Well, as you know, our time in Weslaco was finally up.  It was a cold (by our standards, anyway), rainy winter for us, so we didn't get a lot of time outdoors, and we lost all of our summer tans. Because of the weather, we also didn't get to the beach and we didn't do as much birdwatching & geocaching as we would have liked.  Oh well, there's always next year, as we have agreed to return to Magic Valley for next season.  Soooooo, we spent our final day visiting over in Mexico, getting in our last cheap taco & maragaritas, and packing up all our worldly possessions.  Ya know, when you sit somewhere for six months, you have a tendency to collect STUFF and spread out.  Plus, when we pull something out of the basement to use, we don't necessarily replace it when we're done using it - we simply stow it under the camper or in some nook inside. 

Because we are planning to return, and we know we're not really gonna spend a lot of time in any one place over the summer, we elected to leave our new patio furniture at Magic Valley, safely (we HOPE) stored in the locked sewing room inside the rec hall.  With any luck, it'll be there, safe & sound when we return.  Everything else, tho, got unpacked, cleaned and re-packed (or tossed).  Took us a couple of days, but everything fit and we were ready to roll on schedule, early (by our standards, anyway) on Saturday morning.

We headed out in a convoy with John & Lora, our co-workers from Magic Valley.  Jack & Di were scheduled to follow us out on Sunday, but more on that later.  We were all headed for the little historic town of Boerne (pronounced Burn-ee), about 25 miles northwest of San Antonio, TX, and about 280 miles from Weslaco.  Everything was going well, and we managed to get through the Border Patrol checkpoint without issue.  Not so for the unlucky truck driver just in front of John & Lora, tho - apparently, the drug doggie smelled something suspicious, 'cuz he got pulled over & had to open up for closer inspection (the truck driver, not John).

Shortly after that, we stopped at a rest stop, ate lunch & found the geocache someone had hidden there.  Of course, I also stepped on a cactus, and being in my flippies, had to stop to remove a few stickers.  Oh well, at least it wasn't a scorpion sting, or anything like that.  The cache was easily spotted by the boys, then the girls, but neither John nor Lora could remember their login name.  After pbb's (that's peanut butter & bananas), we hit the road once more and didn't stop again until the little town of George West, where we pulled in for fuel.  We pulled up to the wrong pump (truckers have tanks on both sides, so there's often an auxilliary pump, but it doesn't have the money mechanics, so we cannot use it - we have to pump from the master pump), so we had to back up...well, THAT wasn't the problem.  Dick just sends me out to be the backup guide & prevent people from ramming us in the backend. (Also prevent us from ramming THEM)  When I walked to the back of the trailer, I noticed the side panel was more crumpled than usual, and closer inspection revealed a big GASH in the fiberglass bumper.  Oh, my!!!  What the heck is THAT??  The panel was flattened at the bottom (where it had once been gently rounded), the rear panel had a crunch in the corner, and I just couldn't get over that big ole hole in the back.  It was about 6 inches long and about 3 inches high!!  And the edges were all rough & fiber-y (as opposed to a smooth cut).  Apparently, we ran over something that flew up, then flipped back and whomped us good. 

Of course, there wasn't much we could do about it, as we were out in the middle of nowhere, and we were only halfway to our destination.  So, after some pokin' around & walking around, we all set out again.  We checked our maps & confirmed our route and hit the road.  When we approached San Antonio, I told Dick (remember, I am the navigator) our exit number and intended street name.  So, when John didn't pull over, we wondered why not.  We called them and Lora answered "we're going by the GPS."  OK, they've been here before, they know the way, and we followed them.  Right down town!  Oh, yeah, downtown San Antonio.  With our rigs.  Went right over Riverwalk and all.  Didn't quite make it to the Alamo, but we were not far.  And, oh, yes, there were some really looooooow trees.  John cleared 'em by about a foot, so we knew we could expect a few leaves in our A/C.  Oh, well, it was an experience, but we all decided that next time, we common sense would prevail over the GPS.   

After that, we arrived at the campground without further issue.  Ummm....it was only 4:30 or so, and the sign said open 'til 5, but I guess hours are flexible out here in the boonies.....'cuz the office was sure closed.  S'OK, we moseyed on down to the rally section and found a couple of empty sites and parked our rigs, and out came the welcoming committee.  We've never been to a rally before - hard to believe, isn't it?  We've organized a bunch, from the campground employee side, and we've been invited to join them in their dances & potlucks & such, but we've never really participated in one ourselves as campers. 

Speaking of potlucks, it's time to get busy on some horsey-douvers for happy hour, so I'm gonna have to get going.  But, more to come, we still have to talk about our geocaching adventure at the convent, technology (MiFi card) & the SAS factory tour...but, so long for now!