Carlsbad to San Antonio.

The Carlsbad RV Park is a  very nice park,which we have stayed in before, with a nice little dog park which, according to Trekker, we were fortunate enough to park beside.

The free wireless internet was slow, but we got a little bit done. We also wrote and posted a couple of Christmas cards for people that aren't on the internet. We needed to mail them before we get into Mexico or they might arrive for Valentine's Day or even Easter! Mexico's Correo makes Canada Post look good!

Before departing Carlsbad Art carefully inspected the electric bike and the new Yakima Spare Time bike rack purchased just be for we left Victoria and was pleased to see that everything was secure. This is the best and most solid bike rack we have had. (We have at least three more various types at home!) It has so far shown no sign of loosening or vibrating.

We left late next morning, about 11:30 Mountain Time, then stopped a mile down the highway for reasonably priced fuel ($3.999), and were rolling at noon. Shortly after that we lost another hour as we entered Texas and changed to Central Time.

Lunch too was late; 3:00 PM Central Time at a roadside picnic area (Rest area without services.) Here we turned the ceiling vent fans on and found the galley fan not working! Now we are heading into warmer even hotter weather, this is not what we wanted. With a bit of fiddling it started to spin then stopped, then started- Art quickly realised that is has a defecting micro-switch that is controlled by the vent cover as it opens and closes. It may just need cleaning. Replacing it could be difficult but it is easily bypassed.

Also somewhere along  the way Art noticed that the front air pressure gauge was against the stop at Zero! We obviously had air pressure since the front air tank also supplies air to the air suspension which was fully inflated and there was no "Low Air" alarm screeching. This had happened twice before years ago. The first time it was a loose connection to the gauge behind the dash, which Art fixed himself, the second time it was a faulty gauge which we went without through much of Mexico. Art will check when we get to San Antonio. Hope it is something simple!

At 4:30 we were both feeling a bit sleepy so we pulled of at the next rest area for a half hour nap and a 10 minute dog walk. With a wake-up bottle of caffeinated Coca beside him (The only time Art drinks coke--before and after lunch freeway drive!) we were prepared for an hour or so more of driving before parking for the night.

About 6:30 we pulled into the town of Ozona following a sign for an RV park. It didn't look too appealing but that was beside the point as there was a NO VACANCY sign on the office door. 7 miles further down the road was another, right along the freeway--it won't be quiet!

As we pulled up in front of the office of the Circle Bar RV Park and Motel, a man walked over and asked if we had been here before. Apparently the set up is a bit different: Find a space if there is one (he thought there was) and in the morning there maybe a white pickup parked by the office who we could pay. Failing that, we pay in the motel office also as we leave! But the free wireless works! We wouldn't want to stay here in the rain--there were many deep ruts in the dried mud and a couple of good sizes holes in the road. There was a windowed building labeled Auto Museum containing fast boats and classic cars which we didn't investigate. The link above shows the connection.

We were set up quickly, not even disconnecting the jeep and CHEK news was on by 7:15. We were also able to connect to a slow but free wireless signal to check in with the outside world. There was an e-mail from Lulu, hopefully we will see her and her daughter tomorrow or Thursday.


October 31, Hallowe'en.

We woke to bright sunshine and no need for the furnace this morning! Slept in again!

Tia was having difficulty with her pee again this morning, as had first noted a couple of days ago. When Art got up she was standing on her bed giving a few demanding yelps and bouncing about a bit--unusual for her so Art took her out right away. Although she squatted frequently, nothing seemed to be happening. When Gillian knelt on the dog bed (still made up on the collapsed dinette) it was wet! Quite a lot had soaked the top blanket and onto the second but not through. Tia has never peed in the house since we first got her 7 years ago. We are not sure if this happened before or after Art took her out. The blankets were rinsed then dropped on the shower floor to be dealt with later. At least her lack of urination was no longer an urgent concern but we still needed to find a vet, sooner rather than later. Just before we left Tia managed another tiny pee. She may have passed a stone.

The RV Park office was actually open as we drove past looking for someone, somewhere, to pay. The price was quite reasonable at $27.00 with our FMCA discount.

We left at 10:30, stopping at at rest area a couple of hours later for 15 minutes to give Tia another chance to pee if she needed it.

 The terrain along our route was very flat and dry.  As we drove through several cuts made to accommodate the highway we could see why the vegetation was so sparse.

 Closer to San Antonio vegetation become more tree than shrub though there seemed to be precious little soil or water to support it.

An hour and a half later were were entering the outskirts of San Antonio and by 2:40 we were in Braunig Lake RV Resort, parked and leveled.

We then went into town to see the Vet recommended by the receptionist.

The vet examined Tia, saying that he couldn't palpate any stones and that her bladder was empty or nearly so. Since the pickup for the lab hadn't been made yet he had a tech take Tia outside to see if she would be able to provide a urine sample. Fortunately she was successful. This would save us a day in the diagnosis.

The vet said that there was blood in the urine so may well have, or had, stones and agreed with Art that she may well have passed one this morning. We should have the lab report back by Thursday or Friday at the latest. In the meantime she received a shot of an anti inflammatory  and we were given a supply or oral antibiotics to start her on in the morning. Now we wait.

It was now 5:00 PM and we hadn't had lunch yet so we followed the GPS to Ruben's Cafe, only to find that it closed at 2:00PM. We tried again--there was an Applee's nearby. That would do us just fine.

We opted for their 2 for $20 deal: Two entrees from a choice of eight plus an appie to share. We shared the artichoke and spinnich dip, Gillian had a chicken salad while Art ordered the steak. The food arrived promptly and was very good. Art pronounced his steak excellent and perfectly cooked to his requested medium rare. Gillian took half of her dinner home for dinner.

We had a quiet evening, except for the three or four loud diesel pickup trucks coming and going from several trailers parked near us. The receptionist at the office had told us when we checked in that the neighbour would be starting his diesel early and would be back late. That wouldn't have been a problem if it had been just that: One of the pickups parked in the road very close to us, engine running, while a neighbour was chatting with the driver. The exhaust was being sucked into our rig so we had to close all the widows on that side.

Eventually things quieted down. The dogs got their diner, Art wasn't interested, but Gillian eventually nibbled her way through the remains of her lunch.

We tried again to contact Lulu without any luck. We'll try again tomorrow.

Hallowe'en passed quietly (other than the trucks). not a ghost, ghoul or hob-goblin in sight.