February 17 – 19
I drove across TX from Del Rio to San Antonio, and parked at Marty’s house. On Feb. 18th I dropped both the trailer and the truck off for repairs (see below*). Marty picked me up after I dropped the truck off and we went to Patricia’s house, in a different part of San Antonio.
Patricia fixed dinner for us and we had a fun visit. Marty had recently purchased the house in San Antonio for her granddaughter and her family. Marty lives in her RV full time – when she’s in San Antonio or on the road, so she didn’t have a spare bedroom. Since my trailer was in the shop I stayed at Patricia’s house.
The next morning, Marty picked me up and we went to the Wildlife Ranch outside San Antonio. We spent several hours driving through the Ranch. We stayed in our car and many animals were very friendly and came right up to us (probably hoping for treats!) Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch is an African Safari, Texas-Style. You can view and feed more than 700 animals representing over 45 species from all over the world in the comfort of your own car. Since 1984, 500 acres of rolling hills, creek beds, and magnificent oak trees that make up the safari drive-thru in the scenic Texas Hill Country has been open to the public. Additionally, there is a Walk-A-Bout area featuring several bird and primate species, a family of giraffes, the Safari Camp Grill, and the Safari Trading Post gift shop. The Texas Land Heritage Property, recognized and certified by the State of Texas for being used for agriculture by the same family for over 100 years, is proudly diversified over generations into a source of education and conservation of endangered and threatened species. Fascinating animals, many that I have never seen before. I can’t even identify some of them, so just enjoy the photos!
Links (will open in new tabs): https://www.wildliferanchtexas.com/ https://www.wildliferanchtexas.com/animals https://www.wildliferanchtexas.com/selfguidedtour
After the Wildlife Ranch, we went out to lunch. Then in early afternoon I called the truck and trailer repair places and they said the truck would be available at 2pm and the trailer at 3pm. Perfect! I picked them up and found a place to park my truck and trailer while Marty drove me back to Patricia’s to pickup my stuff, then we went back to Marty’s. I met her granddaughter Mary and her great granddaughter Ellie. It had been a long day, so we went to bed early. The next day, I headed north to visit another friend in TX.
*REPAIRS:
Trailer: Sewer hose was dragging on the ground when I arrived at Big Bend on Feb. 10, so I had to be careful not to use the toilet until I could get it fixed so I could empty the tank. There were no repair shops anywhere near me. This was a major repair: The tank had cracks in it so a complete replacement of the black holding tank was required.
Truck: I had been having trouble putting gas in the tank, because it kept shutting off. Apparently the clogged charcoal canister or a stuck purge valve prevents a tank from venting properly. This is often triggered or worsened by the habit of “topping off” the tank after the pump clicks full. (Yes, I had been doing this! Not any more!)
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