"Sun communities, Inc. is a fully integrated real estate investment trust,
which together with it's affiliates and predecessors, has been in the business
of acquiring, operating, developing and expanding manufactured home and
RV communities since 1975"
We were really in no hurry to leave Austin Saturday morning. Our next destination, San Antonio, is only 80 miles further south on I 35. The weather forecast called for heavy afternoon showers so I was a little anxious to get going. I had dusted and waxed the coach a couple days ago in Chandler and wasn't crazy about seeing all that hard work ruined.
Check out time in Austin is 11 am. We left at 10:00. The drive to San Antonio was uneventful - sort of.
The coach has GPS but we almost always use Suzanne's phone to navigate. The coach's GPS has taken us on a couple of wild rides and Google Maps seems a bit more trustworthy.
This time, not so much.
I've not yet taken the time to look at our road atlas to see exactly where we went wrong but I suspect Google Maps had us exit the highway in San Antonio prematurely. The coach's GPS is bus specific, programmed to avoid low overpasses and other situations that could present a problem for a vehicle of this size. Perhaps we need to rethink which GPS device works best for us.
Spoiler alert: We didn't hit a low overpass. We didn't hit anything.
After having exited the highway and making three or four turns on surface roads we came to a controlled intersection. Google Maps had us continuing straight thru but there was a VERY abrupt, VERY steep incline at the other side. It ascended over a distance of thirty feet or so, then flattened at it's crest just as abruptly as it inclined at the base. A railroad track ran across the top. I don't know what the degree of incline was - but it was steep!
Ever see the movie 'Bullitt'?
Had I continued through the intersection... I don't even want to think of what would have happened had I continued through the intersection. As I turned left onto the crossroad (despite the protests of our GPS) I looked to my right and could see several deep gouges in the pavement near the top of the rise. I would have bellied out big time, seriously damaging the undercarriage. I mean, we would have been flat out hung up on this thing. I have this mental image of the front wheels dangling two feet in the air over the railroad tracks and having to be dragged back off this ski jump by one of those monster wreckers.
Anyway, it didn't happen. But it left me with kind of a sick feeling. The gouges in the road are a testament to less vigilant RVers who thought they could make it! According to our GPS, Traveler's World was less than half a mile ahead. I can see how one could rationalize going for it!
Maybe I'll try going back with the car tomorrow and take a picture to post here.
We arrived at Traveler's World at 11:30. I pulled through the gates, set the air brakes and Suzanne and I went inside to check in.
"Killian, I have a reservation."
"Um, check-in isn't until 1:00.", responded the middle-aged woman behind the counter.
"Well, we left Austin this morning and obviously didn't have far to travel. I guess we're a little early. I didn't think that would be a problem."
"Well, you can check in now if you want but you'll have to pay an additional twenty dollars"
"I don't want to pay an additional twenty dollars"
"Well, you can park out by the street until one o'clock if you like"
I think at this point she expected me to say, "Oh well, here's twenty bucks. No big deal. Shame on me."
Instead Suzanne and I walked back to the coach and unhooked the car. I backed through the gate and parked along side the street-facing side of the RV park office.
We made crab cake sandwiches with last night's restaurant leftovers and read our books. The rain I had managed to avoid thus far with our 10am Austin departure arrived as we awaited our 1:00 admission to Traveler's World.
At precisely 1pm I donned my raincoat and headed for the office.
Upon my return I was greeted by a second, more pleasant woman. Maybe if it had been she behind the counter when we first arrived things would have been different.
Woman #1 kept a low profile at the other end of the counter during the transaction.
New check-in woman, "Kind of a miserable day to be checking in, right?"
It was raining like hell.
I was about to say, "It wasn't so miserable an hour and a half ago when I first got here!" but I bit my tongue.
We've stayed at a number of Sun Resorts in the past and they tend to be pretty nice places. Many participate in the Passport America program I mentioned in a previous blog - and there's nothing I like more than a 50% discount on my nightly rate. But I have to say I'm a little put off by today's experience.
Despite the chilly reception we have a very nice back-in site in which to spend the next couple
of days...
On another high note, we did some grocery shopping at an H.E.B.. Is this grocery store chain indigenous to Texas? I've never heard of it before. It was incredible!
Thanks for checking out the blog.
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