Chris and Jason brought us breakfast this morning and saw us off, so they got to see what hitching up and getting the rig ready to roll looks like. It always tickles me to show people how the slides work. For some reason, folks are really captivated by that. Site built houses just don’t have whole rooms that move around at the push of a button!
Chris and Jason were so sweet to us during our stay; I’m going to miss them and all our friends in South Texas. I’ll miss the Hill Country, too. It’s just such rugged, gorgeous country.
We hit the road around 10 a.m., but it felt like it took forever just to get to IH35 from Bandera! On the way around Loop 1604 on the north side of San Antonio, we saw a Brahma bull on the loose, running along the access road. A state trooper had stopped and was attempting to herd it back into its pasture. I wonder if the trooper knew this particular task was going to be part of his job description when he signed on to the highway patrol.
We made pretty good time, but traveling by RV is never as fast as going by car. We have to drive more slowly and stop more often. It took two and a half tanks of diesel, but we made it to Grapevine in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area by 5 p.m. during the hottest part of the day. And I do mean hot; it was up over 100 today with a heat index that was even higher. Setting up in the blazing afternoon sun was no fun, especially since I’d been nursing a massive migraine for most of the trip.
By the time I was done, all I wanted to do was get a shower and lie down for a while. My sister was waiting for us to come to dinner at her place, but I had to let her know that I just wasn’t up to it tonight. My head was hurting so badly that I got nauseous and eventually ended up praying to the porcelain goddess. I would not have been a good dinner guest under the circumstances. Instead, I spent all evening stretched out on the sofa with an ice pack on my head and a towel over my eyes. I just woke up a bit ago, but my headache hasn’t gone away yet.
I’m looking forward to seeing my sister, Lynn, and her partner, Shay. They live right here in Grapevine, and we haven’t seen their new home (well, it’s new to us; they’ve been in it for a few years). They are making us breakfast in the morning and have invited us to bring our suits and take advantage of their pool. My sunburn is still pretty painful, so I’m not sure how much swimming I’ll do, but Lex is thrilled that she’s going to be able to get in water other than the Medina River.
We’re staying at a public campground, The Vineyards, here in Grapevine. For a public park, it’s pretty darned nice. We’ve got a big pull-through site and can see the lake from here. The downside: no shade on the west side of the RV, the side containing the “office wing” where Lex spends her workday. This is going to make for some VERY hot afternoons as the temps will be creeping upwards all week. Also, there’s construction going on in the park, and I’m wondering how early in the morning that will be getting started. Plus, this campground is in DFW’s flight path. We must be really close because every few minutes we get a thunderous rumble, so loud that sometimes we can actually feel it in the floor of the rig.
There’s no cable here, but we get excellent over-the-air reception with plenty of local channels, and there’s WiFi here in the park. Lex says the speed is really good. It’s been since Gonzales that we had a decent wifi connection. Lex has been SO deprived, poor dear 
Our trip brought us through Grapevine’s historical district, and it’s really cute, full of nice little shops and restaurants. I hope to have a chance to wander through and check it out before we leave to head back to Baltimore on Thursday morning.
Tags: Bandera, family, friends, Grapevine, illness, RV Parks, Texas, Travel
