 years ago at Market Square. We ate at a Red Lobster on the way back to the coach and then had a quiet evening along with 2 other coaches spending the night in the lower lot.

Tuesday Judie did the laundry while Ed waited at Iron Horse for the new motor to arrive and for it to be installed. Judie returned about the time the work was completed and the slide tested well. The motor slowed down as it got to the open point. It was a lot different sound from the motor than before. We are truly impressed with the Iron Horse RV service and will certainly give them business in the future.

We left about 1 pm and headed to Beaumont to catch up with Jerry and Kathy. With the late start and 250 mile to travel, we made minimum stops and still did not arrive until about 7 pm. Kathy had dinner ready for us at Gulf Coast RV in Beaumont.

Wednesday was the day to see the Beaumont Area. We went back west about 30 miles to see the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. When we got out of the car at the Visitor Center we found the temporary building closed. At that point there was major road construction in progress with some of the road closed. The sign on one of the building indicated the best bird watching was at a different area off the main road that we passed several miles back. After getting some mosquito bites while out of the car, we got in the car and headed to the recommended area. As we went off the main road towards the bird area, every time we slowed the vehicle there was a swarm of mosquitoes’ at the windows. There were not many birds to see in the wind and, with the mosquito swarms; we decided to leave the Refuge.

With time left in our day trip we decided to go to the Boomtown Museum. Beaumont was the first major oil discovery area in the US. They started drilling in the late 1890’s and had the first gusher at Spindletop, the Lucas Gusher, in Jan 1901. The Boomtown Museum is a recreation of the buildings from that period with furnishings in the building that were from that period. They have the buildings around a square with a boardwalk connecting the building. It is a self guided tour that has plaques on the building explaining what they represent. You can go in each building and see the furnishing. It was an enjoyable walk with an interesting picture of the early 1900’s and a history of the early oil business.

Back to the coach for dinner and then prepare for the move Thursday to Louisiana.

Feb 22, 2012

Show all 12 photos