First, let me speak about our RV park in San Antonio. We left our gate the 22nd of May, as scheduled, and headed North for San Antonio as planned. We are very fond of Hidden Valley RV park and it was our preferred place to lay over in South Texas. Mark and Teri have been more than fair in their treatment of us and the cost to stay there has been very reasonable. What Hidden Valley lacked in amenities it made up for in its atmosphere and people. As you may have noticed I am writing in the past tense as Hidden Valley as we knew it is sadly gone. One of its charming aspects is the Medina river and almost 10" of rain was more than its banks could hold. The resulting surge of water and flooding virtually destroyed the infrastructure of the park. Little did we know that our stay would be our last. There appear to be no plans to resurrect it. We dread the necessary and upcoming search for a park to relax and layover in and hope that someday we can return to Hidden Valley.
Our motorhome has the nickname of Jesabel and lately has lived up to its name. After replacing all the hoses and the thermostat on the engine it still wanted to run hot. Needless to say this was very stressful to us as we had planned our vacation for some time. We reluctantly turned a mechanic loose on the engine and he soaked the radiator with Simple Green and pressure washed it. While he was at it we had the water pumped changed. A quick test drive the following morning-our day of departure-indicated everything was good and the engine temperature stayed in the green. We made some last minute purchases and headed North. It took less than twenty miles for the engine to overheat. We were at a make or break point near Austin and had been forced to stop numerous times to let the engine cool. We toyed with the idea of sending Missy north in the car and me returning to work and having a mechanic work on the coach yet again. We made one last call to our latest mechanic and he had me check and open all the heater valves. After that the engine temperature occasionally was in the upper range, but it did stay out of the red and the check gauges light never came on. Every repair we make to this coach seems to nickel and dime us (except the nickels and dimes are hundred dollar bills) to the point where we might have been better off just turning it over to a major facility such as Freightliner or Cummins. I am currently at a loss as to how to proceed. The only thing left is to remove the radiator and have it thoroughly cleaned. Hopefully the trip back to Texas won't be so eventful. As I write this we are battling a water leak which we think we have attributed to a leaky connection at the water heater. It's hard to blame the coach for this one as we think it was a result of normal flexing and twisting encountered on the road.
Anyway, we are safely ensconced in a low rent RV park with iffy internet near Wagoner, OK. My next post will be all about what we are up to and how we are spending our time off. Suffice it to say we are sleeping in and enjoying a respite from the traffic alarms.
Mark and Missy,
ReplyDeleteHow about trying Traveler's World Carefree RV Resort in San Antonio? The park is on Roosevelt Ave., 3.5 miles south of the Alamo and 3/4 mi. north of Mission San Jose.
We have been at this park since July of 2012. I am now working in the office two days per week. The managers of the park are very nice.
There are only a few sites with views of the San Antonio River, the rest are open or treed sites. There's a small pool and a small hot tub, game room, lending library, laundry and, if you like to walk or ride bikes, there is an entrance to the extended Riverwalk (Mission Reach) right outside the RV park.
Maybe we'll see you here one of these days.
Susan