We arose early Thursday morning in preparation for the 360 mile drive to South Padre Island, Texas. We had packed everything up and readied the coach for departure Wednesday night before going to bed so all that was left to do was for me to unhook from shore power, sewer & water, retract the landing gear and walk the dogs.
Our planned route to SPI
The fuel tank was half empty so I wanted to fill up before beginning the day's journey. I had been scoping out diesel prices in the area and determined that the least expensive was at a Murphy USA just down the street from Quail Springs, the RV park where we had been parked for the past four days. Murphy USA shares a big parking lot with Walmart and at 7:30am, with Walmart not having yet opened for business, there was plenty of room for me to maneuver the coach into position next to the diesel pump. I had to nose in next to the island then back out after fueling as there was not enough room for me to pull through. Knowing I would have to back out, we left the car disconnected and Suzanne followed me to Murphy's. This is the cheapest diesel I've found thus far on our return trip. I love finding bargain priced fuel and always kinda shake my head and chuckle a little when I think about what they're charging for this stuff in California.
Even without a Wal-Mart cc I only paid $2.64/gal.
Compare that to $3.95/gal. in Indio, CA.
I will say one thing for California, their liquor prices seem to beat most other States we've visited. A 750 ml. bottle to Cuervo Gold averaged around $20 in CA. The same bottle in Uvalde, TX was $39. Unfortunately, a 450 Cummins I6 won't run on Cuervo Gold. Even if it did, I guess it would still be a lot more expensive than diesel fuel.
We arrived at the South Padre Island KOA Holiday around 3:00pm after crossing the Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge.
Side note: In 2001 a portion of the bridge collapsed and several people were killed when a tugboat towing barges slammed into one of the concrete support columns. You can read about it HERE.
I pulled up to the stop sign near the office and Suzanne headed in to register us for the week. I like to let the engine idle for a couple of minutes before shutting it down and as I was sitting there a van pulled up beside my side window. I opened the small window-within-a-window I use for paying tolls and such and the guy in the van handed me his business card and asked if I wanted to have the coach washed and waxed. I was planning to wash and wax the coach myself as much of the day's drive was in drizzly weather and she was in need of some TLC. However, when Carlos quoted me a price of "around $65" for a wash I was all in! I paid $120 to have the coach washed before leaving California. $65 is a bargain! I told Carlos I would be in touch.
I exited the coach and unhooked from the car. I usually unhook before parking in a site - even if I know it's a pull-thru. I'm pretty fussy about how the coach sits in a site and usually end up wiggling around a bit to get in the exact position I want. Just as I finished, Suzanne emerged from the office with our registration packet and a fellow was waiting nearby in a golf cart to escort us to our site. I followed him to our site with Suzanne in close pursuit in the car. Upon reaching our destination my escort stepped out of his golf cart and guided me into site 192. It was kind of a tight swing but I ended up in a pretty good position and with a friendly salute, my escort bid me farewell and motored off. I got out and walked around to see if I was satisfied with the orientation of the coach and decided I needed to be a foot or so further to the passenger side so as to allow room for the driver's side slide to avoid bumping up against some palm tree branches. Climbing back behind the wheel, I pulled forward a couple feet, turning the wheel to the left in preparation for my re-positioning maneuver. I shifted into reverse and could tell immediately that the front tires had sunk in to the gravel. Gently feathering the accelerator, for fear of spinning the drive tires, I eased the coach up and out of the ruts and back onto terra firma. Phew! I may have said a little prayer to the Baby Jesus in the process as well. I got out to take a look at the situation and saw two very deep, very wet ruts in the gravel where my front tires had been.
Getting back behind the wheel I got the coach into a position I was satisfied with (this time without moving any further forward) and was about to start setting things up when Gary, the assistant manager, pulled up in his very yellow, very official looking KOA golf cart. He said that the problem had nothing to do with the estuary-like area about 100 feet directly in front of us (as I thought) but rather it seemed that there was a ruptured underground waterline. Concerned that the situation might worsen and effect the ground on which the coach was now sitting, I decided to move a couple sites over where the ground was higher and where I knew the gravel wouldn't turn to quicksand. The ground was also more level in site 194 and made it easier to get the coach on an even keel.
Soon after leveling, connecting to power and deploying the slides, Carlos' crew showed up and began bathing the beast. I left the connecting of sewer and water apparatus till later so that the guys wouldn't be tripping over hoses etc. The more I thought about it, the more I thought a waxing might not be such a bad idea... if the price was right. So I called Carlos who quoted me a total price of $145.
Sold!
I now have a very shiny RV.
Gary came by for a short visit a little while later and shared with me the best places to eat, best beach access etc. We took his advice and had breakfast this morning at the appropriately named, Yummies Bistro (4 1/2 stars on Yelp).
Some photos from KOA and SPI...
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