My plan was to get to San Antonio, see The Alamo and head south to McAllen, my final destination. The Alamo opened at 10:00 on Sunday and I was about an hour away.I’d been at the rest stop for a long time, so I decided to just make coffee and eat breakfast later, perhaps at the Alamo parking lot before I went in.
It was raining heavily as I got ready to roll. It continued to rain as I drove. It wasn’t difficult rain, just a thick mist of small drops.
I was glad to be going through San Antonio on a Sunday morning rather than on a busy weekday.
I was surprised at how big of a city San Antonio is and that The Alamo is tucked in right down town. I found the Alamo, but there was no place to park. The don’t have parking, not even for cars much less a motorhome with a trailer. It reminded me of Metrodome parking in Minneapolis where small businesses have signs, “Parking $8”. Most of them had signs specifically saying, “No Bus, or RV Parking”. Not that they were jerks, or anything, the lots really were too small.
I drove round and round up and down the old, narrow one-way streets in vain, unable to find anything even closely big enough for me to park in. I was about to give up and head south when I found a hotel parking lot that had some wide open areas. There were signs all over telling me that I couldn’t park there. One of the great side-effects of breaking down in South Dakota and getting towed was that I know how long it took to get my motorhome ready to tow and how big of a machine it took to do it. Bob, the tow truck driver worked quickly and efficiently and it took him an hour and a half to two hours to get it all ready. I know I can leave my bus for an hour and it will still bet there when I get back. I parked, snuck out the side door and hoofed it to The Alamo. Again I was glad it was Sunday morning, or it never would have worked.
The Alamo’s architecture, gardens and history are a sight to behold. It is hallowed ground. I walked the 4 acre complex and then went inside. I took a picture and was immediately, yet politely told, “I’m sorry sir, no pictures”. I apologized and put my camera away. The Alamo is a shrine and I learned of its importance. After quickly soaking it in I was eager to get back to the bus before they found an industrial size boot for one of my wheels. It was safe and sound. No one had cared, or even noticed. I fired her up and headed south on 218 for the border.
I stopped at a picnic area for the long over due breakfast that I had intended to cook in the Alamo‘s parking area. When I fired up the generator it was slow to start and made a clanking sound. The display on the microwave was so faint I could barely read it. I’m older than I look, but still from the computer age. All I know is to re-boot. I turned the generator off and on. This time it made a loud bang as it came to life, but was running smoothly. Again the microwave display was faint. I went outside and opened up front of the bus where the generator is. It was very wet inside from driving through the rain all morning, “Maybe it‘s just wet” I thought. One of the battery connections was loose too, so I tightened it. When I went inside it was now working okay.
After breakfast I headed south and drove all afternoon. When I got to McAllen I found a Wal-Mart parking lot and pulled in to check it out. I’ve found all extremes of RV friendly Wal-Mart’s. The best sign is when there is a group of RVs set up for the night. There are literal signs too. Everything from signs welcoming you to signs telling you to leave. I wasn’t sure of this parking lot. There were no RVs, but no signs telling me I couldn‘t stay either. I parked and flagged down the security guard’s car that was headed in my direction anyway. I asked him, “Do you let RVs park here overnight?” He said three sentences to me in Spanish and shrugged his shoulders. I wasn’t sure if he meant yes, or no, so I asked again. He replied and again I couldn’t understand his words, but somehow this time I read his body language. My interpretation was that he said, “Yeah, sure, who cares, there’s plenty of room”. Relieved I went back to the bus and called it home.
I walked to Chilies near by and felt so relieved that I had made it to McAllen. I had the giggles for over an hour. I hadn’t realized that I was stressed on the road until I had actually made it. As I walked back from eating the birds in the trees and on the wires were so loud it almost hurt. I remembered reading that this was the bird watching capital of the US. It felt very welcoming.
